By Andrew H. Perellis and Patrick D. Joyce
In the recently released decision in Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), 575 U.S. ____, 135 S.Ct. 1199 (2015), Supreme Court Justices Scalia and Thomas expressed their discontent with agency deference under the “Auer doctrine.”
Another Seyfarth blog, the Wage & Hour Litigation Blog, discusses the major holding
Continue Reading Judicial Deference to Informal Agency Interpretations: Could this be the Beginning of the End for Auer?
By Andrew H. Perellis, Patrick D. Joyce, and Craig B. Simonsen
The Fifth Circuit recently held that a seller of dry cleaning chemicals did not assume Superfund “arranger” liability by merely selling a useful but hazardous chemical with the intent that it be used by a dry cleaning business that then subsequently discharged the contaminant into ground water.
Continue Reading Court Finds that Sale of Hazardous Chemicals Isn’t Disposal Absent Intent to Dispose
By Andrew H. Perellis and Patrick D. Joyce
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a district court must provide deeper scrutiny to Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. §9601 et seq. (1980), consent decrees.
The August 1, 2014 decision in State of Arizona v. Ashton Company Inc. Contractors and Engineers, et al.,
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Puts the Brakes on CERCLA Settlement Process
By Robert J. Carty, Jr., Dennis A. Clifford, Philip L. Comella, A. Donald Lepore III, Esteban Shardonofsky, Clark Smith
We have just published Seyfarth Shaw’s Energy Insights Newsletter, prepared by the Energy and Clean Technologies team. It covers important developments in the second quarter of 2014 for the energy industry, including: 1) the Department of
Continue Reading Energy Insights: An Update from the Second Quarter of 2014
The 2014 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business ranked 63 Seyfarth Shaw attorneys as leaders in their fields, across each of the firm’s ten U.S. offices, including Philip L. Comella and Andrew H. Perellis, partners in the Environmental, Safety & Toxic Torts Group.
Continue Reading Environmental Group Partners Recognized in Chambers USA 2014 Rankings
Where individual questions overwhelm questions common to the class, a class action cannot be maintained. This simple concept has met with mixed results when applied to the question of whether a class action can proceed for claims based on contaminated groundwater underlying the property of putative class members.
The determination of whether individual questions overwhelm often
Continue Reading Parko v. Shell Oil – Seventh Circuit Douses Class Action Where No One is Drinking Contaminated Groundwater
By Andrew H. Perellis and Craig B. Simonsen
EPA has amended its Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment Rule. 78 Fed. Reg. 66643 (Nov. 6, 2013).
Under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA), the EPA is required to amend its regulations for adjusting for inflation the statutory
Continue Reading EPA Amends (Slightly) the Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment Rule
By Andrew H. Perellis, Jeryl L. Olson, and Craig B. Simonsen
The Third Circuit concludes that the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency may not force former facility owners to obtain missing preconstruction permits or to install missing pollution controls on a plant that they no longer own or operate — as it did not cry foul until more
Continue Reading Third Circuit Finds Enforcement Action Time-Barred Because the Failure to Obtain a Preconstruction Permit is Not a Continuing Violation of the Clean Air Act
By Andrew H. Perellis and Craig B. Simonsen
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday resuscitated a proposed class action alleging the release of toxic emissions from a coal-fired power plant, finding that the Clean Air Act does not preempt certain state law claims brought by property owners. Bell, et al., v. Cheswick Generating Station, No. 12-4216 (3rd Cir.
Continue Reading Third Circuit Holds That Clean Air Act Does Not Preempt State Tort Claims
By Andrew H. Perellis and Ilana R. Morady
Local governments routinely condition the approval of land use permits on fees and dedications. From park fees to land dedications for future public use, such conditions are commonplace. Now, the U.S. Supreme Court will have local governments thinking twice before imposing conditions like these on land developers.
Why?
In Koontz v. St.
Continue Reading Commonplace Land Permitting Conditions Called into Question by Supreme Court in Koontz v. St. John’s Water Management District