Hazardous Waste

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On July 20, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) sent a letter to Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) applicants, consultants, and attorneys that provides an update regarding 2023 Certificate of Completion (COC) milestones and affordable housing deadlines. With respect to BCP submittals, the letter emphasizes the importance of applicants making the submittals necessary to obtain COCs in a timely manner, and warns that failure to do so could result in insufficient time for the NYSDEC to issue COCs by the end of the year. Pursuant to the letter, applicants must meet the following milestones:

The new hazardous waste pharmaceutical management standards established by EPA’s Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals and Amendment to the P075 Listing for Nicotine (“Rule”) are already effective in some states. Other states must adopt the rule by July 1, 2021 or, if a statutory amendment is required prior to the state’s adoption, by July 1, 2022. Based on this, all “healthcare facilities”[1] and “reverse distributors,”[2] as defined by the Rule, will ultimately be required to comply with the Rule (as adopted in each state).

On April 20, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed the Montana Supreme Court’s decision in Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Christian, limiting restoration damages claims beyond Environmental Protection Agency-approved cleanups at Superfund sites, while affirming the right of private parties to seek other kinds of damages under state law. The majority decision, penned by Chief Justice John Roberts, turns on a plain-text interpretation of the definition of “potentially responsible parties” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Over a dissent by Justice Neil Gorsuch joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, the Court found that the affected landowners are potentially responsible parties and, therefore, restricted from challenging EPA-approved remediation plans.

Troutman Sanders partners Douglas Henderson and Lindsey Mann and associate Nicholas Howell had an Insight piece published in Bloomberg Law titled, “Contamination ‘Issue’ Class Actions—Recent Certification Realities.”

In the article, the authors review the confusing outcomes and mistaken promise of environmental “issue” class actions under Rule 23(c). Two cases from…

Today U.S. EPA finalized new hazardous waste regulations in its final Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals rule.  In brief, the rule creates a new Subpart P to 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 266, which is specific to hazardous waste pharmaceuticals.  The rule applies to all “healthcare facilities” (such as hospitals and retail pharmacies) and “reverse distributors.”   The rule requires that all healthcare facilities and reverse distributors manage hazardous waste pharmaceuticals in accordance with the new subpart P regulations.  We are carefully reviewing the final rule and implications to clients, as well as implications to state hazardous waste requirements.

On June 27, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) submitted its final Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals rule (“Pharm Rule”) to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”), which is charged with reviewing every final and proposed federal agency rule before its publication in the Federal Register.  EPA published…

EPA published a proposed rule (83 Fed. Reg. 11654) today that would ease the management standards for aerosol cans.  Stakeholders, particularly the retail sector, has pushed for this addition for some time.  Currently, once a waste, aerosol cans must often be managed as hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), generally because of their ignitability, and thus often are subject to stringent regulations related to handling, transportation, and disposal.  Today’s proposal would add aerosol cans to the existing federal list of universal wastes.