Supplemental legal analysis provides additional support for Administration’s narrower interpretation of “waters of the United States.”

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Sidley Austin LLP
David F. Asmus, Samuel B. Boxerman, Terence T. Healey, Kenneth W. Irvin, Michael L. Lisak and Judah Prero

July 12, 2018

On July 12, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued a supplementary notice of proposed rulemaking in support of its “Step One” proposal to rescind the 2015 Clean Water Rule. The 2015 Clean Water Rule interpreted “waters of the United States” as those with a “significant nexus” under the test articulated by Justice Kennedy in Rapanos v. United States, 547 U.S. 715 (2006). In February 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing the agencies to consider rescinding the rule in favor of the “adjacency” standard articulated by Justice Scalia in Rapanos.

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Latest PFAS Developments

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Holland & Knight
Dianne Phillips and Deborah E. Barnard

July 3, 2018

On June 19, 2018, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup (BWSC) issued its Interim Guidance on Sampling and Analysis for PFAS at Disposal Sites Regulated under the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (MCP Guidance). This follows the June 8, 2018 guidance, Final Recommendations for Interim Toxicity and Drinking Water Guidance Values for Perfluorinated Alkyl Substances Included in the Unregulated Chemical Monitoring Rule 3 (Drinking Water Guidance), from the DEP Office of Research and Standards (ORS). These documents were the result of an effort across DEP programs, which began in February 2018, to address the lack of enforceable federal standards for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water.

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The CERCLA Redevelopment Focus: Will There Be an Impact on Remedy Selection Decisions and Natural Resource Damage Claims?

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Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
Jeffrey N. Martin

July 5, 2018

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded a series of eight Superfund Listening Sessions between May 21 and June 18 to explain a number of initiatives to reform the Superfund program and promote the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated sites. The PowerPoint presentations used in these sessions can be accessed here. While informative, the sessions and PowerPoint slides used by the speakers also raise some interesting questions about potential changes in the remedy selection process and the restoration of damaged natural resources.

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EPA Recommends Use of Adaptive Management Techniques at Superfund Sites

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Phillips Lytle LLP
Luke Donigan

July 20, 2018

Earlier this month, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a memorandum that defines Adaptive Management (“AM”) and calls for its expanded implementation at Superfund sites across the country. The push for AM derives from one of many recommendations made by the EPA Superfund Task Force (“STF”), which was established by former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. As we previously reported, one of the former Administrator’s main priorities while in office was to revamp the Superfund program and restore it to “its rightful place at the center of the Agency’s mission.” The STF was established to further this goal and to “provide recommendations for improving and expediting site cleanups and promoting development.”

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