As the April column in this series pointed out, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 reinstituted the Superfund chemical excise tax. Somehow, more than a few of our
Continue Reading A Brief Overview of the Superfund Chemical Excise Tax
David Mandelbaum
David G. Mandelbaum represents clients facing problems under environmental laws. He regularly represents clients in lawsuits and also has helped clients achieve satisfactory outcomes through regulatory negotiation or private transactions. A Fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers, David teaches Superfund, and Oil and Gas Law in rotation at the Temple University Beasley School of Law as well as an environmental litigation course at Suffolk (Boston) Law School.
Since United States v. Atlas Minerals, the first multi-generator Superfund contribution case to go to trial in 1993, Mr. Mandelbaum has been engaged in matters involving allocation of costs among responsible parties, especially under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). He has tried large cases and resolved others as lead counsel. He has written, spoken, and taught extensively on the subject. More recently he also has been engaged to assist lead counsel from this firm and others:
- to develop cost allocation methodologies;
- to craft expert testimony in support of a favored methodology (given a definition of “fairness,” why one methodology better tracks it than another);
- to develop efficient case management approaches; and to assist private allocation as part of the neutral team.
Concentrations
- Air, water and waste regulation
- Superfund and contamination
- Climate change
- Oil and gas development
- Water rights
Procedure or Substance and Natural or Built Under the ERA
This column seeks to sharpen up two large issues under the first sentence of Section 27 of the Environmental Rights Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution, Article I, the one granting
…
Continue Reading Procedure or Substance and Natural or Built Under the ERA
Storm Sewers and Impervious Cover in Maryland: A Further Update
The Maryland Department of the Environment has for many years sought to meet its obligations under the Clean Water Act and the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load in part…
Continue Reading Storm Sewers and Impervious Cover in Maryland: A Further Update
Two Big Trends Around the Corner for Environmental Law
Consider two longer-term trends in environmental law and policy: (a) refocusing from rural and wild places to the environment where people are, and (b) dealing with the regulatory advantage given…
Continue Reading Two Big Trends Around the Corner for Environmental Law
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Remedial Programs
Known colloquially as the BIF—the bipartisan infrastructure framework—or sometimes as the “bipartisan infrastructure bill,” even though it is no longer a bill, IIJA authorizes over a trillion dollars to an
…
Continue Reading The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Remedial Programs
Supreme Court Grants Stay of Lower Court Ruling That Vacated Trump Water Rule
On April 6, the Supreme Court used the “Shadow Docket” to reinstate a Trump administration regulation governing state water quality certifications under section 401 of the Clean Water Act. Louisiana …
Continue Reading Supreme Court Grants Stay of Lower Court Ruling That Vacated Trump Water Rule
UPDATE: Property Damage Claims Even After Cleanup Under Massachusetts General Laws Chap. 21E
In 2018 I commented on this blog about an opinion of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court concerning a claim by the developer of a condominium development against the City of…
Continue Reading UPDATE: Property Damage Claims Even After Cleanup Under Massachusetts General Laws Chap. 21E
A Conversation About ‘Fairness’ in Superfund Allocation
Superfund lawyers often confront vexing problems in allocating responsibility among parties jointly and severally liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). Litigation cost is prominent among…
Continue Reading A Conversation About ‘Fairness’ in Superfund Allocation
What Impact Review Does the Pennsylvania ERA Require?
Last month, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court decided another in a series of cases applying the Environmental Rights Amendment to municipal land use decisions involving the oil and gas industry. That…
Continue Reading What Impact Review Does the Pennsylvania ERA Require?
Local Preemption and Wetlands in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Appeals Court (the intermediate appellate court) has decided two cases this month addressing when a local conservation commission can impose conditions on development that affects wetlands in addition…
Continue Reading Local Preemption and Wetlands in Massachusetts