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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”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized standards today that are designed to protect fish and other aquatic life drawn each year into cooling water systems at large power plants and factories.  The rule addresses impingement issues and heat damages that can be caused by cooling water intake structures at large industrial facilities and power plants.

The final rule establishes requirements under the Clean Water Act for all existing power generating facilities and existing manufacturing and industrial facilities that withdraw more than 2 million gallons per day of water from waters of the U.S. and use at least 25 percent of the water they withdraw exclusively for cooling purposes. The rule covers roughly 1,065 existing facilities –521 factories and 544 power plants.Continue Reading EPA Releases Cooling Water Intake Rule