Blogs & Resources
ACOEL members contribute regularly to the ACOEL Blog, writing on topics of current interest in their respective fields. Recently-published blogs are featured below, or you can search the ACOEL blog archive using the search feature.
Current Blogs
How Safe is Your WOTUS Harbor?
September 21, 2021Posted on September 21, 2021 by Patrick Parenteau In 2005 the Corps of Engineers adopted a Regulatory Guidance Letter (RGL) providing that an “approved jurisdictional determination” (AJD) “will remain valid for a period of five years, unless new information warrants revision of the determination before the expiration date,” or...
Progressive New Jersey: The Garden State continues its environmental leadership by enacting forward-looking programs
September 17, 2021Posted on September 17, 2021 by Dennis Krumholz New Jersey has been a leader in addressing the most significant environmental problems of the day. Decades ago, for example, four years before the enactment of CERCLA, the state’s Spill Compensation and Control Act prohibited the illegal disposal of hazardous waste,...
The Battle for Carlin Lake
September 13, 2021Posted on September 13, 2021 by David Ullrich A small lake in Northern Wisconsin became the battleground for a classic showdown between a small group of cottage owners and a well-healed, politically connected entrepreneur. The battle stretched out over seven years between 2015 and 2021. It took place on...
Earthshot
September 10, 2021Posted on September 10, 2021 by Robert Wyman For Fellows of the American College, hardly a day passes without some thought about the changing climate and how together we can transform our world with more sustainable agriculture, buildings, energy and transportation. Those of us who are Baby Boomers naturally...
Where have we come from? What are we? Where are we going? With apologies to Paul Gauguin
September 09, 2021Posted on September 9, 2021 by Tommy Lavender As we know, the serious foray into federal environmental protection began in the early 1970’s, before which even my own capital city, Columbia, South Carolina, was collecting and discharging untreated wastewater directly into the Congaree River. Now the City sports an...
Protection of Lawyers Against Defamation Actions Does Not Apply to Press Releases
September 07, 2021Posted on September 7, 2021 by Irma Russell Last month, I served on a panel for the State Bar of Texas Environmental Law Superconference, which focused on an important recent decision by the Texas Supreme Court. In Landry’s Inc. and Houston Aquarium, Inc. v. Animal Legal Defense Fund (No.19-0036),...
It’s Important to Acknowledge Good News — The End of Leaded Gasoline
September 03, 2021Posted on September 3, 2021 by Seth Jaffe As climate change rightly has dominated recent discussions of environmental policy, it’s been easy to forget how much progress has been made in the past fifty years. I was reminded of the extent of that progress by the story in Bloomberg...
State Constitutions to the Rescue?
August 27, 2021Posted on August 27, 2021 by Michael B. Gerrard The constitutions of more than three-quarters of the countries on earth have explicit reference to environmental rights or responsibilities In the last several years courts in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Australia, Pakistan, Nepal and Colombia have held that these provisions,...
THE AMERICAN WEST IS DRYING OUT. HERE’S WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT.
August 25, 2021Posted on August 25, 2021 by Richard M. Frank The American West is in the throes of a “megadrought”—one that’s plagued the region since 2000. Indeed, the Western U.S. has entered an era of water crisis that’s unprecedented in recorded American history. Due to climate change, that drought has...
With Friends Like These . . . . Another Federal Appeals Court Takes Clean Water Act Enforcement Out of EPA’s Hands
August 19, 2021Posted on August 19, 2021 by Jeff Porter This week the Sacketts of Idaho were handed their most recent litigation defeat by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which held that Justice Kennedy’s 2006 “significant nexus” test for determining the reach of the Clean Water...
Does Pollution Make You Dumber? (And Other Questions About Exposure to Particulate Matter.)
August 18, 2021Posted on August 18, 2021 by Seth Jaffe Most people other than Andrew Wheeler and the Trump Administration Clean Air Science Advisory Committee know that exposure even to low levels of PM2.5 causes increased morbidity and mortality. And now comes evidence that exposure to PM2.5 may adversely impact cognitive...
Agricultural Air Pollution: A Brief Reprise
August 17, 2021Posted on August 17, 2021 by Don Stever I previously wrote an ACOEL blog post that pointed out the relationship between meat agriculture and global warming. I will start with the personal fact that my wife, the poet Margo Taft Stever, and I became vegetarians many years ago partly...
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Reaffirms and Extends Landmark 2017 Public Trust Decision
August 16, 2021Posted on August 16, 2021 by John Dernbach In May 1971, at the beginning of the modern environmental movement, Pennsylvania voters approved an Environmental Rights Amendment (ERA) to the state’s constitution. Article I, Section 27 provides: The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the...
Climate Change Is Widespread, Rapid, and Intensifying — And Terrifying
August 10, 2021Posted on August 10, 2021 by Seth Jaffe The IPCC has released its Sixth Assessment Report on the physical science basis of climate change. I would say that it makes sobering reading, except any sane person’s immediate response to AR6 would be to go out and have any number...
ACOEL Posts Video of ACOEL-Columbia Univ-EDF-FANJ Joint Webinar on US-Cuba Environmental Cooperation
August 05, 2021Posted on August 5, 2021 by David B. Farer Earlier this year, ACOEL co-sponsored and participated in a joint webinar with Columbia University, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Foundation Antonio Núñez Jiménez of Nature and Humanity (FANJ, a Cuban NGO) on the prospects and means of revitalizing the...
Colorado Put the Institution in Institutional Controls
August 04, 2021Posted on August 4, 2021 by Dan Miller Thirty-one years after enactment of CERCLA, most environmental practitioners take for granted that remedies at federal and state Superfund sites will include a blend of removal and institutional controls (ICs). This comes from recognizing there are frequently technical and economic limits...
Ohio District Court Confirms its Ruling That CERCLA Does Not Apply to Disposal of A “Naturally Occurring” Hazardous Substance
August 03, 2021Posted on August 3, 2021 by Jennifer T. Nijman Finally, there is a substance that, when sent to a CERCLA Superfund Site, does not subject a party to liability. Many of us grew up in the environmental field understanding that anything sent to a site subjects a party to...
Is “Infrastructure Week” Hydropower’s Moment?
August 03, 2021Posted on August 3, 2021 by Rick Glick As distinguished from the previous Administration’s oft announced but never followed through on “Infrastructure Weeks,” it appears the current Administration and Congress are intent on getting something done. Multi-faceted, major infrastructure legislation is advancing quickly. Introduced just a couple of weeks...
Water, Water Everywhere Nowhere, And Not a Drop To Drink
August 02, 2021
Posted on August 2, 2021 by Kevin R. Murray Early in my career, I was involved in a natural resource damages case seeking to establish the monetary value of an impacted drinking water aquifer. An environmental economist took the stand for the defense and began to describe why the...
Who Can’t Get No Respect? Rodney Dangerfield and Offshore Wind Energy
July 30, 2021Posted on July 30, 2021 by Jeff Thaler “I don’t get no respect” was comedian Rodney Dangerfield’s well-known catchphrase, and also the reason his 1981 album won a Grammy. Like Dangerfield, advocates for the clean energy technology known as offshore wind power (OSW) have confronted a regulatory field of...
The Gap Between PFAS Science and PFAS Legislation–Industry Place Your Bets
July 30, 2021Posted on July 30, 2021 by Donald K. Shandy In the race to regulate PFAS substances, Congress’ actions have outpaced agency knowledge, leaving industry to wager on the outcome. PFAS are among the ubiquitous “forever chemicals,” used in everything from fire suppression foam to non-stick cookware to waterproof shoes,...
OH, CONGRESS FORGOT THE SCIENCE
July 29, 2021Posted on July 29, 2021 by Kenneth J. Warren In an ACOEL blog posted on July 27, 2021, Seth Jaffe expressed his support for the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in the Maui case and the subsequent ruling by the District Court. In Maui, the Supreme Court held that an...
Maui Needs a NPDES Permit; What’s Next for WOTUS?
July 27, 2021Posted on July 27, 2021 by Seth Jaffe Last week, District Judge Susan Mollway ruled that the County of Maui must obtain a NPDES permit for discharges to groundwater by the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility. It is the first trial court decision applying the factors identified by Justice Breyer...
A Tempest over Moosehead Lake
July 22, 2021Posted on July 22, 2021 by Jerry Reid If you’ve never been to Moosehead Lake in northwestern Maine, you really should go. It’s a place of spectacular and unspoiled natural beauty. The lake is 48 miles long and 20 miles wide, surrounded by mountains. Jutting up from the middle...
Landmines For Your Landowner Liability Protections?
July 19, 2021Posted on July 19, 2021 by Amy L. Edwards Every eight years, ASTM standard-setting committees are required to re-evaluate existing ASTM standards. The ASTM E1527-13 Standard Practice on Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (“ESAs”) is required to be revised, re-approved as is, or abandoned this year. The ASTM E50.02...
A Truly Global Community of Environmental Law Scholars
July 16, 2021Posted on July 16, 2021 by Robert Percival Earlier this month more than 300 professors and graduate students throughout the world participated in the first virtual colloquium of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Academy of Environmental Law. The Academy is a consortium of educators from...
Taking a Five-Year-Old to Court: EPA’s First 10 Risk Evaluations Meet the Bench
July 12, 2021Posted on July 12, 2021 by Alexandra Dapolito Dunn The 2016 Lautenberg Amendments turning five on June 22, 2021 provides a perfect opportunity to reflect on how this ambitious and bold statute is growing up – and faring in the courts. Tracking the body of law building up around...
WE’RE NUMBER THREE!
July 02, 2021Posted on July 2, 2021 by Paul Seals Texas is now the third state with an approved CCR permit program. On June 28, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency published the approval of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s partial State Coal Combustion Residuals Permit Program pursuant to the Resource...
It’s Our Big Moment – Environmental Law’s Chance to Shine as the “E” in ESG
June 30, 2021Posted on June 30, 2021 by Heidi B. (Goldstein) Friedman Picture the marquee surrounded by bright flashing lights as the Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) mandates, requirements and best practices are about to take center stage. While the “S” and “G” are critical for overall performance, I would argue...
What does the Biden Administration want in a new global plastics treaty?
June 24, 2021Posted on June 24, 2021 by Paul Hagen The Communique from President Biden and other world leaders attending the G-7 Summit earlier this month is the latest high-level signal that governments may be moving closer to the launch of negotiations on a new global agreement to address marine plastic...
Ninth Circuit Finds No Sovereign Immunity Waiver For Tribes Under CWA
June 23, 2021Posted on June 23, 2021 by Beth S. Ginsberg On June 23, 2021, the Ninth Circuit in Deschutes River All. v. Portland Gen. Elec. became the first court in the country to hold that Congress did not clearly and unambiguously waive tribal sovereign immunity under the Clean Water Act. ...
Renewable Energy? For some, the answer may not be blowing in the wind.
June 23, 2021Posted on June 23, 2021 by Steven Miano The Biden administration has committed to significantly expanding development of renewable energy. These projects, including solar and wind are welcomed by many. They have the potential to generate significant amounts of energy with a minimal carbon footprint. Generation of wind energy...
Using Subject Matter Jurisdiction to Dump Inconvenient Cases
June 22, 2021Posted on June 22, 2021 by Adam Babich Successful objections to subject matter jurisdiction can operate like a King’s-X for illegal behavior – a hole in the rule of law. Where there is no subject matter jurisdiction, fairness, truth, and justice become irrelevant. Thus, for example, decisions that are...
New Jersey Broadens Brownfield Redevelopment Incentives
June 17, 2021Posted on June 17, 2021 by David B. Farer The New Jersey Economic Recovery Act of 2020 (ERA), signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy on January 7, 2021 (Senate Bill 3295), is comprised of an array of programs that include a broadening of New Jersey’s incentives for developers...
Just How Absolute is the Absolute Pollution Exclusion?
June 16, 2021Posted on June 16, 2021 by Thomas M. Hnasko Despite the myriad CERCLA cases on the books, there is little – if any – jurisprudence dissecting the so-called “absolute pollution exclusion” in a comprehensive general liability insurance policy and the insurers’ obligation to defend the insured where the complaint...
Transforming a 3000 Acre Steelmaking Complex from Hazardous Waste Site to a Restoration Success
June 15, 2021Posted on June 15, 2021 by Ridge Hall In 1959 Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point facility, located on the Patapsco River near the mouth of Baltimore Harbor, was the biggest steelmaking facility in the world. With close to 40,000 employees, Sparrows Point over many decades produced the steel that built...
U.S. Policy on Cuba: Is It Safe to Go Back into the Water?
June 10, 2021Posted on June 10, 2021 by Daniel Whittle On Valentine’s Day 2015, Cuban and American scientists went fishing off the north coast of Cuba, setting out from Cojimar, the small town where Hemingway kept his boat. They were hoping to catch a rare longfin mako shark, put a satellite...
Bidding Adieu to the Connecticut Transfer Act … and Welcoming a New Remedial Approach
June 07, 2021Posted on Jun 7, 2021 by Pamela Elkow In September 2020, during a special legislative session, Connecticut took the plunge and passed Public Act 20-9, a statute that will sunset the Connecticut Transfer Act, and replace it with a release-based reporting and remedial program addressing historical releases throughout the...
The Aftermath of McGirt
June 04, 2021Posted on June 4, 2021 by L. Mark Walker In 1997, Jimey McGirt, an enrolled member of the Seminole Nation, was convicted in an Oklahoma District Court of molesting, raping and sodomizing a four-year-old girl – his wife’s granddaughter. For this, the State sentenced him to 1,000 years plus...
Get the Lead Out
June 04, 2021Posted on June 4, 2021 by Robert Kaplan The toughest question I ever got in Flint was in a church basement on the north side of town. At the time, I was heading up the EPA Region 5 response to the drinking water crisis. A mother asked me simply,...
The New Environmental and Human Rights Treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean You Should Know About
June 03, 2021Posted June 3, 2021 by Susan Kath The Escazú Agreement came into force in April 2021 with 12 ratifications (out of a possible 33) from Latin American and Caribbean countries. Guided by a secretariat at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, it is the first environmental...
Love Canal Revisited
June 02, 2021Posted June 2, 2021 by Ed Tormey It was 41 years ago that one of the more bizarre events in U.S. environmental history took place: two U.S. EPA officials were “kidnapped” by an angry environmental group in a working class neighborhood in New York. As many of you know,...
CAN WE BLAME THIS ON THE ‘RONA?
May 28, 2021Posted May 28, 2021 by Lloyd Landreth Being the Husband and Father of 3 medical professionals who have been on the front-lines of COVID-19, I am the last person to make a joke of the pandemic. At the same time, like many of you, I am worn-slick with the...
I Love It When SCOTUS Reminds Me How Clear and Unambiguous CERCLA Is
May 26, 2021Posted May 26, 2021 by Seth Jaffe On May 24th, the Supreme Court ruled that only settlements that explicitly resolve liability under CERCLA trigger the contribution provisions of section 113 of CERCLA. I have previously commented on the Court’s tendency to treat CERCLA as much more straightforward and unambiguous...
Reflections of a Retired Environmental Lawyer
May 19, 2021On December 31, 2020, I retired after working more than 40 years in the environmental field—two as an engineer, 30 as a lawyer, and 10 as a climate change advocate. This was my third and hopefully final attempt at retiring from paid work. Now comes the interesting part. Many of...
Mainers Opposing Clean Renewable Energy? What’s Wrong?
May 18, 2021Mainers are generally regarded as an environmentally sensitive and enlightened populace. The state boasts cleaner water and air than many other states, significant and beautiful natural features, and progressive environmental laws. Yet Mainers are questioning whether to accept a new 145-mile electric transmission line that will bring...
Environmental Law—sick unto death with that long agony?
May 17, 2021Environmental policy swings like a pendulum without regard to permanency, thus creating unique challenges to environmental improvement. We see pendulums in all areas of our lives—longcase clocks, playground swings, even desk ornaments. It has been said that pendulums demonstrate that the Earth is huge because the swinging motion of...
I May Agree With This EPA On Most Issues, But I Still Don’t Like Guidance
May 17, 2021One of the results of the November election that makes me happiest is that I can now go back to being part of the loyal opposition. In other words, I know that the Administration and I share a common mission and common goals. We also often share...
Smoke Plumes, Pigs & Poultry – Do Right-to-Farm Laws Checkmate Tort Class Actions?
May 14, 2021According to some critics, recent amendments to Florida’s Right-to-Farm law are intended to defeat class action litigation brought against the economically important sugar industry. The lawsuit involves pre-harvest burns of sugar cane fields south and east of Lake Okeechobee which are visible from satellites and generate particulate matter...
Mississippi Hasn’t Got a Chance (Bless its Heart), But its Original Action Against Tennessee is Still a Case to Watch
May 12, 2021Mississippi thinks Tennessee is stealing its groundwater, and it has filed an original action in the United States Supreme Court to stop it. State of Mississippi v. State of Tennessee, City of Memphis, and Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division, S. Ct. Orig. No. 143. The suit is directed...
Determining Disparate Impacts in Environmental Justice Communities: Does Friends of Buckingham v. State Air Pollution Control Board Provide the Roadmap?
May 07, 2021It has long been recognized that minority and disadvantaged communities are subject to higher levels of pollution than more affluent non-minority areas. This fact is the basis of the need for Environmental Justice to ensure that the past disparate impacts to these areas are addressed and not further exacerbated...
How Are We Really Going to Get to Net Zero?
May 05, 2021Late last month, the Washington Legislature passed the “Climate Commitment Act”, a piece of sweeping climate legislation that includes, among other provisions, an economy-wide cap-and-trade system. Washington was not far behind Massachusetts, which enacted its “next generation roadmap” bill in late March. This friendly competition among states...
Let Me Introduce You
May 04, 2021I wrote a limerick. I won a book. And I encountered the climate feminist -- not a single person; a movement of female leaders “rooted in compassion, connection, creativity and collaboration.” The book, All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, is a collection of...
Transfer of NPDES Authority for Oil and Gas Discharges to Texas—The Implementation Phase
April 30, 2021On January 15, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) transferred Clean Water Act Section 402 authority to Texas to issue National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for discharges from oil and gas facilities in Texas. The transfer came in response to a delegation request from the State...
Critically Examining Environmental Justice Critiques of GHG Auction-Cap-and-Trade
April 29, 2021The Biden Administration has pledged to put the nation on track to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and simultaneously to promote environmental justice. Both goals are achievable and, indeed, are complementary. Their complementary nature is exemplified by the two existing North American regional programs for capping and reducing greenhouse...
New York City is Taking on GHG Emissions from its Building Sector
April 27, 2021In June 2017, the City of New York announced its commitment to achieve emission reductions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Three months later, it released a plan entitled 1.5°C: Aligning New York City with the Paris Climate Agreement, which detailed the near-term and long-term actions it...
A Win for the Chesapeake Bay
April 13, 2021The Chesapeake Legal Alliance recently won a notable victory for the Assateague Coastal Trust in a successful challenge to the Maryland Department of Environmental Protection’s issuance of a state NPDES general permit for wastewater discharges that failed to control ammonia emissions from animal feeding operations polluting the waters of...
Reflections from My Octopus Teacher
April 08, 2021Since the pandemic started, like many people, I have watched way more TV than I had previously watched. Recently, my daughter suggested we watch a film entitled My Octopus Teacher on Netflix. (I will be honest, the title did not generate great enthusiasm in me, but I reluctantly agreed...
Houston Highway Tests Biden’s Promise of Equitable Infrastructure
April 07, 2021The Biden Administration has acknowledged the racist history of the U.S. interstate highway system and its ongoing negative impacts on many Black neighborhoods. Presidential Memorandum on Redressing Our Nation’s and the Federal Government’s History of Discriminatory Housing Practices and Policies (Jan. 26, 2001). Last week, the Administration announced its...
Interior Secretary Debra Halland: Restorer of Balance?
April 05, 2021Debra Halland made history when the Senate voted 51-40 on March 15, 2021 to confirm her to be Secretary of the Department of the Interior (DOI). She is the first Native American ever to serve in a cabinet position. DOI has a budget of more than $12 billion and...
Canada Given Green Light to Carbon Pricing: Why the Supreme Court of Canada’s Decision Should Matter to Those South of Our Northern Border
April 01, 2021On March 25, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (“GGPPA”), which establishes a national pricing benchmark for greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions. Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, case numbers 38663, 38781, and 39116. Several provinces challenged the law, arguing that it...
A Property Right To Exclude Others: Cedar Point Nursery’s Implications For Regulatory Enforcement
March 30, 2021The Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid (No. 20-107), a case that has generated considerable amicus participation and press coverage. In that case, union organizers, relying on a California law, entered the property of a fruit nursery with bullhorns in hand in...
The Massachusetts Climate Bill is Very Much “Not Dead”
March 23, 2021In January, when Governor Baker vetoed the Legislature’s effort to go big on climate, my colleague Zach Gerson made clear that the bill was not even “mostly dead.” I am pleased to say that Zach’s diagnosis was correct. The climate bill is very much alive.
Thirteen Years Later, D.C. Circuit Says “Reasonable Possibility” Provision of NSR Rule Is Good Enough
March 17, 2021On March 5, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied a challenge to a more than decade-old EPA rule related to the records that source owners must keep in order to support claims that certain of their activities are not subject to EPA’s New Source Review...
STEPHEN E. HERRMANN ENVIRONMENTAL WRITING AWARD
March 16, 2021The American College of Environmental Lawyers (“ACOEL”) announces its annual Stephen E. Herrmann Environmental Writing Award (“Herrmann Award”) for the 2020-21 academic year. Stephen E. Herrmann is a distinguished, nationally recognized environmental lawyer. For some forty years, Mr. Herrmann has been a leader in the area of environmental...
Loving—and Living with—the Neutrality of Administrative Law
March 15, 2021One salutary feature of administrative law—the core practice of many environmental litigators—is its predominant neutrality. There is nothing partisan about the principles that an agency must draw a “rational connection between the facts found and the choice made” when issuing regulations; must base important decisions on “genuine” not “contrived”...
THE CLEAN POWER PLAN IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE CLEAN POWER PLAN!
March 04, 2021The Obama administration adopted the Clean Power Plan to reduce power sector greenhouse gas emissions in line with its commitments under the Paris Agreement climate accord. The Clean Power Plan invoked Clean Air Act § 111(d)’s “Best System of Emissions Reductions” to require states to implement low-carbon electricity dispatch...
FIGMENTS OF THE IMAGINATION
March 02, 2021I first saw Grand Coulee Dam as a 10-year old. My family and I were on our way to Spokane, Washington to attend Expo ’74, officially titled the “International Exposition on the Environment.” Expo ’74 was notable for being the first environmentally themed World’s Fair. It...
Cost-Benefit Analysis Is Very Complicated — And Very Important
March 01, 2021It’s only a slight rhetorical exaggeration to say that the limited bandwidth left to environmental issues other than climate change in recent years has been largely occupied by concerns about PFAS – Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as “Forever chemicals.” A fascinating story in Bloomberg Environment & Energy...
“Go back to where you came from” – a personal journey
August 07, 2019Posted on August 7, 2019 by Brenda Mallory The first time that I remember being told “go back to where you came from,” I was 18. Although not the first time I was targeted because of my race, it was the first time I remember those words. I had...
“DISCARDED” or “NOT DISCARDED”: That Is the Question (or “Asked and (finally) Answered!”)
July 31, 2019Posted on July 31, 2019 by Karen Crawford On July 2, 2019, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a petition brought by an environmental group for review of EPA’s Transfer-Based Exclusion for secondary hazardous materials in California Communities Against Toxics v. EPA (D.C. Cir. July 2, 2019) (No. 18-1163). ...
SEARCH BLOGS
How Safe is Your WOTUS Harbor?
September 21, 2021Posted on September 21, 2021 by Patrick Parenteau In 2005 the Corps of Engineers adopted a Regulatory Guidance Letter (RGL) providing that an “approved jurisdictional determination” (AJD) “will remain...
Progressive New Jersey: The Garden State continues its environmental leadership by enacting forward-looking programs
September 17, 2021Posted on September 17, 2021 by Dennis Krumholz New Jersey has been a leader in addressing the most significant environmental problems of the day. Decades ago, for example, four...
The Battle for Carlin Lake
September 13, 2021Posted on September 13, 2021 by David Ullrich A small lake in Northern Wisconsin became the battleground for a classic showdown between a small group of cottage owners and...
Earthshot
September 10, 2021Posted on September 10, 2021 by Robert Wyman For Fellows of the American College, hardly a day passes without some thought about the changing climate and how together we...
Where have we come from? What are we? Where are we going? With apologies to Paul Gauguin
September 9, 2021Posted on September 9, 2021 by Tommy Lavender As we know, the serious foray into federal environmental protection began in the early 1970’s, before which even my own capital...
Protection of Lawyers Against Defamation Actions Does Not Apply to Press Releases
September 7, 2021Posted on September 7, 2021 by Irma Russell Last month, I served on a panel for the State Bar of Texas Environmental Law Superconference, which focused on an important...
It’s Important to Acknowledge Good News — The End of Leaded Gasoline
September 3, 2021Posted on September 3, 2021 by Seth Jaffe As climate change rightly has dominated recent discussions of environmental policy, it’s been easy to forget how much progress has been...
State Constitutions to the Rescue?
August 27, 2021Posted on August 27, 2021 by Michael B. Gerrard The constitutions of more than three-quarters of the countries on earth have explicit reference to environmental rights or responsibilities In...
THE AMERICAN WEST IS DRYING OUT. HERE’S WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT.
August 25, 2021Posted on August 25, 2021 by Richard M. Frank The American West is in the throes of a “megadrought”—one that’s plagued the region since 2000. Indeed, the Western U.S....
ACOEL PRESS RELEASES
The American College of Environmental Lawyers Announces Newly-Elected Fellows for 2021
August 2, 2021The American College of Environmental Lawyers is proud to announce that this year it has elected 22 new Active...
ACOEL Announces New Website
March 2, 2021The American College of Environmental Lawyers is pleased to announce the availability of its new website to ACOEL members...