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When a responsible party agrees to clean up a contaminated site under many programs, the government often demands that it provide financial assurance for the completion of the work. When hazardous substances will remain on the site, the site may require response in perpetuity. Can one specify an amount of financial assurance to secure the forever cleanup? Earlier this spring, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court considered that question in a case involving cleanup of a site in Ford City. See PennEnvironment v. Department of Environmental Protection, No. 566 C.D. 2024 (Pa. Commw. Ct. Mar. 11, 2025).…

Continue Reading Financial Assurance for Cleanup in Perpetuity

The Pennsylvania appellate courts decided a relatively large number of environmental cases during 2018. This survey briefly characterizes those cases under the following categories: Environmental Rights Amendment; pre-emption of local…

Continue Reading Significant Environmental Cases in Pa. Courts During 2018 (Part 1)

Jillian Kirn authored an article titled “Constant Vigilance: Why Environmental Criminal Enforcement Still Matters” in The Legal Intelligencer.

According to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearing House (TRAC), federal

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Continue Reading Constant Vigilance: Why Environmental Criminal Enforcement Still Matters

Kathleen Kline authored an article in The Legal Intelligencer titled “Recent Opinions Hold Differing Views on Point Source Discharges Into Waters.”

The article explores two recent opinions from the U.S.

Continue Reading Recent Opinions Hold Differing Views on Point Source Discharges Into Waters

On July 23, 2018, Mexico published new administrative provisions (the “Guidelines”) implementing minimum insurance requirements for entities engaged in activities related to transportation, storage, distribution, compression, decompression, liquefaction, regasification, or…
Continue Reading Minimum Insurance Requirements for Regulated Entities in the Hydrocarbon Sector in Mexico

On July 29, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) adopted a new rule for the Brownfields Cleanup Program (BCP) to effectuate the brownfield amendments passed by the Legislature last year.
Continue Reading New York State Regulator Finalizes Definitions Under Amended Brownfield Program Relating to Eligibility For Tangible Property Credits For New York City Brownfield Projects

On May 22, 2014, the Supreme Court of Florida reversed the Fifth District Court of Appeals in the case of South Florida Water Management District v. RLI Live Oak, LLC, No. SC 12-2336 (Fla. May 22, 2014), an appeal brought by the water management district over the applicable burden of proof when imposing civil penalties.  The Florida Supreme Court held that, when “the Legislature statutorily authorizes a state governmental agency to recover a ‘civil penalty’ in a ‘court of competent jurisdiction’ but does not specify the agency’s burden of proof, the agency is not required under Osborne [Department of Banking & Finance v. Osborne Stern & Co, 670 So. 2d 932 (Fla. 1996)] to prove the alleged violation by clear and convincing evidence, but rather by a preponderance of the evidence.”
Continue Reading Standard of Proof for Civil Penalties in Florida is “Preponderance” not “Clear and Convincing”