Municipalities across the country have attempted to place restrictions on the use of fracking associated with oil & gas drilling. Most cases involve outright bans on fracking or more rigorous permitting requirements. Ohio was no different. Other states, like Pennsylvania and New York, both allowed local regulation of fracking. Ohio was different
Why Businesses Should Consider an Environmental Audit?
An environmental audit is a self-evaluation of current compliance with applicable environmental regulations. The audit is typically performed by an outside environmental consultant. However, more sophisticated businesses can utilize advanced electronic compliance tools or their own EHS personnel.
An audit can be wide in scope (i.e. compliance with all applicable regulations) or it can review
Environmental Insurance- A Top Broker Discusses Seven Key Aspects of this Specialty Coverage
I interviewed Rob Snyder of the Fedeli Group. (click link to Rob’s contact information) Rob has more than 20 years of experience as a broker of environmental insurance. He has obtained everything from standard pollution liability insurance to brownfield insurance on highly complex cleanups. He has familiarity with all of the major carriers that
U.S. EPA Regulates Coal Ash under Subtitle D
Following a failure of the dike at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Tennessee which received national attention, the Obama Administration announced it would re-evaluate regulation of coal combustion residuals (CCR) or coal ash.
The Administration’s key decision was whether to regulate CCR under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) as
NPDES Permit Pre-Empts RCRA?
An interesting case involving the interplay of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and RCRA highlights the complexity of sites that trigger multiple environmental statutes. The U.S. District Court of Maryland in Sherrill, et al. v. The Mayor and the City Council of Baltimore, 2014 WL 3555956 ruled that an NPDES Construction Storm Water Permit
Review of Compliance with Job Commitments in State Incentive Packages
The Attorney General’s Office completed its review of compliance with job commitments the state received in exchange for various incentives. Here is the summary of its findings:
- Workforce Compliance Rate: 100% (49 of 49 awards in substantial compliance)
- Grant Compliance Rate: 74.4% (29 of 39)
- Tax Credit Compliance Rate: 62.4% (78 of 125)
- Loan Compliance
EPA’s Long Anticipated Ozone Decision
On November 25th, U.S. EPA finally issued the long anticipated proposal to reduce the ozone standard. The EPA is proposing to revise both the primary and secondary standards to a level within the range of 65 parts per billion (ppb) to 70 ppb. The current (2008) ozone standard is 75 ppb. Under the Clean
Local Governments, Land Banks and Brownfield Properties
One of the issues that has prevented local governments from being more aggressive in addressing brownfields has been liability concerns associated with existing environmental contamination. Prior to 2009, some local governments learned the hard way that placing their name in the chain of title as an "owner" exposed the local government to liability under CERCLA
Waters of the United States?
Do you believe this is a stream that has a "significant nexus" to a navigable waterway (current test established under Rapanos by Supreme Court Justice Kennedy)
Is it reasonable to require a Federal Section 404 and State
Overview of the Ohio EPA Enforcement Process
The Ohio EPA enforcement process can appear to be a mystery, especially to companies that find themselves the subject of an EPA visit for the first time. This post provides a general overview of the Ohio EPA civil enforcement process.
Step 1: The Inspection
The enforcement process starts with the inspection. The inspections can be announced