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POSTED BY: terresa bakner and jordyn conwayLandowners in New York State should be aware that the State has moved to expand the freshwater wetlands that the State regulates. In 2022 the State Legislature and the Governor adopted amendments to the law and the NYSDEC has just proposed regulations to implement the law. The public comment period is open on the proposed regulations which NYSDEC has said will regulate an additional one million acres of wetlands in the State. What may have previously [...]

EPA has recently proposed bans on both perchloroethylene (“PCE”)[i] and trichloroethylene (TCE)[ii].  Both bans are proposed under Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) which gives EPA authority to prohibit the manufacturing, processing, distribution, and import of a chemical.  The proposed bans followed EPA’s risk determinations under TSCA that both PCE and TCE present an unreasonable risk of injury to human health when evaluated under their conditions [...]

On July 25, 2023, EPA announced proposed amendments to the Air Emissions Reporting Requirements (AERR) rule.  In a change, the proposal includes mandatory reporting of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Currently, New York requires some HAP reporting, but the proposal would expand this. See 6 NYCRR 202-2.3 (c)(9). The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on August 9, 2023.[i]  The public comment period has been extended twice, and now until November 17, 2023.The AERR rule [...]

Posted By: Terresa Bakner, Charles Gottlieb and Jordyn ConwayIntroduction:On May 25, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) released an opinion, in Sackett v. EPA, seeking to clarify the definition of “Water of the United States” (WOTUS) for the purposes of federal regulation. [1] The decision, written by Justice Alito, confronts years of uncertainty and confusion regarding the “significant nexus” test that has been relied on by the Biden, Trump, and [...]

Over the last three years, Whiteman Osterman and Hanna attorneys Thomas Shepardson and T.J. Ruane have brought dozens of lawsuits against some of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders and servicers on behalf of several New York State municipalities under the State’s Zombie Property Law (New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law §1308, et seq.). Their efforts have resulted in court orders and judgments requiring these lenders and servicers to remediate, and in a few [...]