On February 8, 2024, U.S. EPA proposed two new significant regulations that would expand its authority to require cleanup of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The scope of the proposed regulations and the potential facilities affected are discussed below.
Background on RCRA Program
To understand the potential
Explore the Center’s updated Waters of the United States Virtual Resource Room and Waters of the United States Issue Tracker!
Water Quality: Federal Court Vacates EPA, FWS Actions Allowing Florida to Assume Clean Water Act Wetland Authority
On February 15, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an opinion granting
As we’ve posted here before, by statutory enactment, Maine intends to ban the sale, marketing, and distribution of products or product components containing intentionally added PFAS, effective January 1, 2030. 38 M.R.S. § 1614. This follows Maine’s notification requirements for products containing intentionally added PFAS, which is effective January 1, 2025. The
On February 12, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) announced that it will award up to $100 million to support U.S. pilot projects and testing facilities demonstrating and scaling carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies. The funding will support projects and facilities that remove carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere and store it in geological, bio-based, or ocean reservoirs, or that convert the captured CO2 into value-added products. The funding is intended to support the development of a commercially viable U.S. CDR industry, in advancement of the goal of DOE’s Carbon Negative Shot of reducing the cost of capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it at gigaton scales to less than $100 per net metric ton of CO2-equivalent by 2032. The funding is a significant opportunity for developers and investors in CDR ventures that are prepared to deploy a pilot project in an area of interest for DOE.
On February 8, 2024, EPA published a proposed rule to list nine PFAS, their salts and their structural isomers, as hazardous constituents under RCRA regulations. If the proposed rule is finalized, the nine PFAS (PFOA, PFOS, PFBS, GenX, PFNA, PFHxS, PFDA, PFHxA, and PFBA) would be among the hazardous constituents subject to corrective action at
Pesticides/Herbicides: EPA Issues Existing Stocks Order for Three Dicamba Products After Registration Vacatur
On February 14, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an existing stocks order for the dicamba-based herbicides XtendiMax, Enginia, and Tavium following vacatur of the herbicides’ registrations. See ALWR—Feb. 13, 2024, “District Court Issues Order Vacating Three Dicamba Registrations.”
Air Quality: EPA Bolsters Soot Pollution Standards Following Air Quality Concerns
On Tuesday, February 7, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule with new Particulate Matter (PM) standards that were decided on after reconsidering the 2020 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). As stated in the document, the EPA has revised the
On February 16th, Ohio launched the All Ohio Future Fund which provides $750 million in funding to assist communities with infrastructure costs in order to create project-ready economic development sites. The purpose of the funding is to attract new businesses or grow existing Ohio businesses. It is not meant to be a job retention program.
This law expressly prohibits the disclosure of information relating to greenhouse gas emissions.
The proposed rules would expand the RCRA Corrective Action regime to PFAS and potentially other emerging contaminants. They may complicate ongoing compliance efforts as well as lead to significant value chain impacts.
By Gary P. Gengel, Julia A. Hatcher, Thomas C. Pearce, and Guy Jack Mathews
The Resource Conversation and Recovery Act