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Dioxane
Emerging Issues / EPA
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EPA Finishes Risk Evaluation of 1,4-Dioxane under TSCA, Initiates Risk-Management Actions

Over the last six years, our firm has written extensively about 1,4-Dioxane, from U.S. EPA’s proclamations to state laws and regulations, litigation, and distinctions between federal and state perspectives. (see compilation of blog posts here.)

Today we are providing an update on the EPA’s final revised Unreasonable Risk Determination for 1,4-Dioxane, which includes new air and water exposure pathways that had not been previously evaluated, as well as evaluation of 1,4-Dioxane generated as a byproduct. 

According to EPA, 1,4-Dioxane is primarily used as …

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Flag of California
California / Wildfires
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California Suspends CEQA and CCA Requirements to Fastrack Rebuilding Efforts after Wildfires

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Jan. 12 issued an executive order in response to the devastating wildfires, suspending environmental reviews required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and permitting requirements under the California Coastal Act.

CEQA  requires for any “public project” — defined broadly as an action requiring a “public agency’s discretionary funding or approval that has the potential to either (1) cause a direct physical change in the environment or (2) cause a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment” — that …

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EPA Offices, Washington DC
EPA / PFAS
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EPA Continues Removing Confidential Business Info and De Minimis Exemptions for PFAS Chemicals

While ringing in the New Year, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the addition of nine per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances to the list of chemicals covered by the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) pursuant to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), making them the latest PFAS that can no longer be claimed as confidential business information. 

These chemicals include the following:

  • Ammonium perfluorodecanoate (PFDA NH4) (3108-42-7)
  • Sodium perfluorodecanoate (PFDA-Na) (3830-45-3)
  • Perfluoro-3-methoxypropanoic acid (377-73-1)
  • 6:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonate acid (27619-97-2)
  • 6:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonate anion (425670-75-3)
  • 6:2
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happy holidays
General
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Happy Holidays!

We wanted to take some time to wish you and your families a happy holiday season and all the best in the new year.

2024 has been a busy, active year in the world of environmental law and we appreciate you dropping by our site on a regular basis for emerging issues and up-to-date information. Environmental Law Monitor will return in January with new posts. Once again, happy holidays!…

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Smoke emission from powerfull SUV car with exhaust pipe
Emissions / EPA
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SCOTUS Declines to Review EPA’s Authority on California’s Vehicle Emission Standards

SCOTUS Declines to Review EPA’s Authority on California’s Vehicle Emission Standards

    In a significant development for environmental law and state autonomy, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) recently declined to review whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to grant California a waiver to set its own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for vehicles. This decision leaves in place California’s ability to implement stricter emission rules, marking a key moment in the ongoing battle over federal and state environmental regulations.…

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    EPA Offices, Washington DC
    EPA / PFAS
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    EPA Rule Kills Trichloroethylene and Cripples Perchloroethylene

    Our blog has written on EPA’s placement of Trichloroethylene (TCE on the chopping block and the phase down of Perchloroethylene (PCE). And early this week, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized those proposed rules with the latest risk management regulations for those two chemicals.

    Under the rule, “all uses of TCE will be banned over time (with the vast majority of identified risks eliminated within one year), and safer alternatives are readily available for the majority of uses.” Further, the rule will “ban[] manufacture, processing and distribution …

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    Scientist-with-beaker
    PFAS / Toxic Substances
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    EPA Removes Toxic Substances Control Act Exemptions for PFAS

    The Environmental Protection Agency announced Dec. 4 finalized amendments on the regulation of new chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

    Specifically, the EPA targeted stricter regulations of certain exemptions under the TCSA for PFAS and PBT chemicals. As our blog has previously reported, the challenges surrounding the manufacturing of PFAS and PFAS PBT chemicals continue to steadily increase.

    The EPA through the TCSA review program acts as a “gatekeeper” for the manufacture of “new chemicals” (i.e. chemicals not presently listed in the …

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    Wave crashing against the beach
    Clean Power
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    Surf’s up: Wave energy no longer confined to sports venues

    Can wave-energy be a green-power solution for coastal communities? That question may be at least partially answered in Newport, Oregon, a small seaside town cooperating with the U.S. Department of Energy in an attempt to convert wave power into electricity. Newport expects the project to provide enough energy to power thousands of its homes and businesses.

    The process uses buoy-type converters located miles offshore. These converters transfer energy to underwater connectors into which they are plugged. From the connectors, cables buried underneath the seafloor carry …

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    Smoke-stacks-view-from-above
    Emissions / EPA
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    Waste Not, Charge Not: EPA Finalizes Waste Emissions Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas Industries

    The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Nov. 12 its final rule to further reduce methane emissions from oil and gas industries as required under the Inflation Reduction Act. 

    In particular, Congress established a Waste Emissions Charge for high-emitting oil and gas facilities once emissions exceed 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. Coupled with the final Clean Air Act standards issued in March, the Waste Emission Charge is a central component of EPA’s efforts to reduce methane …

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    Emerging Issues
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    A salted battery: will sodium-ion technology change the electric-power game?

    We have relied upon lithium-ion batteries to power electric vehicles and mobile phones, among other things, almost since the inception of their respective industries. But the mining and processing necessary to manufacture these batteries provides one of their major drawbacks—not only does their production pose environmental and human costs, but their improper disposal can inject toxins into the environment.

    Sodium, which is both cheaper and more environmentally friendly than lithium, recently emerged as a promising alternative. Sodium-ion batteries also last much longer than their lithium-based …

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