Law360 | EPA’s Less-Stringent Chemical Rule Likely to Spark Suits

Kevin Minoli is quoted on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to complete a separate science transparency rulemaking for each of its major statutes by the end of 2023, starting with the Clean Air Act.

On June 10, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari to review a decision by the Montana Supreme Court allowing common-law “restoration” claims for environmental cleanup at sites already subject to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup orders. The case, which includes issues of federalism and jurisdiction, could implicate the EPA’s authority in selecting site remedies and the statutory scheme designed to prevent inconsistent remedial obligations.

The U.S. Department of Defense has picked a fight with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Congress over allowable levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in groundwater in a remarkably public battle that portends a prolonged fight over how to regulate this emerging family of contaminants.