Jimmy Slaughter is a partner in the Washington DC Office of Beveridge & Diamond, a national law firm specializing in environmental law and litigation. Jimmy litigates and tries cases in federal and state trial and appellate courts across the country. His cases focus on environmental matters, toxic tort, class action defense, enforcement defense, and constitutional law.

Jimmy focuses much of practice on wastewater, solid waste, biosolids, recycling, and compost. He represents major companies and cities in these areas, with clients including Waste Connections, Covanta, Synagro, Denali Water, Los Angeles, DC Water, Los Angeles County Sanitation District, and many others. Jimmy began his career as a public defender, trying may jury trials. He clerked for Judge James Sprouse on the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, after graduating from Columbia Law School and Yale University.

Session Code: 3E

Track: Advocacy/Policy

Session Name: Compost and PFAS

Session Time: Wednesday, February 7, 4:15 – 5:45 PM

Presentation Title: Protecting Compost Land Application Amid PFAS Concerns — Current Regulatory and Legal Developments

Presentation Description: Regulatory and legal activity targeting PFAS in water, biosolids, soil, and consumer products continues to accelerate. Because PFAS is ubiquitous in many organic materials, including biosolids, food waste, and many industrial residuals, it will continue to be found in many compost products for decades to come. Compost facilities have already become targets for enforcement actions regarding PFAS migration from the ground to drinking water sources.

The science of PFAS, however, does not support the rush to regulate PFAS at increasingly stringent levels. The toxicity and risk of PFAS to human health are often overstated and many regulatory initiatives are based on flawed toxicology and risk assessment.

This talk will assess the current regulatory and legal landscape for composting and compost products. The presentation will then explore in detail how the compost industry can use sound science to convince regulators and courts how the benefits of composting and use of compost far outweigh any perceived risks. The speaker will present risk assessment and toxicology in a practical way and how that science is used in regulatory decisions, giving compost professionals the tools and data they need to counter regulatory overreach.

The presenter is a lawyer with 25 years of experience defending biosolids and compost in court and in regulatory forums, including challenging regulations and defending against claims of health and environmental impacts.