Waste

From brownfields to Superfund sites, and from coal waste rules to handling hazardous waste, this section tracks EPA's efforts to tackle a wide-ranging waste agenda.

Topic Subtitle
From brownfields to Superfund sites, and from coal waste rules to handling hazardous waste, this section tracks EPA's efforts to tackle a wide-ranging waste agenda.

EPA Defends Phosphogypsum Approval, Charging CBD Lacks Standing

EPA is seeking to dismiss environmentalists’ challenge to its Biden-era approval of a small-scale pilot project allowing a Florida company to use phosphogypsum (PG) in road construction, charging that the petitioner lacks standing and that the agency properly interpreted the Clean Air Act’s section 112(r) provisions when it approved the project. EPA filed a Sept. 12 response brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in the suit Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) v. EPA, et al....

Longer Timelines For DOD PFAS Cleanups May Boost Transparency Bills

The Defense Department’s (DOD) quiet release of an updated schedule showing delays for PFAS cleanup work could fuel support for pending legislation included in the House version of the fiscal year 2026 defense policy bill that would require greater public transparency from the department on its PFAS cleanup efforts. Reacting to findings that DOD has extended the timeline for cleaning up PFAS contamination at numerous sites, Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI), co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force, says...

GAO Urges DOE To Step Up Efforts To Determine PFAS Cleanup Needs

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is pressing the Energy Department (DOE) to step up efforts -- and set a deadline -- for surveying the more than 100 sites it has yet to investigate for historical and current uses of PFAS, data GAO says will be key to prioritizing cleanups and estimating costs. GAO points out that while DOE policy memos direct all of DOE’s sites to characterize per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) use, they lack clear deadlines for completing such...

Padilla Eyes Relief For PFAS Passive Receivers As Bill Remains Uncertain

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), a member of the Senate environment committee, is signaling he is leaving the door open to supporting a bill limiting Superfund liability for a narrow set of “passive receivers” of PFAS contamination, a sign that any effort to enact such protections could win bipartisan support though the panel has yet to advance legislation. Padilla “recognizes the importance of this issue and wants to work with other [Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW)] members to develop legislation...

Industry Warns Court Ruling Could Allow ‘Effectively Unlimited’ NRD Claims

Industry officials are warning that the recent 9th Circuit ruling allowing Superfund natural resource damages (NRD) claims connected to the cultural uses of contaminated land could open the door for state, federal and tribal trustees to pursue “effectively unlimited” claims for damages. “Companies may need to prepare for more and broader claims, potentially driving higher settlement demands and extended litigation,” lawyers at K&L Gates warn in a Sept. 22 post . “Project sponsors should carefully consider how to address losses...

Groups Applaud EPA’s Good Samaritan Guide But Seek Clear Definitions

Industry groups and water utilities are applauding EPA’s draft guidance implementing its congressionally authorized pilot program that limits environmental liabilities for so-called Good Samaritans that seek to voluntarily clean up hardrock mine sites, though they urge the agency to revise certain definitions to provide clarity. The National Mining Association (NMA) and American Exploration and Mining Association (AEMA) filed Sept. 12 comments on EPA’s guidance, touting the bipartisan legislation establishing the program as providing “conservation, mining, and local stakeholders the opportunity...

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...

Environmental Groups Charge EPA Legacy CCR Delays Violate RCRA, APA

Environmentalists are charging that EPA’s proposal to extend compliance deadlines in the Biden-era rule governing legacy coal combustion residuals (CCR) surface impoundments violates the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act’s (RCRA) protectiveness standard and is arbitrary and capricious, teeing up a likely legal challenge. A coalition of eight environmental groups filed Sept. 15 comments on EPA’s proposed rule that would delay compliance deadlines in the agency’s rule governing legacy CCR surface impoundments and CCR management units (CCRMU), defined as any area...

Environmentalists Urge EPA Against Legacy CCR Rule Compliance Delays

Environmental groups are urging EPA against finalizing its proposal to delay compliance deadlines under a Biden-era rule governing legacy coal combustion residual (CCR) surface impoundments, emphasizing that the extensions lack justification and pose a significant public health risk. Their arguments came during a Sept. 12 EPA public hearing on its proposed rule that extends deadlines in the Biden legacy CCR rule, as the agency prepares broader, substantive revisions to the legacy site rules. Environmentalists were quick to criticize the agency’s...

EPA Plans To Weigh Costs In Future CERCLA Listings, Sparking Criticism

EPA’s plan to develop a framework rule governing future designations of “hazardous substances” under the Superfund law, which the agency announced it will craft after deciding to retain the Biden-era rule designating two PFAS, is raising concerns that it will adopt cost as a factor, which one environmentalist says is at odds with the law. The agency announced its plan for the framework rule alongside its surprise decision to retain the landmark rule designating two legacy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances...

Groups Decry Failure Of Bill To Ease CEQA Rollbacks, But Laud New Effort

Environmental and equity groups are strongly criticizing California lawmakers for failing to pass a bill this year to “clean up” or ease rollbacks of the state’s umbrella environmental protection statute that legislators approved as part of the budget, but they are lauding new legislation to address their concerns that will be considered early next year. “We are immensely grateful to [Assemblyman Damon Connolly, D-San Rafael] and the coalition of legislators who listened to the outpouring of concern from frontline communities...

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


Blunting Industry Fear, New Jersey Finds PFAS In Soil Below Cleanup Limits

New Jersey regulators have detected various PFAS in surface soil across the state though the concentrations were found to be below interim soil cleanup standards, effectively blunting industry fears that soil remediation standards for four PFAS might be too stringent for liable parties to attain due to the ubiquity of PFAS in the environment. “Despite the widespread occurrence of many PFAS compounds, no sample had concentrations exceeding [New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP)] current interim residential or non-residential” soil...

Soil Study

Fact Sheet


Environmentalists Threaten New CWA Plastic Suit After Pennsylvania Deal

Environmentalists are threatening to sue two companies over discharges of large amounts of plastic pellets in South Carolina under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), just days after other groups finalized a precedent-setting CWA settlement against a company over plastic discharges into a Pennsylvania river. In a Sept. 10 notice of intent to sue , the group Congaree Riverkeeper warned Alpek Polyester USA and Eastman Chemical Company, who jointly operate a plastic plant near...

OIG to assess federal Superfund sites’ wildfire, flood risk

EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) is launching new evaluations to assess risks to federal Superfund sites from wildfires and inland flooding, continuing a Biden-era series initially intended to compile information on federal facility sites from climate change-driven natural disasters -- though the new reports will not mention climate directly. In two Sept. 11 notifications, OIG told EPA officials it will begin an evaluation to “identify which federal facility Superfund sites on the National Priorities List are at risk” from...

Backers Acknowledge Chemical Recycling Technology Needs Improvement

In a rare public debate with environmentalists, supporters of controversial chemical recycling processes conceded the most prominent of the technologies -- which the plastics industry has touted as a solution to the growing plastic pollution crisis -- must be improved to become more viable for large-scale recycling. In an Aug. 27 webinar held by the Environmental Law Institute, titled “Chemical Recycling: More Pollution? Or a Sustainability Solution for Plastic?”, chemical industry representatives and pro-chemical recycling researchers expressed optimism that the...

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