ELI Summer School Series 2014: Clean Land: Hazardous Waste and Sites

When
July 10, 2014 12:00 pm — 2:00 pm
Where
Washington, DC (and via teleconference)

The 2014 Summer School Series is co-sponsored by the D.C. Bar's Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Section.


Each summer, ELI convenes a complimentary seminar series that offers an introduction to the legal and policy foundations of environmental protection in the United States.

ELI's Summer School is a series of brown-bag lunch seminars taught by experts in their fields, introducing the audience to the major environmental statutes (including NEPA, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, TSCA, RCRA, and CERCLA) and land use law. Faculty will also incorporate major regulatory and judicial updates to the laws.

This year the faculty will explore how environmental statutes apply (or fail to apply) in a recent case example: the chemical spill in West Virginia's Elk River.

Who will benefit: All are welcome. Students and emerging professionals will have unique opportunities to learn, hear updates, ask questions, and network. The series is intended for:

  • undergraduates,
  • law students and graduate students, and
  • working professionals new to or looking for a refresher course in environmental law (such as interns, summer clerks, and associates, or second-career professionals).

Clean Land: Hazardous Waste and Sites

Environmental law has brought about a sea change in how we manage waste. Faculty explored both the dense regulatory efforts and the simple liability efforts used to bring about this change with emphasis on:

  • the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and
  • the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).

The speaker discussed events that led to the enactment of CERCLA and address uncertainties that still exist in RCRA, such as the definition of waste and the rules for recycling.

Faculty:
Jeff Allmon, Associate, Paul Hastings

Materials:
Jeff Allmon presentation
Exemption of Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Wastes from Federal Hazardous Waste Regulations, US EPA (undated)
EPA's Proposed Rule for Coal Combusion Residuals (PowerPoint presentation, Betsy Devlin, US EPA, 8/5/10)
Review the Summer School recent case example: the chemical spill in West Virginia's Elk River.

CERCLA reference materials:
AAI Final Factsheet
Atlantic Research Alert
Common Elements
Enforcement First Policy
Model 104 Access Agreement
Musts for USTs
Universal Waste Summary

RCRA reference materials:
RCRA Definition of Solid Waste Summary
RCRA Civil Enforcement Response Policy
RCRA Civil Penalty Policy
RCRA Corrective Action Guidance
RCRA Generator Requirements
RCRA Hazardous Waste Identification
RCRA Overview: Definition of Solid Waste 2011 Proposed Rule
RCRA Treatment Storage Disposal
RCRA Underground Storage Tanks
RCRA Universal Waste
RCRA Used Oil

ELI Resources:
Natural Resource Damage Assessment Deskbook: A Legal and Technical Analysis (2nd ed., 2014)
RCRA Permitting Deskbook (2011)

**See the entire Summer School 2014 schedule HERE.**