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• New Maine Drinking Water Rule Addresses PFAS Standards Overview of the New Standards Effective December 1, 2025, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its drinking water standards to adopt Biden-era U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Notably, Maine’s rule expressly adopts the April 2024 version of the EPA regulation as... More
• CWA Section 401 Water Quality Certification: EPA Rethinking It (Again) On July 7, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice inviting public comments on its 2023 Water Quality Certification Improvement Rule. That rule governs Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 Water Quality Certifications (WQCs), including those for hydropower projects in Maine. Obtaining a § 401 WQC is a crucial step in the federal licensing process, particularly for... More
• Maine’s Proposed Climate Superfund Legislation: Borrowing a Page From CERCLA to Address Climate Costs Two bills proposing to create a state-level climate cost recovery program are currently being considered by the Environment and Natural Resources Committee of the Maine Legislature. The first, introduced in late April 2025, is the proposed Maine Climate Superfund Act (LD 1808). The second, LD 1870, entitled An Act to Establish a Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program to Impose Penalties on... More
• Maine PUC Solicits Renewable Energy Projects on PFAS-Contaminated Farmlands Will There be Any Takers Re Development of Renewable Energy Projects on Maine PFAS-Contaminated Farmlands?The Maine Public Utilities Commission has wasted little time in soliciting bids for renewable energy projects to be located on PFAS-contaminated farmland. Following the PUC’s August 12, 2024, order, the Commission opened a docket initiating the request for proposals (“RFP”) for development on... More
• Maine Seeks to Grow Solar Farming on PFAS-Contaminated Farms The Maine Legislature recently directed the Maine PUC to adopt rules that would require the Commission to initiate purchases of renewable energy from projects that are located on land contaminated with PFAS – the so-called “forever chemicals.”  The legislation was enacted in recognition of the fact that at least 60 farms in Maine have been rendered useless for farming due to the spreading of... More
• Maine DEP Issues PFAS in Products Concept Draft Rule The Maine DEP’s PFAS in Products Program has released its long-awaited Chapter 90 concept draft language (the “PFAS in Products Rule”) for implementation of Maine’s recently-amended “PFAS in Products Law.” The concept draft provides additional details on sales prohibitions for products and product components containing intentionally added PFAS, along with criteria DEP will require as part of... More
• Biden Administration’s Intent to Designate PFOA and PFOS as CERCLA Hazardous Substances On January 10, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took a significant step towards fulfilling a Biden Administration goal of bringing per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (“PFAS”) under the regulatory purview of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act (“CERCLA”) by submitting to the White House Office of Management and Budget a formal plan to designate... More
• Massachusetts Department of Revenue Finalizes Brownfields Tax Credit Regulations (830 CMR 63.38Q.1), Effective July 9, 2021 The Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) has finalized brownfields tax credit regulations, effective July 9, 2021.The Massachusetts brownfields tax credit was established in 1998 by the “Act Relative to Environmental Cleanup and Promoting the Redevelopment of Contaminated Property” (Stat. 1998, c. 206). The “Brownfields Act,” as it is generally known, also included amendments to Mass. Gen.... More
• Court Rejects DOJ’s Efforts to Block Private Parties’ Use of SEPs in Clean Air Act Case Earlier in the year, Preti Flaherty’s Environmental Law Blog highlighted that DOJ’s Environment & Natural Resource Division (ENRD) announced a significant policy change that severely limited the use of Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) in federal environmental settlements. The policy was formalized in a March 12, 2020 memorandum issued by Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Jeffrey... More
• Issues in CERCLA Mediations Involving Many Parties CERCLA cases often include mediations, either court-sponsored or party-initiated, as a mechanism to achieve allocation of liability for the costs of environmental cleanup at the subject Superfund site.  Because these cases often include many potentially responsible parties (“PRPs”) numbering in the scores or hundreds or more, the mediation process can be complex, lengthy and expensive. ... More
• Massachusetts Establishes a Drinking Water Standard for PFAS Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, “PFAS,” are man-made chemicals that have been used since the 1940s in a variety of industrial and consumer products ranging from fire-fighting foam, to food-related non-stick coatings, to dental floss and ski wax. Because PFAS are so common, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) reports that most people in the United States have PFAS in... More
• Achieving Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser Status: Yes, the Details Matter The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) provides a defense to liability to “bona fide prospective purchasers” (BFPPs), who, among other things, obtain Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) that are timely (issued within 180 days prior to acquisition of the subject property) and conducted by a qualified environmental professional.... More
• EPA Decisions to Delay Field Work at Environmental Clean Up Sites Due to COVID-19 Will Be Made on a Case-by-Case Basis On April 10, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued Interim Guidance on Site Field Work Decisions Due to Impacts of COVID-19, which applies to response action related to cleanup and emergency response sites where EPA is the lead agency or has direct oversight of or responsibility for the work being performed. The interim guidance is available here. The interim guidance... More
• DOJ Says Goodbye to Federal SEPs. What’s Next? With news rightfully dominated these days by Covid-19, it would have been easy to miss the significant policy change enacted a few weeks ago by DOJ’s Assistant Attorney General for the Environment & Natural Resource Division (ENRD), Jeffrey Clark. On March 12, Clark issued a lengthy memo that prohibits ENRD attorneys from using Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) in environmental... More
• "Navigable Waters Protection Rule" Narrows Federal Clean Water Act Permitting Authority On January 23, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers finalized the Navigable Waters Protection (NWP) Rule, which redefines what waters are considered "navigable" and therefore regulated under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The final rule replaces the much-litigated Obama-era "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) rule that was rescinded by the Trump... More