The proposed rule would impose significant liability for any site contaminated by PFAS. If adopted, this rule would have major consequences for manufacturers, brownfield-property owners, solid-waste managers, wastewater utilities, and landfills. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) recently initiated the process to designate two per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) as […]
Environmental Pulse
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Will Affect Imported Solar Modules
on Wednesday, 6 July 2022 in
Environmental Pulse: Vanessa A. Silke, Editor
The Act affects compliance obligations for any importer whose supply chain touches the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (the “Act”) was adopted on December 23, 2021 and its import restrictions took effect on June 21, 2022. The Act’s purpose is to ban imports […]
U.S. Supreme Court Limits EPA’s Authority to Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions
on Wednesday, 6 July 2022 in
Environmental Pulse: Vanessa A. Silke, Editor
In West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, the court invalidated an Obama administration rule that had addressed greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants. This decision weakens the EPA’s rulemaking authority. In 2015, the EPA promulgated the Clean Power Plan, 80 Fed. Reg. 64,662 (the “CPP”), which limited […]
Nebraska Shapes its Legal Framework for Carbon Capture and Underground Storage
on Monday, 13 June 2022 in
Environmental Pulse: Vanessa A. Silke, Editor
Enacted in 2021, the Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide Act regulates carbon-storage sites in Nebraska. Such projects have the potential to significantly offset industrial carbon emissions, including in ethanol production. Carbon capture and underground storage (“CCUS”) is the technology that removes carbon dioxide from industrial emissions and then compresses, transports, […]
Biden Halts New Tariffs on Solar Panels
on Monday, 13 June 2022 in
Environmental Pulse: Vanessa A. Silke, Editor
The two-year halt on tariffs aims to alleviate import costs and ease supply-chain logjams that have hampered growth in the solar-energy industry. This move should allay some industry concerns and increase domestic development. President Joe Biden recently took significant action to address the slowdown in domestic solar-energy deployment. In an […]
