TRG was delighted to attend the ABA’s Federal Environmental & Energy Enforcement Updates program last week. The program featured an impressive array of speakers who touched on federal updates to environmental investigations; enforcement and compliance; states’ perspective on federal enforcement; and key appellate proceedings that will impact environmental and energy litigation.
In particular, the speakers offered insights as to what Superfund enforcement may look like during the Trump administration. Steven Cook, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management for the U.S. EPA, emphasized the current administration’s goal to move swiftly regarding environmental cleanup efforts. This includes accelerating remediation at Superfund sites, in part by delegating more cleanup responsibility to the states. Ben Grumbles, executive director of the Environmental Council of the States, also spoke and agreed with the “cooperative federalism” approach. However, he also emphasized that the effectiveness of cleanup efforts managed by individual states often depends on federal government support..
Tom Mariani, a former official at the Department of Justice’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division, added that he anticipates continued robust enforcement of Superfund sites, lead cleanup efforts, and criminal investigations. David Uhlmann, a senior EPA official in the Biden administration, forecast that we may see record low enforcement activity this year in large part because of drastic staff reductions at EPA.
As specialists in historical research in support of environmental litigation, TRG actively monitors current trends in environmental law and enforcement. We value presentations such as these, which leave us better informed and better positioned to assist our clients.
