Environmental and Sustainability Law Archives

May 10, 2017

Tunnel collapses at Washington Nuclear Waste Plant; No Radiation Released

A transport tunnel partly collapsed at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation on Tuesday. United States Department of Energy officials said there was no initial indication of worker exposure or airborne radiological release. Although the site is vacant, it is being dismantled and cleaned by the Department of Energy. The Hanford facility was established in the 1940s and operated by the federal government to manufacture plutonium. Response crews determined that a 400-square-foot section of the decommissioned rail tunnel had collapsed. For more information, contact Phillip Hoover.

May 3, 2017

U.S. Wind Industry Has Biggest First-Quarter Installs In Eight Years

The U.S. wind industry had its strongest first quarter since 2009, adding nearly four times the capacity installed in the first quarter of 2016. Developers installed 908 utility-scale for a total of 2,000 megawatts of capacity. These installations coincide with the upcoming reduction in the value of federal Production Tax Credit for wind projects, which will drop by 20 percent each year for projects that start construction from 2017 through 2019. Xcel Energy Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s MidAmerican Energy, Alliant Energy Corp, and DTE Energy Co. were responsible for nearly all of the recent utility wind capacity additions. Top installation… Read more

Apr 26, 2017

Federal Court Rules that CWA Does Not Apply to Groundwater Discharges

On April 20, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina issued a decision concluding that the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) does not apply to claims involving the discharge of pollutants to groundwater that it is hydrologically connected to surface waters. In Upstate Forever, et al. v. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P., et al., the district court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ citizen suit alleging violations of the CWA as a result of a December 2014 leak of petroleum products from defendants’ pipeline in Anderson County, South Carolina. In addition to concluding that… Read more

Apr 18, 2017

Trump Administration Seeks to Cut Clean Energy Division Budget

The White House is seeking to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the budget of an Energy Department division that funds technological research in projects ranging from LED light bulbs to plug-in electric trucks. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, currently funded at $2.1 billion per year, would see its allocation slashed by at least $700 million under a proposal of the Office of Management and Budget. The proposed cuts come as President Trump, who did not support wind and solar power on the campaign trail, seeks to boost defense spending by $54 billion by offsetting the… Read more

Apr 7, 2017

Coal Ash Decision Expands Clean Water Act to Include Groundwater Discharges

On March 23, the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held that Dominion Power’s discharge of pollutants via a groundwater pathway was in violation of the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA). Sierra Club had filed a citizen suit against Dominion, arguing that discharges from coal ash ponds and related facilities were discharging pollutants including arsenic via groundwater to the Elizabeth River. The decision is notable in that prior to the March 23 decision, very few courts had considered the issue of authority under the CWA to address discharges to groundwater. Generally, EPA and state agencies have not sought… Read more

Mar 28, 2017

Appalachian Aid Agency Cut from President Trump’s Proposed Budget

Under President Trump’s proposed budget funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission, a federal-state partnership intended to create economic opportunities in thirteen Appalachian states would be eliminated. The Commission is an independent agency established in 1965 under President Linden Johnson as part of his War on Poverty. Many of the projects funded by the Commission involve the cleanup of abandoned mine sites, sometimes turning them into agricultural or recreational lands, and to provide training and jobs for workers dislocated from the coal and coal-fired power plant industries. The Commission’s annual operating budget is $146 million, and from October 2015 to January… Read more

Mar 21, 2017

Scott Pruitt Withdraws Obama Measure Requiring Reporting of Methane Leaks

Scott Pruitt, the new EPA administrator, has withdrawn an Obama era measure requiring oil and gas companies to submit data on methane leaks from their facility to the EPA. The notice came one day after representatives in the oil and gas states requested that he withdraw the measure. Many in the oil and gas industry saw the Obama era measure as a prelude to new regulations on existing oil and gas facilities. The notice, signed by Pruitt, states that the EPA “would like to assess the need” for the “data and reduce burdens on businesses while the agency assesses such… Read more

Mar 15, 2017

Company That Settled CERCLA Liability in Bankruptcy Can Pursue Contribution Claim

In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit reversed a District Court’s ruling that a company that settled its CERCLA liability with the federal government in a bankruptcy proceeding was barred from seeking contribution against another PRP. Instead, the 10th Circuit ruled in Asarco v. Noranda Mining, Inc., No. 16-4045 (10th Cir. 1/3/17), that Asarco is allowed to pursue a claim against another PRP for contribution for amounts Asarco overpaid in its settlement with EPA. Asarco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005. In 2009, a global settlement agreement with EPA under which Asarco paid $1.79 billion… Read more

Mar 9, 2017

President Trump Issues Executive Order Regarding Waters of the U.S. Rule

Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule

President Donald Trump on February 28, 2017, issued an Executive Order directing review and revision or rescission of the “Clean Water Rule: Definition of ‘Waters of the United States,’” 80 Fed. Reg. 37054 (June 29, 2015). The Rule defines what “waters of the United States” are under the federal Clean Water Act for permitting purposes. Numerous states and other organizations had filed lawsuits challenging the Rule issued by the U.S. EPA during the President Obama administration and the Rule is currently stayed pending those legal challenges. Immediately following the Executive Order, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers provided… Read more

Mar 1, 2017

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Drop as Natural Gas Replaces Coal Power

U.S. greenhouse gas emissions declined by more than 2 percent between 2014 and 2015. This decline was assisted by the transition from coal to natural gas in multiple industries, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s annual draft report on emissions. The Energy Information Administration expects natural gas generating capacity to increase 8 percent in 2017 and 2018. For more information, contact Phillip Hoover.