Taft is pleased to announce that R. William Gardner has joined the firm's Indianapolis office as an associate in the Environmental group. Will's experience includes representing clients in environmental matters before administrative agencies and in court, advising the regulated community regarding their legal obligations under a variety of environmental laws, helping clients evaluate environmental liabilities in real estate and business transactions, and working with environmental consultants and clients to manage remediation projects.

On Aug. 5, 2015, a federal district court in Louisiana ruled that costs incurred by an electric utility under a settlement with the EPA for measures in lieu of work to bring the utility into compliance with the Clean Air Act were recoverable from the utility's liability insurer. The case, Louisiana Generating LLC v. Illinois Union Insurance Co., arose after resolution of an EPA enforcement action against Louisiana Generating to redress excessive air emissions from the utility's Big Cajun II power plant.

On March 21, 2015, a home exploded in Upper Arlington, Ohio, which caused an estimated $9 million in damages to approximately 20 properties and rendered a number of homes uninhabitable. On July 24, 2015, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio's ("Commission") staff filed a Natural Gas Pipeline Failure Investigation Report ("Report") regarding this explosion, which indicates that the explosion may have been caused by Columbia Gas of Ohio's ("Columbia") failure to properly remove an old gas line from service. The Report indicates that the old service line, although not being used, remained connected to an active main line and was not properly plugged or sealed. The Commission staff indicated in the Report that Columbia's actions may constitute a violation of the Commission's pipeline safety rules. It remains to be seen how Columbia will respond to this Report, what action the Commission will take and whether lawsuits will be filed against Columbia for damages caused by the explosion.

Earlier this summer, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a decision granting in part and denying in part petitions for review of a final rule promulgated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that set operating parameters for emergency generators. Del. Dep't of Natural Res. & Envtl. Control v. EPA, 785 F.3d 1 (D.C. Cir. 2015). The rules are titled "National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Pollutants (NESHAP) for Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE)" and "New Source Performance Standards for Stationary Internal Combustion Engines."

In Consolidated Coal Co. v. Georgia Power Co., 781 F.3d 129 (4th Cir. 2015), the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the seller of used transformers containing PCBs had no CERCLA "arranger" liability for PCB contamination caused by the buyer of the used transformers. The 4th Circuit held that the seller could not be liable as an "arranger" under CERCLA because it had sold useful transformers with commercial value and had not intended that the transformers be "disposed of" rather than beneficially reused.

On Aug. 25, Indiana Governor Mike Pence announced that Carol Comer will serve as Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), effective August 28, 2015. She is currently the Chief of Staff to the current IDEM Commissioner Tom Easterly, who announced earlier this summer that he would retire.

Taft is pleased to host Bridgett Luther, president of Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, for a breakfast presentation on Oct. 21. Ms. Luther, former director of California's Department of Conservation, will share her radical yet practical vision for transforming business and the health of our environment through sustainable design.

Please join us at this special presentation by registering here.