USEPA announced today the intention, under Clean Water Act authority, to issue an information request to the largest publicly owned sewage treatment works (POTWs). USEPA seeks public comment on the proposal by May 28, 2024. The first step would be an electronic questionnaire to about 400 POTWs. Questions will focus on industrial users discharging to
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New Jersey Finalizes Law Restricting PFAS in Firefighting Foam and Creating Take-Back Program
Last month, Governor Murphy signed a bill that affects the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) in firefighting foam. The law, approved as P.L.2023, c.243 (Bill A4125 or S2712), accomplishes a few things: it (1) largely prohibits PFAS-containing firefighting foam, (2) asks the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to form a collection…
Maine and Minnesota Accepting Proposals Through March 1, 2024 for “Currently Unavoidable Use” Exemptions from Upcoming State Ban on PFAS-Containing Products
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…
EPA Proposes to List Nine PFAS as RCRA Hazardous Constituents
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…
State and Federal PFAS Litigation – 2019 to Q4 2023
PFAS-related litigation continues to climb and to diversify as to claims and parties. See the attached graphics, updated through the fourth quarter of 2023. We will continue to update these graphics on a quarterly basis.
Recent Progress Report Issued by EPA Foreshadows Landmark Year for Federal Regulation of PFAS
Soon after the Biden Administration took office, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a Strategic Roadmap highlighting the many ways it planned to “research, restrict, and remediate” per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) during the Administration’s first term. Among the most significant objectives of the “restrict” and “remediate” portions of the Roadmap were plans to…
DuPont Companies to Pay Delaware an Extra $25 Million Under 2021 PFAS Settlement
A recent DuPont settlement in Ohio triggers additional payments to Delaware under a 2021 agreement. In June 2021, (i) E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, (ii) Corteva, Inc., (iii) The Chemours Company, and (iv) DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (collectively, “DuPont”) entered into a broad settlement agreement resolving Natural Resource Damage claims with the…
Hardwick Ohio PFAS Class Action Dismissed for Lack of Jurisdiction
The Sixth Circuit ruled that a complaint on which a trial court had certified a class that included every person subject to the laws of Ohio must be dismissed. The complaint was filed by Kevin Hardwick, a firefighter, against ten companies that allegedly manufactured or otherwise distributed PFAS. He originally sought to represent a class…
NJDEP Issues Guidance for Green, Sustainable, and Resilient Remediation
In September, NJDEP’s Contaminated Site Remediation and Redevelopment program (CSRR) issued new guidance (the Administrative Guidance for Green, Sustainable, and Resilient Remediation) encouraging the use of green and sustainable remediation (GSR) and a focus on resiliency during the remediation of contaminated sites under state statutes and rules.
As defined in NJDEP’s guidance document, GSR…
EPA Finalizes Rule Removing De Minimis Exemptions, Subjecting Companies to Enhanced PFAS Reporting and Notification Requirements
We reported earlier this year that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule would require stricter (1) reporting of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and (2) supplier notification requirements. After receiving 36 comments, the EPA made no substantive changes to the proposed rule. We distill the final rule into…