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About Us:
Welcome to the S&W Environmental, Natural Resources, Oil and Gas Law Blog. This blog is a resource for the regulated community to stay current on new developments impacting the environmental, natural resources and energy sectors. It provides timely updates on a broad range of federal, state and local environmental topics — including proposed legislation and government rulemakings — that impact regulated industries throughout the southwest and the nation as a whole.
Topics
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Recent Posts
- EPA Seeks Comment on Further PFAS Regulation
- PFAS: The Forever Chemicals Gaining Regulatory Attention
- DOJ Announces New Drone Policy
- New Rules Influence Groundwater Development in Park City, Utah and the Snyderville Basin
- Bird Trouble: Trump Administration Plans for Greater Sage Grouse Shot Down by Federal Court; States Take a Shot Too
EPA Seeks Comment on Further PFAS Regulation
by Patrick J. Paul and Chris Colyer As previously reported in this blog, on December 4, 2019 EPA published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) seeking information on whether to include certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on the … Continue reading
PFAS: The Forever Chemicals Gaining Regulatory Attention
By Patrick Paul & Chris Colyer Although EPA announced an “action plan” on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) back in February, subsequent actions have been limited, that is, until recently. First created in the 1940s, PFAS are most commonly utilized … Continue reading
Tagged Arizona, EPA, perfluoroalkyl, PFAS, PFOA, PFOS, polyfluoroalkyl
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Environmental Groups’ Push to Impose Additional Financial Assurance Requirements on the Hardrock Mining Industry Rejected by the D.C. Circuit
by Michael C. Ford A decade of lingering uncertainty for the mining industry regarding potentially billions of dollars in new regulatory compliance costs is now over (at least for now) as a result of the United States Court of Appeals … Continue reading
Tagged CERCLA, EPA, financial assurance, hardrock mining, Idaho Conservation League v. Wheeler
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EPA Catches Up On PFAS
by Michael C. Ford and Mitchell J. Klein If you haven’t heard of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), you likely will soon. Like DDT, PCBs, asbestos, and MTBE before it, PFAS are a class of chemicals that have been used in … Continue reading
Tagged CERCLA, PFAS, Safe Drinking Water Act
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EPA Reverses Course; Declines to Impose CERCLA Financial Responsibility Rules on the Hardrock Mining Industry
by John D. Burnside In a stunning change of course, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced on December 1, 2017, that it would not issue final regulations imposing financial responsibility requirements on hardrock mining operations to fund the estimated … Continue reading
Tagged CERCLA, EPA, financial assurance, financial responsibility, hardrock mining, Obama, trump
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United States Liable as an Owner Under CERCLA for Contamination on Navajo Reservation Land
By Maribeth M. Klein Last week, a United States District Court in Arizona held that the United States was an “owner” of Navajo Reservation Trust Land for purposes of CERCLA liability. See El Paso Nat. Gas Co. v. United States, … Continue reading
Tagged CERCLA, Navajo, tribal land
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Disposal of Contamination = Disposal of Evidence. Be Careful What You Throw Away!
by Mitchell J. Klein In a recent unpublished case, the Superior Court of New Jersey held that the Plaintiff in a CERCLA case had committed spoliation when, during the course of the remedial activity, it disposed of various contaminated materials. … Continue reading
Tagged CERCLA, cleanup, evidence, preservation of evidence, remediation, spoliation
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Amended Federal Rules on Discovery to Impact Environmental Litigation
by Mitch Klein The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were recently amended. Amongst the changes, perhaps the most significant are the changes to discovery under Rule 26. Previously, parties were entitled to conduct discovery regarding anything that might be “reasonably … Continue reading
Tagged discovery, environmental litigation, federal rules of civil procedure
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Is It Remedial or Removal — The Distinction Is Critical in Determining the Statute of Limitations for Actions under CERCLA
by Mark D. Johnson Under CERCLA activities to clean up hazardous substances are characterized as either “removal actions” or “remedial actions.” Generally, removal actions are interim actions to clean up or remove hazardous materials. 42 U.S.C. § 9601(23). Remedial actions … Continue reading
Tagged CERCLA, Ninth Circuit, remedial action, removal action, Superfund
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