Pennsylvania has an aggressive brownfields remediation program under the Land Recycling and Environmental Remediation Standards Act (Act 2), 35 Pa. Stat. Ann. Sections 6026.101 to .908. Section 308 of Act 2 makes all “decisions by the Department of Environmental Protection involving the reports and evaluations required under Act 2 to be considered appealable actions under” the Environmental Hearing Board Act. That stands out from the rest of Pennsylvania environmental law. It has not been litigated very often, but it may pose risks for practitioners.

Act 2 has allowed remediators to obtain “cleanup liability protection” for thousands of sites across Pennsylvania by demonstrating that they have achieved an “environmental remediation standard” for each “regulated substance” contaminating the property.