On the final day of its 2004 session, the U.S. Supreme Court restricted the right of property owners that voluntarily clean up sites contaminated by hazardous substances to force former owners of the land to contribute to the cleanup cost. This 7 to 2 decision, ...

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a proposed regulation setting federal standards and practices for the conduct of “all appropriate inquiries” necessary to qualify for certain landowner liability protections under the Superfund law. The Innocent Landowner Defense To Superfund If promulgated as proposed, this regulation ...

The Maryland General Assembly has enacted significant and positive improvements to the State’s Brownfields programs that will make many more properties prime for redevelopment. House Bill 294 expands eligibility for the Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP), including now allowing oil contaminated properties to enter that program; ...

On December 16, 2003, the same day the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers announced that they would not issue a new rule clarifying federal jurisdiction on what waters are subject to wetland regulation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th ...

“If when the priest examines the plague, the plague in the walls of the house is found to consist of greenish or reddish streaks that appear to go deep into the wall, the priest shall come out of the house and close up the house ...

At a time when the Federal Emergency Management Agency is about to launch an effort to redraw the 100,000 flood maps across the country, it is important to be aware what options exist if a property owner disagrees with a floodplain determination. In the parlance ...

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments during the first week of October to determine who owns the waters of the Potomac River, deciding whether Maryland can prevent Virginia from drawing water from a newly constructed intake pipe in the middle of the ...

The nation’s laws that govern hazardous waste sites date back to the late 1970s with the discovery of thousands of barrels of toxic materials buried illegally outside of Buffalo, New York. Congress responded to Love Canal and other contaminated sites by enacting the Comprehensive Environmental ...