New statute allows the government to recover costs and natural resource damages from a broad set of PRPs.
By Gary P. Gengel, Thomas C. Pearce, G. Jack Mathews, and Gina Kwon
On May 9, 2025, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a broad array of amendments to the state’s Environmental Conservation Law sections pertaining to the Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Site program, also known as the state Superfund program (the Amendments). The Amendments address (1)
The decision could complicate states’ ability to pursue groundwater natural resource damages actions.
By Kegan A. Brown, Gary P. Gengel, Thomas C. Pearce, and Taylor R. West
On November 22, 2021, the US Supreme Court held that equitable apportionment applies to a dispute between states about their respective interests in groundwater that flows through multiple states in Mississippi v. Tennessee.[1] The decision may have implications for natural resource damages (NRD) claims. Natural resource trustees often assert claims to pursue damages to groundwater. In assessing these claims, courts often must determine (1) whether the trustee has a trusteeship interest in the groundwater resource at issue, and (2) if so, the extent of the trustee’s interest in that groundwater resource relative to the interests of other trustees in the same groundwater.