Mercurial Mercury Reporting: A Second Circuit Story

The Natural Resources Defense Council and the State of Vermont challenged the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently-enacted Mercury Reporting Rule, and they came away with a mixed bag. The case came before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which issued its decision on June 5.

The Toxic Substances Control Act directs the EPA to promulgate rules requiring manufacturers and processors of chemical substances to maintain records of their use of chemicals and report that information to the EPA. In 2016, Congress amended the …

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Pollution Exclusion Continues to be Examined

Recently, two courts scrutinized the application of the pollution exclusion in the context of the facts alleged in the underlying pleadings. The Washington Supreme Court, in the case of Xia, et al. v. ProBuilders Specialty Insurance Co. RRG, 393 P.3d 748 (2017), rendered a groundbreaking analysis of the pollution exclusion favorable to policyholders. The court, in analyzing the underlying complaint segregated the pollution events and a claim of negligent installation. Within the context of the efficient proximate cause doctrine, the court held that the …

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