Partner Stephanie Feingold provided a mid-year update on select environmental policy developments we’ve seen so far in 2022.
One development Stephanie noted is a White House proposal to designate perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid as hazardous chemicals under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).
This would be the first designation of a chemical as a hazardous substance under CERCLA directly by rulemaking instead of through reference to another statutory framework, Stephanie said, noting that there are potentially wide-ranging impacts to several companies and industries both for operating sites and historic sites currently undergoing cleanups.
“It could expand the scope and cost of investigations, it could possibly delay current investigations, it could result in potential reopener of sites that people thought were done and the remediation completed, and it will also trigger release reporting requirements under CERCLA and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.”