Insights

Washington – January 11, 2023: Crowell & Moring has published Litigation Forecast 2023: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know for the Coming Year. The 11th-annual Litigation Forecast focuses on trends in litigation that are playing out in specific jurisdictions around the globe. 

Irvine, Calif. – January 23, 2018: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce the addition of Richard J. McNeil as a partner in the firm’s Environment & Natural Resources Group in Orange County. McNeil brings more than 30 years of private practice experience litigating and counseling on environmental matters, much of it in California, for clients in the manufacturing, chemical, land development, aerospace, metal, and insurance industries. His deep knowledge of the California environmental landscape broadens the national reach of the ENR Group.

Washington, D.C. – June 16, 2015: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce the addition of partner Thomas A. Lorenzen to the firm's Environment & Natural Resources Group. Lorenzen joins the firm from Dorsey & Whitney LLP. Prior to re-entering private practice in 2013, Lorenzen served for a decade as an assistant chief in the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Environment and Natural Resources Division, where he oversaw the government's legal defense of all Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules and regulations.

After months of anticipation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized its vapor intrusion (VI) guidelines for buildings.1Vapor intrusion is the general term for the migration of hazardous vapors from contaminated soil or groundwater through the subsurface and into nearby buildings. Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) face significant challenges in assessing the severity, liability, and potential mitigation and/or remediation of VI, particularly considering the prior patchwork of regulations and guidance in the area.

The Environmental Protection Agency published notice in the Federal Register on July 31, 2014, that it is considering significant revisions to its Risk Management Plan (RMP) rule, 40 C.F.R. pt. 68. EPA's announcement comes as a request for information entitled "Accidental Release Prevention Requirements: Risk Management Programs Under the Clean Air Act, Section 112(r)(7)." An RFI often signals a federal agency's intent to pursue notice-and-comment rulemaking.

An administrative law judge ("ALJ") at the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission held that a production-operator's responsibility for reporting a temporary employee's injury to MSHA on Form 7000-1 pursuant to 30 CFR § 50.20 was not discharged even though the injured miner's employer (the temp agency) had itself already reported the injury. The case is Dickenson-Russell Coal, VA 2009-430, decided January 16, 2013.

Elliott Laws, a Washington D.C.-based partner in the firm's Government Affairs and Environment & Natural Resources groups, shares his perspective on five questions about his own experiences breaking the glass ceiling in the legal industry. He also offers insight on the importance of diversity within law firms, and advice for firms looking to increase diversity within their ranks.

Washington, D.C.-based partner and steering committee member of the Environment & Natural Resources Group, Kirsten L. Nathanson, discusses a challenge to a federal rule cutting toxic emissions from power plants, which is one of the issues facing the Supreme Court this term. The federal rule in question limits toxic pollution, such as mercury, from coal- and oil-fired power plants, and is being appealed but 23 states and industry groups. Nathanson argues that, "The regulated community believes it was completely irrational and inappropriate for EPA to ignore the high cost," adding, "we will see if the Supreme Court latches onto it."

Are you current on the latest developments in CERCLA (Superfund) law…?

As 2023 rolls in, what changes can government contractors expect? What will be the focus of the US Government? How should contractors prepare?

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.