Welcome to the August edition of Nutter’s Environment & Energy Insights, a monthly update of current trends in environment and energy law. This month we cover: EPA’s new Facility Response Plan requirements for potential...more
In addition to amending the Wetlands Protection Regulations to add performance standards for the Land Subject to Coastal Storm Flowage wetland resource area, MassDEP wants to update the Massachusetts Stormwater Management...more
There has been a joke for some time now that whenever MassDEP proposes new regulations, they must have finally developed the performance standard for Land Subject to Coastal Storm Flowage (“LSCSF”). Well, the joke’s on us,...more
Siting and permitting renewable energy projects in Virginia have become increasingly challenging as federal and state environmental laws, regulations and guidance have evolved in recent years. In particular, HB 206...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering expanding the number of per- and polyfluoroalklyl substances (PFAS) compounds classified as “hazardous substances” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,...more
Idaho has joined a Texas lawsuit over a new interpretation of the Clean Water Act’s “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule, alleging that it is too vague, oversteps the bounds of federal authority, and puts the liberties...more
Last week, EPA and the Army Corps finally published their long-awaited rule defining “Waters of the United States.” Will the WOTUS rule finally provide the clarity for which we have been waiting, allowing the rule to be as...more
Last week, EPA and the Army Corps proposed a new rule to define what constitutes “waters of the United States.” Déjà vu all over again. Under the proposal, the agencies: are exercising their discretionary authority to...more
Despite the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including lockdowns, vaccinations, and containment and relief efforts, the 2021 Session of the Virginia General Assembly produced a number of environmental protection...more
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, acting through the Office of the Attorney General of Massachusetts, and Dynamic Energy Solutions, LLC, (“Dynamic”) entered into a February 1st Consent Decree (“CD”) addressing alleged...more
The public-private partnership Louisiana Strategies for Future Environments just released a report so stark in its conclusions that, were it not for all of the maps and figures its contains, one would have assumed that it had...more
The Beaver Watershed Alliance (“BWA”) announced the next topic in its 2018 Speaker Series which is titled: Restoration and Management of Public & Private Lands (“Presentation”)...more
Green infrastructure refers to, among other things, the utilization of sustainable forestry and agriculture as elements of a cost-effective compliance strategy for meeting the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System...more
In Sierra Club et al. v. County of Sonoma et al. (2017 WL 1422533), the California First District Court of Appeal held that the issuance of an erosion-control permit by the Agricultural Commissioner of Sonoma County...more
House and Senate members passed a continuing resolution (CR) this week that will fund state government on a temporary basis until August 14, staving off a June 30 budget deadline which marked the end of the fiscal year. The...more