PFAS continues to be an area of focus for EPA and state agencies, as well as an ever-increasing litigation risk for companies that have manufactured, imported, processed, or otherwise.
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Biden-Harris Administration Freezes Rules Pending Review
On January 20, 2021, Ronald A. Klain, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, issued a memorandum regarding “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review.” 86 Fed. Reg. 7424. For rules that have not yet taken effect, the memorandum directs the heads of executive departments and agencies to consider postponing the rules’ effective dates for 60 days from the date of the memorandum for the purpose of reviewing any questions of fact, law, and policy the rules may raise. For postponed rules, during the 60-day period, the memorandum asks agencies to consider opening a 30-day comment period to allow interested parties to provide comments about issues of fact, law, and policy raised by those rules, and consider pending petitions for reconsideration involving such rules. Where necessary to continue to review these questions of fact, law, and policy, agencies should consider further delaying, o
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The Biden Administration is seeking to advance “environmental justice” (EJ) through its policy and regulatory priorities in a way that no administration has before. Environmental justice which seeks to address disproportionate environmental impacts on racial minorities, Native American tribes, and disadvantaged communities is hardly a new concept. But in recent months, a variety of political, social, and economic forces has combined to underscore EJ concerns. The Black Lives Matter movement and COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the damaging consequences of systemic racism and the heightened risks that low-income and minority populations bear, including from environmental pollution sources. These movements reignited a drive to address the excessive incidence of environmental contamination and pollution in disadvantaged communities. Some citizens, corporate shareholders, and the Biden Administration appear to share a co
The Biden administration identified environmental justice (“EJ”) as a campaign priority
1 and the Biden-Harris team has continually emphasized its commitment to environmental justice, stating that the administration would “[e]nsure that environmental justice is a key consideration in” among other things “righting wrongs in communities that bear the brunt of pollution.”
2 How the incoming administration translates its policy statements into action that directly impacts the regulated community in the enforcement context remains an open question.
There is a well-established framework for EJ programs going back several decades. EJ has grown to include a range of issues, many of which do not directly implicate enforcement. The Biden administration’s EJ focus will likely be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The differentiators may prove to be the level of focus and resources devoted to EJ issues and the extent to which EJ practice and programs become further embedded
DustBoss Atom designed for precision applications
Peoria, Illinois-based BossTek says its new DustBoss Atom has been engineered to provide an unmatched level of mobility and performance, delivering effective dust and particle suppression for new and existing applications.
With a throw of 100 feet (30 meters), the Atom’s adjustable elevation angle and user-defined oscillation allow precise aiming of a powerful dust-capturing mist comprised of millions of droplets per minute in the 50-to-200-microns range, which BossTek says is “proven to be the most efficient size for most project needs.”
The company describes the DustBoss Atom as “a true innovation in mobile dust suppression: a fan-less, self-contained design that incorporates remote control and 4G LTE telematics technologies as standard equipment to deliver an unprecedented combination of suppression and monitoring.”