Inside EPA reports today on the concerns of water suppliers needing to remove PFAS from drinking water.
Among other things, PFAS removal results in residuals, or what you and I might call sludge, that won't be going the...more
Bloomberg has published the United States Chamber of Commerce's amicus brief in the Rapanos case. As many of you know, the Supreme Court of the United States is using this case to consider (again) the jurisdictional reach of...more
Bloomberg Environment reports that Maine Governor Janet Mills is about to sign legislation banning the land application of biosolids in Maine unless those biosolids are determined to be free of PFAS. Practically speaking,...more
But the less good news is that New York's first offshore wind project has to deal with endless NIMBY challenges at all after doing the work necessary to obtain the many federal, state and local permits the project needs, all...more
I doubt the Supreme Court will adopt the Sacketts' test for determining Clean Water Act jurisdiction but the "significant nexus" test is in trouble
Yesterday the Sacketts of Idaho shared with the United States Supreme...more
Today is the second day of the International Summit on Plastic Pollution (https://liu.edu/plastic-pollution-summit). Yesterday, I shared a bit about what conference participants are learning about how France is...more
Today five Justices of the United States Supreme Court reversed a California Federal District Court Judge's decision vacating a Clean Water Act rule enacted by the Trump Administration EPA. The 2020 rule had reduced the role...more
As the International Summit on Plastic Pollution gets underway, I'll be sharing some of the conclusions reached by a team of French and American lawyers regarding the very different responses of France and the United States...more
This week scientists, policy makers and lawyers from France and the United States are getting together to discuss the catastrophic effect of plastic waste in our oceans and what might be done about it. Registration to...more
Yesterday EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox told an EPA Advisory Committee EPA remains committed to using Federal rule making to find "common ground" respecting the reach of the Federal Clean Water Act. ...more
Many of you already know that Massachusetts timely meeting its Greenhouse Gas reduction goals is entirely dependent on our ability to receive hydroelectricity generated in Canada, at least until other renewable energy is...more
This morning we read that it might take EPA a bit longer than anticipated just a few days ago to bless the new ASTM standard for environmental site assessments. Why?...more
Kudos to Shirley Leung of The Boston Globe for concisely recounting the past 15 years of Boston waterfront planning, where it has and hasn't gotten us, and where we need to get in the foreseeable future. Mayor Wu has great...more
Earlier this week the Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss a solar developer's legal challenge to the Vineyard Wind project. That motion to dismiss is a multifaceted attack on the plaintiff's standing to mount his...more
With all the attention on PFAS over the past few years, you might assume that your standard Environmental Site Assessment would assess the possibility that the property you're buying has been impacted by PFAS, the "forever...more
The collapse of a section of Newport's Cliff Walk has captured our attention. In a Boston Globe report, Dean Greenstein of Roger Williams University puts this newsworthy event in geologic perspective - our planet is...more
A Magistrate Judge and EPA continue to strongly disagree about the application of the Safe Drinking Water Act to septic systems and cesspools in New York State Parks. The Magistrate Judge has concluded, both before and after...more
The City of Boston is abuzz over Mayor Wu's announcement that she is putting the planning of the Downtown Waterfront on ice while the City focuses on East Boston.
One certainly can't fault the Wu Administration for...more
Lara Beaven of Inside EPA reports on the standoff between the State of Florida and the United States Environmental Protection Agency over the "current definition" of Waters of the United States for the purpose of determining...more
It is one of the most well worn maxims in the English language: better late than never! But yesterday the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report concluding that the waters off the coast of...more
Bloomberg Environment is the first to break the news that the United States Supreme Court has granted the wish of the Sacketts of Idaho, almost half the States of the Union and several associations who asked our nation’s...more
Professor Tracy Hester has penned a really powerful piece on efforts to preserve the descendants of Red Wolves in Texas. In just a few paragraphs Professor Hester summarizes historic and mostly unsuccessful efforts to save...more
The social commentator Will Rogers famously said that a "farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn’t still be a farmer." Those words certainly ring true when one reads EPA's Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Advisory...more
The Natural Resources Defense Counsel has told the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that overturning a three judge panel's "faithful application" of RCRA "could restrict private parties' abilities to use RCRA to address imminent...more
News this morning that a Federal District Court Judge in Massachusetts has granted Vineyard Wind's motion to intervene in the two lawsuits brought by NIMBYs to block the Vineyard Wind project well off the coast of Nantucket. ...more