Litigation-PFAS

Litigation

Fearing PFAS Compliance Deadlines, Utilities Seek Schedule In SDWA Case

Water utilities are urging the D.C. Circuit to finalize a briefing schedule for litigation challenging the Biden-era PFAS drinking water limits, arguing the case should be resolved quickly on the merits due to looming compliance deadlines for the utilities. “Water Associations believe they will be prejudiced by further delay in the resolution of the merits of these consolidated cases,” the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), petitioners in the litigation, said in a Sept...

Water Utility Groups Motion

Sept. 16 Court Order


3M To Appeal Federal Ruling Remanding Texas PFAS Suit To State Court

3M is planning to appeal a recent federal district court’s decision to remand to state court Texas’ litigation alleging 3M and DuPont misrepresented the safety of their PFAS-containing consumer products, disputing the district court’s finding that the case is not effectively a class action and hence should not be heard in federal court. “[T]his case presents a serious legal question about the application of [the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA)] -- one the Fifth Circuit has not squarely answered, and...

3M Memorandum

3M Emergency Motion

Sept. 26 Order

Sept. 24 Order


Michigan Regulators Weigh Legal Options After PFAS Rules Struck Down

Michigan regulators are weighing their legal options after a state appeals court, on remand and in a split decision, again struck down the state’s PFAS drinking water limits and found that none of the procedural issues the Michigan Supreme Court cited to vacate an earlier decision to throw out the regulations affect the litigation’s viability. In a 2-1 decision , the Michigan Court of Appeals Sept. 19 reinstated a lower court’s order holding that Michigan’s drinking water regulations for seven...

In Test, Air Force Urges Panel To Send New Mexico State Claims To MDL

The Air Force is urging a joint judicial panel to reject New Mexico’s opposition to sending the state’s latest PFAS cleanup lawsuit to multidistrict litigation (MDL) governing firefighting foam contamination claims, arguing the new state law claims mirror federal waste law claims previously overseen and then dismissed by the MDL court. The case could test what recourse states have in pursuing their per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) cleanup claims against federal facilities. The Air Force in a Sept. 10 brief...

Air Force’s Response Brief

New Mexico’s Reply Brief


In Surprise, EPA Decides To Retain Landmark Biden-Era CERCLA PFAS Rule

In a surprise move, EPA has told a federal appellate court it is planning to retain the Biden-era rule designating two legacy PFAS as “hazardous substances” under the Superfund law, clearing the way for the agency to defend the measure in a pending industry suit despite recent reports that one top EPA official advocated for the agency to oppose the rule. “EPA has reviewed the underlying rule and has decided to keep the Rule in place,” the agency says in...

Motion

Declaration


Parties Eye December Deadline To Complete Briefing On SDWA PFAS Rule

EPA and other parties involved in litigation challenging Biden-era PFAS drinking water limits are hoping to complete by the end of the year the briefing that will determine the fate of the landmark rule, proposing a schedule to the D.C. Circuit that would consider “the need for prompt resolution of merits briefing in these consolidated cases.” The Sept. 12 joint unopposed motion to establish briefing format and schedule from the various parties comes soon after the Trump EPA formally asked...

Trump EPA Asks D.C. Circuit To Vacate Four PFAS Drinking Water Limits

The Trump EPA is urging the D.C. Circuit to vacate four of six Biden-era drinking water standards for PFAS, arguing the agency did not follow mandatory procedural requirements when it promulgated them, in an effort to quickly resolve legal questions over whether officials can follow through on their plan to withdraw the landmark limits. The Biden “EPA initially attempted to defend the Rule against forceful legal challenges raised in these petitions for review,” the Trump EPA says in a Sept...

Motion For Partial Vacatur

Court Order


Split Over SDWA PFAS Case, EPA, Parties Again Ask Court For More Time

The Trump EPA and other parties are split over how to proceed in litigation over the Biden-era PFAS drinking water limits and are again asking the D.C. Circuit for more time, until Sept. 12, to confer on a joint proposal for a briefing schedule to continue litigation. “The parties are conferring in good faith on a briefing schedule, but have not yet reached consensus,” the parties said in an unopposed joint motion to govern filed late Sept. 10. “To afford...

Citing EPA, DOJ Seeks To Delay AFFF MDL Scrutiny Of CERCLA Claims

The Justice Department (DOJ) is asking the court overseeing multi-district litigation (MDL) on PFAS contamination from firefighting foam to stay or deny consideration of a variety of Superfund cost claims, pointing in part to uncertainty over EPA’s active review of the Biden-era rule designating two PFAS as hazardous substances. In a Sept. 8 motion , DOJ asks the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina to hold in abeyance Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) sections...

New Mexico Urges Judicial Panel To Send PFAS Suit Back To State Court

New Mexico is urging a federal judicial panel to reject Air Force efforts to move its recently filed lawsuit against the service over PFAS releases to the massive multidistrict litigation (MDL) over firefighting foam, arguing the suit belongs in state court in a case that could test what recourse states have in pursuing their claims against federal facilities. In an Aug. 20 brief , New Mexico Attorney General (AG) Raul Torrez told the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML)...

Judge Scolds Plaintiffs For Seeking To Avoid AFFF MDL In Injury Claims

The judge overseeing multidistrict litigation (MDL) on PFAS contamination from firefighting foam is making clear that personal injury claims stemming from exposure to turnout gear and other sources belong in the MDL, admonishing plaintiffs for seeking to skirt the MDL through “artful pleading” that alleges their PFAS exposures have no link to foam. The judge’s position, spelled out in an Aug. 22 case management order , could be welcome news for defendant manufacturers, as keeping the suits in federal court...

Judge Stays CWA PFAS Citizen Suit Amid Plaintiff Fears Of EPA Intervention

A federal judge has granted chemical manufacturer Chemours’ request to stay a Clean Water Act (CWA) citizen suit seeking to enforce discharge limits at its West Virginia plant while the company appeals a landmark preliminary injunction requiring the facility to immediately comply with its permit and limit its releases. While the Aug. 22 order maintains the preliminary injunction, which Chemours did not seek to stay, it is nonetheless a blow to the plaintiffs -- West Virginia Rivers Coalition (WVRC) and...

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