On August 26, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released its highly anticipated plan to categorize two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) as “hazardous substances” subject to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”). This action is one of the more high profile elements of the Agency’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap, which…

Last month, the Maine legislature introduced broad and sweeping restrictions on a range of products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”).  These restrictions are some of the most comprehensive in the country, and, in effect, would ban PFAS in almost all products in the state by 2030. Specifically, the law mandates that on January 1,…

Readers of this blog may be interested in a new article from Water Finance & Management, A Legal History of PFAS. The article highlights the early discovery of certain PFAS, their toxicity and persistence, how the dangers of PFAS were exposed, and chronicles the early litigation and regulation, and the current state of PFAS…

Given today’s incessant media coverage and regulatory attention to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), and their widespread presence in a host of products, it may seem surprising at first that the recently published 2021 Toxic Release Inventory (“TRI”) preliminary data on PFAS is so limited.  Indeed, out of the 75,890 total entries reported to TRI…

Earlier this week, on July 18, 2022, U.S. EPA issued a final rule that subjects five new per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) to the Toxics Release Inventory (“TRI”) reporting requirements under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (“EPCRA”). The listings are automatic and not subject to notice-and-comment rulemaking under the authority…

Original Kelley Drye Client Advisory posted on June 30, 2022.

In a decision issued the final day of the Supreme Court’s 2022 term, the Court sided with West Virginia and other States that had challenged the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA’s” or “the Agency’s”) ability to regulate greenhouse gases. The Court’s decision limits EPA’s authority pursuant…

Original Kelley Drye Client Advisory posted on June 17, 2022.

In the last two weeks, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has taken two major steps forward on its regulation of the “forever chemicals,” per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), to advance implementation of its PFAS Roadmap, released in October 2021.  Specifically, EPA (1) established drinking water…