PFAS Regulation, Enforcement, and Litigation

With decades of collective experience in environmental law, our attorneys bring deep experience in counseling clients and litigating complex remediation and natural resource damages matters. We extend this skill to the realm of PFAS, providing litigation advocacy and strategic counsel for clients grappling with PFAS-related risks and liabilities. We represent a diverse range of clients, including private sector entities, municipalities, and water districts, in state and federal courts nationwide concerning these issues.

Our experience includes:

Remediation Strategy and Management: We counsel public and private parties involved in remedial investigations and feasibility studies at Superfund sites. We address PFAS investigations and regulatory compliance with the EPA, often involving long-term management and compliance under state or federal supervision. Our work includes managing relationships with site owners and adjacent site owners.

Regulatory Compliance Counseling: We help clients obtain regulatory approvals, permits, and waivers for their products and services. We advise on the application of proposed and final regulations and guidance documents to assist in identifying risks and implementing effective solutions. If a client is cited for a violation, we advise on agency response and corrective action.

Policy Development: We track federal- and state-level developments in the law to help our clients understand the timing and impact of new requirements. We assist clients in developing corporate-level policies to navigate differing state and federal PFAS standards while balancing compliance and operational challenges.

Regulatory Advocacy: We help clients understand when and how to get involved in the regulatory development process and advocate for them before administrative agencies throughout the cycle. This entails evaluating rulemaking proposals, drafting comments, scrutinizing the scientific basis of proposals, collaborating with experts, negotiating with agencies, and contesting final rules when necessary. These efforts have led to favorable changes to agency rules that have enabled our clients to expand operations, reduce compliance obligations and costs, and/or improve competitive advantage.

Due Diligence: We collaborate closely with our clients to assess and mitigate PFAS-related risks in corporate, real estate, and other business transactions. Our process involves conducting comprehensive due diligence, crafting contractual provisions, and devising innovative risk mitigation strategies tailored to each transaction. With the dynamic nature of federal and state regulations surrounding PFAS, it's crucial to address compliance considerations, cleanup obligations, and potential litigation risks up front.

Litigation Defense, Settlement Negotiation, and Expert Engagement: Our practice extends across venues, including state and federal enforcement actions, common law claims, citizen suits seeking substantial civil penalties, emergency and injunctive relief actions, information demands, site investigations, and cleanup actions. With a focus on meticulous defense strategies, skilled negotiation tactics, and effective expert engagement, we ensure the best possible outcomes for our clients in complex environmental enforcement and litigation matters.

Consumer Product Litigation: PFAS-related lawsuits are being filed against consumer product companies under a variety of laws and legal arguments, including consumer class actions. Targeting everything from food and cosmetics to clothing and cookware, these suits assert a variety of claims, including false advertising, product liability, and California Proposition 65 suits. Ballard Spahr’s PFAS team lawyers defend against all such claims, bringing to bear our renowned excellence in litigation.