Vapor intrusion, or the movement of harmful vapors from groundwater and soil into structures, may be the most important new focus of state and federal governments. Previously approved remedies are being reviewed and may be re-opened because of vapor intrusion issues. EPA has issued a new report on the subject.
On December 1, 2009, EPA published a final rule that, for the first time, imposes monitoring requirements and enforceable numeric limitations on stormwater discharges from construction sites nationwide. Will this change best management practices at construction sites? Will it preempt local controls? These questions will have to wait and see.
Shell has been asked to address the NULS Environmental Law Clinic in March 2010 on the subjects of private practice of environmental law and forming a solo law firm for the practice of environmental law. The clinic’s model is to give environmental law students real-world experience working on cutting edge environmental cases. Shell had previously been consulted about the establishment of the clinic at NULS. Shell is a NULS alum, class of 1982.
EPA has issued enforcement guidance for innocent contiguous property owners avoiding liability under CERCLA or Superfund.
President Bush’s nomination to head the EPA is known for his ENLIBRA philosophy; it stands for dialogue and consensus rather than regulation and litigation–also for strong state rights in the environmental arena. Utah Governor Michael Leavitt may be the EPA’s next Administrator.
Congress passed HR2869, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act on December 21, 2001. President Bush is expected to sign the bill into law. The bill protects small businesses and residential generators from most CERCLA liability, creates new grant programs for brownfield redevelopment, clarifies and expands the innocent purchaser exemption, and creates new protections for prospective purchasers. To see how the amendments apply to you, contact Shell.
This mainly cigarette smoke proposed rule was controversial from the beginning.
Congress exercised (for the first time) its authority under the Congressional Review Act of 1996 to override and nullify OSHA’s Ergonomics Rules. To see how this law may be used against other federal agency rulemaking, and what it portends for OSHA in the future, contact Shell.
Over a decade in the offing and delayed more by politics than science, OSHA has finally promulgated an ergonomics standard (29 CFR 1910.900), which will become effective on January 16, 2001. The standard requires that when an employee reports a musculoskeletal disorder the employer must review risk factors associated with the job, and establish an ergonomics program for that job if the risk factors meet an action trigger established in the standard. For information on the standard and how it may apply to you, contact Shell.
