Author: Larry D. Mason

Chemical Factory Producing Ethylene Oxide
Emissions
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Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Revives Ethylene Oxide Medical Monitoring Suit

On August 18, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued its long-awaited decision in Sommerville v. Union Carbide Corp., reversing the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the plant owner defendants. In the case, the lead plaintiff, on her own behalf, and others similarly situated, alleged exposure to ethylene oxide (“EtO”). It is claimed that EtO is a cancer-causing gas. The lawsuit involves manufacturing operations in South Charleston, …

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EPA Offices, Washington DC
EPA
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EPA Announces Plan to Eliminate its Office of Research and Development

The Environmental Protection Agency announced July 18 it would continue workforce reductions through the elimination of its Office of Research and Development, which provides the independent scientific research that underpins nearly all the agency’s policies and regulations.

For decades, the science office has analyzed a multitude of risks, including the impacts of hazardous chemicals, hydraulic fracking, contamination to public water supplies, and wildfire smoke. Industrial manufacturers have historically been critical of the research by the Office of Research and Development because it frequently was used …

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Flatten paper carton boxes
Legislation / New York
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New York State Legislature Fails Again to Pass Extended Producer Responsibility Legislation

Influenced by laws in existence in multiple states, including California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington, the New York State Legislature has examined in recent years extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation intended to hold producers accountable for managing their packaging at the end of life. 

The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA), aka A1749, was proposed to create an EPR program for packaging.

PRRIA would:

  • Reduce plastic packaging by 30 percent incrementally over 12 years.
  • Require that by 2052 all packaging
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Flag of the US State of Colorado
Colorado / PFAS
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Colorado Bans Sale and Distribution of Products Containing PFAS

As regularly reported by the Environmental Law Monitor, state legislatures have increasingly been taking action independent of federal government regulation to address the significant challenge of eliminating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFAS from their jurisdictions.

Shortly after the Environmental Protection Agency finalized its first-ever drinking water standards for six PFAS in April, Colorado on May 1 became the 13th state to pass legislation seeking to ban PFAS from the marketplace. Specifically, Colorado’s new law, SB24-081, targets the sale and …

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US state Illinois flag
Emissions / Illinois
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Illinois Supreme Court to Decide Whether Ethylene Oxide Emissions Qualify as Traditional Environmental Pollution

The question of whether ethylene oxide emissions constitute traditional environmental pollution for the purpose of interpreting commercial general liability pollution exclusions remains unsettled in many jurisdictions across the United States. The issue may soon receive greater clarity in Illinois — and more broadly within the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals — in response to a recent direct request from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals to the Illinois Supreme Court to provide specific direction concerning how Illinois law should address the question.

The Seventh Circuit’s …

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People are holding banner signs while they are going to a demonstration against climate change
Emerging Issues
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U.S. Supreme Court Ends Youth Climate Change Suit

On March 24, in Kelsey Cascadia Rose Juliana et al. v. United States of America et al., the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a petition to hear an appeal from Our Children’s Trust from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision concluding that a lawsuit from youths alleging that current federal energy policies harm their future by exacerbating climate change.

In an order with no explanation, the Supreme Court Justices denied the petition for a writ of certiorari, which means the Ninth Circuit Court of …

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A man's hand in a blue glove takes a close-up of water into a test tube to measure water pollution
EPA / PFAS
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Update RE: EPA’s Proposed PFAS Rule Comment Period

In 2024, the EPA proposed a PFAS rule with a January 17, 2025, comment deadline in response to questions from the industry regarding the effective date of supplier notifications for mixtures or trade name products containing a per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) listed on the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). 90 Fed. Reg. 10043. Stakeholders questioned whether the supplier notification requirements for PFAS begin on January 1, 2025, when PFAS were to be added to the statutory TRI chemical list, or upon EPA completing a rulemaking …

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emissions
Emissions / EPA
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U.S. Supreme Court Rejected Challenge to EPA Efforts to Curb Greenhouse Gas Emissions

On October 16, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an attempt to block the implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s latest effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from power plants while the EPA is being challenged in pending court proceedings, but three justices indicated they had concerns with the rule’s legality.

The October 16 order arises out the emergency stay applications filed by multiple Republican-led states, utility and coal industry groups after the D.C. Circuit Court rejected their stay bids in July. These parties …

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Train-Derailment
Ohio / Settlements
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Is a Settlement of the Ohio Train Derailment Environmental Incident Imminent?

On September 13, plaintiffs in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio action pending against Norfolk Southern arising out of last year’s train derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine filed a motion seeking final approval of a $600 million settlement.

The settlement includes a $162 million attorneys’ fees payment. The residents and others affected by the incident argued that the settlement is reasonable and do not need to wait until remediation is complete to evaluate the costs Northern Southern and …

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Massive California Wild Fire forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes, wildfires spreading rapidly, escaping to save their lives, destroyed silhouette, natural calamity
Wildfires
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Another Electrical Utility Settles Wildfire Litigation

As widely reported, including in previous issues of the Environmental Law Monitor, the environmental and financial impacts of wildfires in recent years have been significant. In the aftermath of these events, an ever-increasing number of lawsuits have been filed seeking compensation from entities deemed responsible for the disasters. A common target has been electrical utilities.

In Oregon, where it has been alleged that power lines caused multiple fires during a Labor Day weekend 2020 windstorm, electrical utility PacifiCorp has been the target of multiple …

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