Michael Dillon

September 08, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

For more than three decades, climate change has been a focal point for science, media and politics. While the contributions of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to climate change are well understood, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been unable to widely regulate them.

By Michael Dillon and Jessica D. Hunt

7 minute read

November 04, 2021 | The Legal Intelligencer

This article provides a brief overview of the progress that the EPA has made to date in complying with Biden's executive orders and provides an update to the regulated community about recent and impending rule changes.

By Jessica Hunt and Michael Dillon

7 minute read

May 10, 2018 | The Legal Intelligencer

Deregulation has been atop President Donald Trump's agenda since assuming office, particularly within the environmental sector.

By Michael Dillon

7 minute read

July 06, 2017 | The Legal Intelligencer

On June 2, the Commonwealth Court weighed in on the long-simmering national debate surrounding questions of when two or more facilities must be regulated as a single source under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA) and state air pollution control statutes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies have sought to aggregate facilities where certain factors support a finding that the facilities are operationally related, and especially where the level of emissions from the combined source would trigger heightened regulatory or permitting requirements. National Fuel Gas Midstream v. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, No. 116 CD 2016 (June 2, 2017), provides some clarity about the meaning of the term "common ­control," one of the three factors for determining if facilities should be aggregated for air permitting purposes. The decision finds that regulated facilities should not be ­combined as a single source merely because they are each owned by a separate subsidiary of a shared corporate parent.

By Michael Dillon

7 minute read

September 08, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

Beginning in 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began rolling out a suite of new enforcement strategies and tools that the EPA has referred to collectively as "next generation compliance." Next generation compliance or NGC refers to five overlapping EPA initiatives, each centered on the use of existing and emerging technology as a way to achieve greater environmental compliance by the regulated community.

By Bryan P. Franey and Michael Dillon

12 minute read

July 10, 2015 | The Legal Intelligencer

At a recent presentation to approximately 100 real estate lawyers, we asked for a show of hands as to how many in the audience had heard of "vapor intrusion."

By Bryan P. Franey and Michael Dillon

7 minute read

July 10, 2015 | The Legal Intelligencer

At a recent presentation to approximately 100 real estate lawyers, we asked for a show of hands as to how many in the audience had heard of "vapor intrusion."

By Bryan P. Franey and Michael Dillon

7 minute read

April 19, 2014 | New Jersey Law Journal

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has begun introducing new enforcement strategies and tools, which it is calling the "Next-Generation Compliance" program.

By Bryan P. Franey and Michael Dillon

6 minute read

April 09, 2014 | The Legal Intelligencer

We may be at the dawn of a new age of demonstrating compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's regulations.

By Bryan P. Franey and Michael Dillon

6 minute read

January 11, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

On November 3, 2012, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) published its new Permit Decision Guarantee for activities subject to environmental permitting. With the Permit Decision Guarantee, which replaces the DEP's Money-Back Guarantee policy, the DEP intends to prioritize high-quality applications for projects with demonstrative positive economic impacts. At the same time, to combat what DEP Secretary Michael Krancer described as a widespread problem of the DEP fixing subpar permit applications during the review process, the new policy indicates that the DEP will have less tolerance for initial applications that fail to meet what the DEP believes are established legal and technical standards. As will be discussed in greater detail below, by placing greater emphasis on the initial application, the Permit Decision Guarantee may alter the way businesses approach the environmental permitting process and position applications going forward.

By Michael Dillon and Todd D. Kantorczyk

7 minute read