August/September 2023 - Environmental, Energy & Climate Change Law and Regulation Reporter
BBK Attorneys Discuss Recent Environmental Investigations and Judicial Developments in August/September Issue
Several members of Best Best & Krieger’s Environmental Law & Natural Resources practice group were published in the August/September 2023 issue of the Environmental, Energy & Climate Change Law and Regulation Reporter.
Article overviews and excerpts are below. The complete August/September issue can be found here.
PFAS Manufacturers Preliminarily Settle Claims for Drinking Water Contamination
By Miles Krieger and Steve Anderson
The PFAS Settlements represent substantial sums that may be available for distribution. It is not clear how much settlement money will be available to any given public water system opting in to the settlements, or if the amount of money received will adequately remedy PFAS-related problems experienced by the public water systems. Nonetheless, there appears to be an opportunity for PFAS-affected public water systems that are eligible to opt in to the Settlements to recover some portion of the funding available for distribution, but in exchange public water system owners opting-in to the Settlements will likely relinquish claims they may otherwise have for drinking-water related PFAS issues.
Ninth Circuit Denies Petition for Review of Environmental Protection Agency’s Rejection of San Francisco’s Wastewater Discharge Permit
By Claire Copher and Rebecca Andrews
The case upholds EPA’s broad discretion under the CWA and CSO Control Policy to impose limitations on the issuance of NPDES permits.
U.S. District Court Dismisses Groundwater PFAS Complaint Seeking to Halt Onshore Trenching for Lack of Standing
By Claire Copher and Rebecca Andrews
This case clarifies which agencies face potential liability for offshore versus onshore trenching projects. The federal agencies named as defendants in this case were found only to have jurisdiction over the offshore trenching portions of the project. The state and local agencies were found only to have jurisdiction, and potential liability, over the onshore portions of the project.
Reprinted with permission from the August/September issue of the Law and Regulation Reporter, Copyright © 2023, Argent Communications Group (ACG). All rights reserved. No further reproduction or dissemination is permitted without separate consent from ACG, 530-852-7222 or Reporters@argentco.com.
