The Saga Continues—Howmet and the Ongoing Uncertainty of Solid Waste Regulation Under RCRA

Under President Barack Obama, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has pursued wide-sweeping regulatory initiatives under virtually every major environmental statute. These include the Agency’s groundbreaking efforts to monitor and regulate mobile and stationary sources of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. As a result, the regulatory landscape of the environmental law industry has become complicated. The courts have overturned many of the George W. Bush EPA’s rulemaking initiatives, sending the Agency back to the drawing board on a host of significant and broad-reaching rulemakings. The article projects the most uncertain environmental landscape the industry has faced in over 20 years.