EPA enforcement action Archives

Dec 18, 2019

House and Senate Fail to Reach Agreement on Regulating PFAS in 2020 Spending Bill

House and Senate members failed to agree on language which would require the EPA to set enforceable limits for “forever chemicals” in the fiscal year 2020 appropriations package. The language would have directed the EPA to set maximum contaminant levels (“MCLs”) over the next two years for perfluorooctanoic (“PFOA”) and perfluorooctanoic sulfonic acid (“PFOS”) in drinking water, creating the first federal, legally binding limits for the chemicals. The disagreement occurred over whether a cost-benefit analysis would be required by law in setting the MCL. Republicans sought language to direct the EPA to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on the MCL which… Read more

Mar 21, 2012

U.S. Supreme Court Issues Decision on Pre-Enforcement Judicial Review of EPA Compliance Orders

On March 21, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an unanimous decision in Sackett v. EPA, a closely watched case addressing the enforcement authority of the U.S. EPA under § 309 of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). Without addressing the underlying substantive issue regarding the jurisdictional scope of the CWA, the Supreme Court held that a defendant is entitled to obtain judicial review of an EPA administrative compliance order prior to EPA taking any enforcement action regarding the order. In Sackett, two Idaho landowners received an administrative compliance order from EPA in which EPA (1) concluded that the Sacketts… Read more