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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.
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Recent Posts
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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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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New EPA Standard Provides Guidance for Phase I Investigations
In a recent rulemaking, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amended its “All Appropriate Inquiries Rule” (set forth in 40 CFR Part 312) to reference in the rule ASTM Standard E1527-13. ASTM Standard E1527-13 is the recently updated version of the … Continue reading
Tagged All Appropriate Inquiries Rule, ASTM, CERCLA, EPA
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