Environmental Law ReSource : Environmental Lawyer & Attorney : Reed Smith Law Firm : Climate Change, Sustainability

This post was written by Nicolle Bagnell and Ariel Nieland.

On May 13, 2011, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett signed Senate Bill 265 into legislation. SB 265 sets a minimum distance between natural gas "well clusters" (defined as the area within a well pad holding horizontal wells and comprising an area of no more than 5,000 square feet) overlying workable coal seams, and provides for coordination of gas well drilling and coal mining. Under the new legislation, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will issue no new permits for any well unless that well's cluster is at least 2,000 feet from the nearest well cluster or the operator of the well and owner of any workable coal seams underlying the proposed well provide written consent to spacing of less than 2,000 feet. In addition, no permits will be issued for wells located less than 1,000 feet from any other wells (excluding injection wells not penetrating workable coal seams, plugged wells, nonproducing wells drilled prior to November 30, 1955, or storage wells). The bill also requires well operators intending to drill in any operating coal mine to attach the written consent of the mine operator to permit applications.

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This post was written by David Wagner.

On May 20, the European Commission adopted an amendment under its REACH law to ban the use of cadmium in jewelry, plastics, and brazing sticks (which are used to join metals) and create new restrictions on its use. The amendment will enter into force on December 20, 2011. The European Commission stated that high levels of cadmium have been found in some jewelry articles, especially in imported imitation jewelry. It also found that consumers including children risked being exposed to cadmium through skin contact or through licking. The new legislation prohibits the use of cadmium in all types of jewelry products, except for antiques

The legislation also prohibits cadmium in all plastic products while encouraging the recovery of PVC waste for use in a number of construction products. Because PVC can be recovered a number of times, the REACH amendment allows the re-use of recovered PVC containing low levels of cadmium in a limited number of construction products. In order to fully inform buyers, construction products that will be made of this recovered PVC will be marketed with a specific logo.

Cadmium is also present in brazing sticks, which is an alloy used to join dissimilar materials, and it is used for specific applications such as amateur railroad modeling. The European Commission found that fumes released during the brazing process are highly dangerous if inhaled. The legislation prohibits the use of brazing materials except for very specific professional uses.

The use of cadmium in the European Union is already restricted under REACH in paints and consumer goods (see Annex XVII of REACH). In addition, cadmium is banned from electrical and electronic products under the EU's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive.

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This post was written by Mark Mustian and David Wagner.

A federal safe drinking water rule that requires public water systems operating open water reservoirs to either cover their reservoirs or install additional treatment on the water discharged from the reservoirs is a significant issue in many cities across the United States. The rule may not be necessary for all public water systems and, as evidenced at a City Council hearing in Portland, Oregon this week, the rule’s necessity along with its big price tag generates a lot of controversy.

Background

On January 5, 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) promulgated the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2 Rule) under its authority granted by the Safe Drinking Water Act. The LT2 Rule is a part of USEPA's efforts to protect the safety of the nation's drinking water following a Cryptosporidium outbreak in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1993. The outbreak sickened hundreds of thousands of people and at least 104 deaths were attributed to the event. The LT2 Rule requires public water systems to monitor their raw water supply, and, based upon the data, install additional intake water treatment to ensure specific removal rates of Cryptosporidium and other pathogens. The LT2 rule also requires all water systems that operate open finished water reservoirs to either cover their reservoirs or install additional treatment on the water discharged from the reservoir.

Developments in Portland, Oregon

Many cities utilizing open reservoirs have had significant concerns with implementing the LT2 Rule, including New York, NY, Rochester, NY and Portland, Oregon. In the case of Portland, because of the protected nature and stringent controls on water supply, its water only requires minimal treatment prior to use. Portland has never experienced a Cryptosporidium outbreak, and testing has not detected this pathogen. However, because of the new rule, Portland may be required to install additional controls and cover its reservoirs at a cost estimated at $500 million.

Portland’s City Council held a hearing on May 18 to examine this issue, including a possible rate increase. Reed Smith, on behalf of a local coalition of water users in the Portland area, analyzed some of the key legal issues, including the possibility of obtaining a variance from treating or covering the reservoirs and extending the City's compliance schedule under the LT2 Rule, and testified at the hearing. Coverage can be found here.

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This post was written by Mark Mustian.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is delaying the effective dates for final rules regulating Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters, and for Commercial/Industrial Solid Waste Incinerators. We discussed these rules, known as the Boiler MACT rules, in more detail when they were published on March 21. As we noted, USEPA was likely to reconsider the Boiler MACT rules, and additional changes were expected. On May 16, USEPA issued a notice that they were delaying the compliance dates for the Boiler MACT rules until either the proceedings for judicial review of the regulations is complete, or until the Agency completes its reconsideration of the rules. The purpose of the delay is straightforward: to allow USEPA to seek additional public comment before requiring thousands of facilities to make significant capital investments that may not be reversible if the standards are revised following reconsideration.
 

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This post was written by Nicolle Bagnell and Ariel Nieland.

In late April, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) rescinded its policy requiring field inspectors to obtain approval prior to taking enforcement actions against Marcellus Shale drilling operators. The stated purpose of the "pilot" policy, which went into effect on March 23 and was regarded as an unusual step for the DEP to take, was to promote consistency throughout the state with regard to Marcellus development, permitting, and enforcement. In response to the agency's rollback of the policy, a DEP spokesperson explained that the notice of violation process is now "just as it was."

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This post was written by Nicolle Bagnell and Ariel Nieland.

Yesterday, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced today the results of the latest in a series of air quality studies near Marcellus Shale natural gas operations. This study, which was conducted in Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan and Tioga counties, did not find any emission levels that would pose a public health concern. “The results show there are no emission levels that would be of concern to the health of residents living and working near these operations,” DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said. “They are consistent with the results of our air monitoring in southwest and northeast Pennsylvania, the other two areas of the state with the most Marcellus drilling.”  

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This post was written by Jennifer Smokelin.

Following through on President Obama’s request to look at shale gas drilling safety, Steven Chu, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy Secretary, expanded a panel of experts and ordered recommendations. After the Secretary’s Energy Advisory Board created a three-member Natural Gas Subcommittee in January, it expanded to seven members last week. It was also given the mandate to make recommendations within 90 days about how to make drilling safer, particularly hydraulic fracturing. Within six months, the group is to offer advice to other agencies on how they could better protect the environment from shale gas drilling. The four new members are former Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection chief Kathleen McGinty, Stephen Holditch, chairman of the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University, Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp, and Stanford University geophysics professor Mark Zoback.

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This post was written by David Wagner.

We’re in – LexisNexis has selected Reed Smith's Environmental Law Resource blog as one of the Top 50 Environmental Law & Climate Change Blogs for 2011. We were recognized as "preeminent thought leaders in the blogosphere" who "offer some of the best writing out there." LexisNexis found that our blog contains "a wealth of information for all segments of the environmental law and climate change industry, and includes timely news items, expert analysis, practice tips, frequent postings and helpful links to other sites and sources."

The 50 honorees were grouped into 10 categories and our blog was one of just 4 blogs honored under the "Litigation" category.

We’re thrilled and certainly appreciate the recognition. Even more importantly, we appreciate your interest in our blog.

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