Blog

Law and the Environment

Our blog provides perspective on developments in environmental law and policy - which developments may matter to you, and how and why they matter. Whether you are a manufacturer or a power plant developer, a renewable energy developer or hoping to be a renewable energy consumer, this blog offers commentary on current issues that are important to your business.

EPA Still Has Authority to Regulate in the Face of Uncertainty
Blog August 28, 2026
Last week, in Chamber of Commerce v. EPA, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected challenges to EPA’s decision to list PFOA and PFOS, the two most prominent PFAS compounds, as hazardous substances under CERCLA…
EPA Proposes to Revisit PFAS Drinking Water Rules
Blog May 19, 2026
On May 18, 2026, EPA proposed two significant changes to the federal drinking water regulations for PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), commonly known as “forever chemicals.”…
Superfund May Be Fundamentally Broken, But That Doesn't Mean that It Can't Be Improved
Blog July 02, 2025
Followers of this blog will know that I am not a fan of CERCLA. It is not merely because CERCLA is so poorly drafted…
Navigating Sites with PFAS Through the Superfund Process Is Going to Be a Bumpy Ride
Blog September 04, 2024
​​​​​​​For most of this century, I’ve been asked with some regularity whether Superfund was dead. I’ve always considered that question to be a victory of hope over expectation. Notwithstanding frequent criticism, frequently deserved, Superfund refuses to go away…
Vermont Enacts a "Climate Superfund Act" - Uh-Oh!
Blog June 04, 2024
Last week, Vermont became the first state to enact a “Climate Superfund” law. As I noted in January, I fear that this will not end well. It seems odd to model a statute on a law frequently given the accolade – deserved, in my view – of the worst statute ever written. Moreover, the Vermont Climate Superfund Act does not seem to reflect any effort to address any of the flaws in the original Superfund law…
EPA Designates PFAS as Hazardous Substances; EPA Is More Confident Than I Am that the Sky Isn't Falling
Blog April 21, 2024
Last Friday, EPA formally designated perfluorooctanoic acid and Perfluorooctanesulfonic Act – including their salts and structural isomers! – as hazardous substances under CERCLA. I cannot really quarrel with the underlying decision to list PFOA and PFOS. Given the developing evidence about the risks that they pose, it’s difficult to argue that they are not in fact “hazardous substances.”…
Superfund Is Short of Money. Can It Be Fixed By Tinkering Around the Edges?
Blog March 28, 2024
This week, Inside EPA ran a story indicating that EPA is trying to figure out how to juggle some increasingly expensive cleanups with shortfalls in Superfund tax revenue. The story notes that EPA is adding expensive new sites to the National Priorities List, while also anticipating new costs resulting from PFAS regulation and more stringent lead cleanup levels…
How Brown is Brown Enough? An Update on the IRA ITC Adder for Brownfield Sites
Blog February 12, 2024
It is now almost 18 months since Congress enacted the Inflation Reduction Act. One of the IRA’s provisions was an adder to the ITC for renewable energy projects located in an “energy community." One way to be in an energy community is to be a brownfield.  The IRA defined a brownfield simply as a facility that meets the definition of a brownfield under CERCLA…
The Original Superfund Worked So Well; Let’s Replicate It to Deal with Climate Change!
Blog January 29, 2024
As I’ve noted many times, criticizing CERCLA is like shooting fish in a barrel.  Apparently, however, my criticism is not universally shared.  According to WBUR, some legislators around the country are so pleased with how well CERCLA works that they have proposed a “Climate Superfund Act,” replicating CERCLA in order to fund climate resiliency projects as well as projects to repair damages caused by climate change…
1 of 17

ABOUT

In today’s fast changing world, almost all of us get our news – including our news about developments in environmental law and policy – electronically. This blog is not intended to be a substitute for the BNA™, or Greenwire™, or Google™, although we do hope that we will be able on occasion to let you know about issues that haven’t yet come to your attention.

What we really want to accomplish is to be able to provide some perspective on those developments. We’ll try to tell you which developments may matter to you. And why they matter. And how they matter. Whether you are a manufacturer or a power plant developer, whether you are a renewable energy developer or hoping to be a renewable energy consumer, whether you are a municipality or public agency or university, we want to comment on current issues in a way that is useful to you in your business.

Frankly, this blog also provides us with the opportunity to introduce you to Foley Hoag’s Environmental Practice Group. Our practice has been New England’s preeminent environmental practice for the past twenty years. We have the depth and capacity to handle the wide array of environmental issues that can arise in the course of your business. We will work with you to resolve any environmental issues that must be addressed in order for you to achieve your business goals – from permitting new projects to cost-effective cleanup of urban Brownfields properties to implementation of cost-effective due diligence in the support of acquisitions to navigating the emerging world of climate change regulations.

We will also assist you in the defense and prosecution of environmental litigation. As a result of our service to our clients, we have attained a national reputation in environmental matters. Our lawyers have built an impressive record resolving environmental disputes at the negotiating table and in the courtroom, and a number of our cases have produced precedents of national importance.

The scope of this blog will be commensurate with the scope of our practice. We’ll cover climate change, renewable energy, hazardous and solid waste, clean air and water, sustainability and green design. You name it, if it’s got an acronym attached to it, we’ll cover it.

As the headline indicates, we want to inform, update, comment, and discuss. In other words, while we’re going to enjoy posting, we’ll enjoy the blog more – and its usefulness will increase – if we hear from you also. Please comment on the blog entries. Let us know about developments we missed or implications of our discussions that we did not consider.

We look forward to the conversation.