A recent ruling by the District of Maryland in Garcia v. Sherril, Inc. demonstrates the ongoing struggle by courts to distinguish between when plaintiffs must produce expert testimony in product liability cases and the danger that courts may permit jurors to comment beyond their shoes in cases involving technical subject matter.

As of February 13, 2023, ASTM 1527-21 will meet the AAI requirement, and thus will become the relevant standard for conducting Phase Is. Phase Is conducted using the 2013 Standard will no longer be compliant with the AAI requirement after December 15, 2023. Users of Phase Is should update internal guidance or scopes of work with environmental professionals to confirm (1) reports are completed to the new standard beginning in February 2023 and (2) whether emerging contaminations, including PFAS, should be included in the property evaluation as a “non-scope consideration.”

On August 26, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its proposal to designate two of the most widely known per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—PFOA and PFOS[i]—as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as the Superfund law). Listing PFOA and PFOS (along with their salts and structural isomers) as hazardous substances under CERCLA is one of the most significant actions identified in EPA’s October 2021 PFAS Strategic Roadmap.[ii]