Insights

Washington – June 6, 2024: Crowell & Moring earned 78 rankings for 67 lawyers, as well as 41 national and statewide practice area rankings, in the Chambers USA 2024 guide. The rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers at peer firms.

Washington – May 29, 2024: Crowell & Moring has been selected as one of the top five “Best Law Firms for Women and Diversity” by Seramount, a professional services and research firm dedicated to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. This marks the 13thyear in a row that Crowell has been recognized as one of the nation’s best law firms for employing best practices in recruiting, retaining, promoting, and developing women lawyers and lawyers from underrepresented backgrounds.

On April 19, 2024, EPA signed the highly anticipated final rule designating two types of PFAS as hazardous substances under section 102(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”).  At the same time, David M. Uhlmann, Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance of the EPA, released an enforcement policy memorandum that provides “direction to all EPA enforcement and compliance staff about how EPA will exercise its enforcement discretion under CERCLA in matters involving PFAS, just as EPA exercises enforcement discretion regarding other hazardous substances.”  This alert summarizes key points from the enforcement policy and flags various uncertainties that lie ahead. 

On April 20, the Biden Administration published final changes to the rules governing how federal agencies consider the environmental impacts of their proposed actions, returning to previous standards that required consideration of indirect and cumulative effects of a proposed action. Although the rule changes may appear minimal, encompassing modifications to two specific regulatory subsections and updates to two definitions, the changes could be significant in how agencies consider impacts on environmental justice communities or effects of climate change from proposed federal actions, including federal agency authorizations and approvals for energy, transportation, and other infrastructure projects. 

On April 20, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its opinion in Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Christian, et al., allowing Montana landowners to pursue state law claims for damages within an EPA-managed Superfund site, but requiring EPA approval of any remedial work beyond the originally selected remedy. Many commentators and legal scholars have suggested the case opens a veritable Pandora’s Box of new litigation. We submit that the consequences will likely be less dramatic, in part because of the unusual legal remedy under Montana law for a landowner whose property becomes contaminated by another party is not widely available outside Montana.

The ABA Section of Energy, Environment, and Resources is hosting an advanced-level conference for CERCLA practitioners offering in-depth discussion on matters related to Superfund site re-openers, and remedy revision to manage changing site conditions or hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants not anticipated in the original remedy. Attendees will gain insight into the finer points of an advanced Superfund practice. 

The 51st Spring Conference on Environmental Law is focused on the future of environmental law and how emerging topics and trends are fundamentally changing our practices. The last several years have been transformative for our society, the environment, and the way we practice law. COVID-19 and the growing frequency of intense weather events attributed to climate change have brought greater attention to the need for action by governments and companies and greater engagement by the public and NGOs.

The National Energy Industry Environmental Law Conference is designed primarily for energy attorneys. This conference will provide energy professionals with opportunities to network with their peers from in-house and law firm environments to build relationships that will benefit them professionally.

Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

Partner Amanda Berman will be presenting the session "Regulatory Roulette: The State of Play Under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Other Major Environmental Statutes" at 10:45 am on Wednesday, March 24th.

As regulated industries continue to confront mounting disruptions and, in some cases, temporary shutdown as a consequence of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, they face the added challenge of managing a range of unrelenting environmental compliance obligations at both the federal and state levels.