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
Most States Rise to the Challenge and Submit Preliminary Climate Plans to EPA – Now for the Hard Part
April 30, 2024Posted on April 30, 2024 by Steven Chester In mid-April of this year, the Climate XChange, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing state climate policy, announced that it, along with RMI and the Evergreen Collaborative, had reviewed “6,795 pages of state climate plans.” These plans had been submitted to...
EPA Designates PFAS as Hazardous Substances; EPA Is More Confident Than I Am that the Sky Isn’t Falling
April 24, 2024Posted on April 24, 2024 by Seth Jaffe Last Friday, EPA formally designated perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) – including their salts and structural isomers! – as hazardous substances under CERCLA. I cannot really quarrel with the underlying decision to list PFOA and PFOS. Given the developing...
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Berkeley’s Ban on Natural Gas in New Construction is Preempted: What Will Happen to Other Local Bans?
April 19, 2023Posted on April 19, 2023 by Seth Jaffe On Monday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the City of Berkeley ordinance entitled “Prohibition of Natural Gas Infrastructure...
Water, Water, Everywhere?
April 14, 2023Posted on April 14, 2023 by Scott Fulton One of my roles as ELI’s International Envoy is serving on the Steering Committee of the new Climate Crisis Commission established...
Tackling the Zombies
April 13, 2023Posted on April 13, 2023 by Ridge Hall What can a frustrated state legislator do when the agency implementing the Clean Water Act fails to renew expired permits or...
ARE PFAS COMPOUNDS EVERYWHERE?
April 11, 2023Posted on April 11, 2023 by David Flannery Even as my ACOEL colleagues address PFAS regulatory updates that have been occurring in recent months and will continue to unfold...
Stephen E. Herrmann Environmental Writing Award
April 4, 2023Posted on April 4, 2023 by JB Ruhl The American College of Environmental Lawyers (“ACOEL”) announces its annual Stephen E. Herrmann Environmental Writing Award (“Herrmann Award”) for the 2022-23...
This isn’t an early April Fools joke — the US Forest Service is applying for a NPDES permit to keep fighting forest fires!
March 28, 2023Posted on March 28, 2023 by Jeff Porter Inside EPA is reporting that the United States Forest Service is going to work with EPA to obtain National Pollutant Discharge Elimination...
2023 WOTUS Rule Enjoined in Texas and Idaho (Or “Here We Go Again”)
March 27, 2023Posted on March 27, 2023 by Karen Aldridge Crawford On March 19, 2023, a federal district court in Texas granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting the January 2023 Revised Definition...
Superfund Allocation: Future Valuation of Remediated Property
March 24, 2023Posted on March 24, 2023 by John M. Barkett I have the unenviable honor of having read every Superfund allocation rendered in a reported decision. There is a lot...
ChatGPT and the Environmental Lawyer
March 23, 2023Posted on March 23, 2023 by Don Bluedorn Unless you have been hibernating this winter, you know about ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence chatbot that rolled out late in 2022....
ACOEL PRESS RELEASES
ACOEL ANNOUNCES NEWLY ELECTED OFFICERS & REGENTS
October 17, 2023October 17, 2023For Immediate ReleaseContact: admin@acoel.org (Washington, DC): The American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) is proud to announce...
ACOEL Announces Newly-Elected Fellows for 2023
July 27, 2023July 27, 2023For Immediate ReleaseContact: admin@acoel.org (Washington, DC): The American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) is proud to welcome...