Government Bullies? Not So Much
It has been more than 30 years since EPA hired its first criminal investigators, but questions remain about when environmental violations will result in criminal charges. Critics frequently portray...
View ArticleObservations on China’s New Environmental Protection Law
On January 1, 2015, China will formally begin implementing an updated Environmental Protection Law. The updated Law imposes significantly stricter environmental controls and greater responsibilities on...
View ArticleCERCLA Financial Responsibility- The Continuing Efforts to Breathe Life into...
Financial responsibility is a familiar environmental law concept. Many of us have negotiated financial assurance provisions in site consent agreements. RCRA’s closure and post-closure financial...
View ArticleDAYS OF FUTURE PASSED…OR PAST
November 1967: The Moody Blues release their second album, Days of Future Passed, said to be an influential work of the countercultural, psychedelic era. May 2014: Wolverine goes back in time to rally...
View ArticleAnother Legal Victory for America’s First Offshore Wind Project
The 468 megawatt Cape Wind project, slated for construction in federal waters off the coast of Massachusetts in Nantucket Sound, is the first offshore wind project to be proposed and approved in the...
View ArticleOld MacDonald Had a Farm [Loan] E-I-E-I-O My
On December 2, 2014 the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas enjoined the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Farm Service Agency (FSA) (together the “Agencies”)...
View ArticleWhat Do I Care About EPA Employee Morale?
Even before the Republican sweep of the mid-term elections in November 2014, working for the Federal Government in general and EPA in particular has not been – shall we say – always “fun” for the...
View ArticleDirty Dirt, Developing State Soil Reuse Regulation
Those who have tried to keep up with the development of environmental law into the second decade of the 21st century will not be surprised, as others may be, by the attention now focused on...
View ArticleView from the Top: John Cruden on Federal Environmental Enforcement
ACOEL Fellow John Cruden, head of DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, recently gave this speech to the ABA Litigation Section on the current direction of federal environmental...
View ArticleCERCLA Financial Assurance Update: Section 108(b) Remains Stalled, But New...
Earlier this year, I posted in this blog a discussion of EPA’s 35 year – and still unfinished – journey toward full implementation of the financial assurance (“FA”) mandate of CERCLA Section 108(b)....
View ArticlePetitioner Beware: A Shift in Industry Standing Doctrine in the D.C. Circuit
In a string of recent decisions, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit appears to be shifting away from the long-standing general presumption that standing is self-evident for...
View ArticleParis to Earth: Act Locally Within a Global Framework
Paris—In the run-up to the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention, a short humorous video, “Earth to Paris,” was widely viewed. It was a call to delegates for take serious action...
View ArticleThe White House Embraces Ecosystem Services
The ecosystem services framework focuses on the economic values humans derive from functioning ecosystems in the form of services—such as water filtration, pollination, flood control, and groundwater...
View ArticleLooking Back Over 100 Years of the National Park Service, Looking Ahead to...
August 25, 2016 is the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. The many planned celebrations and observances provide an opportunity for everyone to become reacquainted with these great outdoor...
View ArticleHEY, JUDGE SKAVDAHL - DON’T THE INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES INCLUDE...
The Mined Lands Act directs the Bureau of Land Management to issue regulations governing mining on public lands for, inter alia, “the protection of the interests of the United States, . . . and for the...
View ArticleThe Data Don’t Lie: Has MNA Science Outpaced Site Decision-Making?
The importance of a thorough technical evaluation of monitored natural attenuation (MNA) at chlorinated solvent and other groundwater-contamination sites cannot be overestimated. Regulatory acceptance...
View ArticlePsst. Anyone want a National Monument in Maine?
Usually we associate uniqueness, grandeur, history, and pleasure with our National Monuments and National Parks. With President Obama’s August 24, 2016 Declaration of Katahdin Woods and Waters...
View ArticleThe Drama of the Massachusetts Power Wars
Sometimes the most extraordinary things in the world of law and government get served up in the most undramatic way. If you aren’t paying attention to the back story, and you don’t know the context,...
View ArticleCuba Delegation Blog 2: Notes from Our Informal Meetings
Jim Bruen, Eileen Millett, Mary Ellen Ternes and I remain energized from the dynamic set of informal meetings in which we participated while in Cuba. I thought you might find useful the following...
View ArticleCuba Delegation Part 4: Las Terrazas
I stood staring at the ruins of slave quarters on what had once been a 19th century coffee plantation situated in the northwestern part of Cuba ― Las Terrazas, in the Sierra de Rosario mountains. I...
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