Update Highlights:
• COVID-19 infection rates, case numbers, hospitalizations, and deaths are at or approaching the highs seen in the spring.
...more
Update Highlights:
• COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Massachusetts, hitting rates of infection not seen since the spring.
• Governor Baker imposed a nighttime curfew and restrictions on the size of gatherings in...more
Update Highlights:
• Massachusetts state courts continue to expand in-person services and hearings while conducting business virtually whenever possible.
• The Supreme Judicial Court issued a new order last week...more
In a surprising twist in the permitting relationship between the federal and state governments, U.S. EPA has unilaterally stopped jointly issuing surface water discharge permits with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,...more
Update Highlights:
The Massachusetts District Court for the District of Massachusetts has released an Order allowing for renewed in-person proceedings in limited cases....more
Update Highlights:
The Supreme Judicial Court issued new orders this week spelling out the logistics for public attendance at courthouses set to reopen on July 13. Members of the public will be subject to screening,...more
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is reopening the public comment period on its draft Solid Waste Master Plan for 2020–2030 in light of developments and comments associated with COVID-19, environmental...more
Update Highlights:
Massachusetts moves into Phase 3 of its reopening plan on July 6, including the opening of fitness centers and health clubs, museums and aquariums, movie theaters and performance halls (at limited...more
This and other updates on the Commonwealth’s response are collected on its website and the separate court system site. Beveridge & Diamond’s COVID-19 EH&S Resource Center is available as we work remotely throughout our seven...more
As Massachusetts continues cautiously through Phase 1 of its reopening plan, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) extended courthouse closures until July 1 but announced an end to the tolling of civil statutes of...more
Massachusetts Governor Baker has unveiled the Commonwealth’s four-phase approach for reopening Massachusetts and implementation is already underway. Although the impacts of the new coronavirus and COVID-19 were swift across...more
The impacts of the new coronavirus and COVID-19 were swift across government, business, and everyday lives, resulting in shuttered businesses and remote working, a shock to the stock market, and a wide variety of responses at...more
The impacts of the new coronavirus and COVID-19 have been swift across government, business, and everyday lives, resulting in shuttered businesses and remote working, a shock to the stock market, and a wide variety of...more
The impacts of the new coronavirus and COVID-19 have been swift across government, business, and everyday lives, resulting in shuttered businesses and remote working, a shock to the stock market, and a wide variety of...more
The impacts of the new coronavirus and COVID-19 have been swift across government, business, and everyday lives, resulting in shuttered businesses and remote working, a shock to the stock market, and a wide variety of...more
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is soliciting comments on its draft Solid Waste Master Plan for 2020–2030, which are due no later December 6, 2019. This draft Solid Waste Master Plan continues many...more
Deadlines matter, particularly in the world of Massachusetts zoning. Statutory deadlines govern everything from when a board must hold hearing to the number of days within which to file an appeal. Need a zoning freeze? There...more
Plaintiffs with property damage claims under the Massachusetts clean-up law have more time to bring their claim than might be expected under the three-year statute of limitations according to a recent ruling by the top...more
The Town of Westport cannot recover clean-up costs from manufacturers of PCBs used in caulk at the town’s middle school under a variety of common law and statutory theories, according to a ruling by the First Circuit in Town...more
The Massachusetts Superior Court has ruled that a municipality lacks standing to challenge a special permit issued by a neighboring town when the alleged harm is “too speculative and remote to qualify them as ‘aggrieved...more
Company Settles MassDEP enforcement case, Reaches Agreement with MassDEP to split $10 Million Cost to Construct Drinking Water Line and Receives Notice of Intent to Sue from Environmental Groups -
A proposal to expand...more
A new class of emerging contaminants poses challenges at remediation sites and for the protection of drinking water, and is generating new toxic tort litigation. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are emerging...more
On March 19, 2017, the latest iterations of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ nationwide permits (NWPs) will take effect. As set forth in the Corps’ final rule announcing these NWPs, the 2017 package contains 52 permits,...more
Off to Court We Go: Petitioners Challenge EPA’s Small MS4 General Permit for Massachusetts -
The storm of debate and criticism over the terms and conditions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) General...more
10/25/2016
/ Best Management Practices ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Global Warming Solutions Act ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
MassDEP ,
NPDES ,
OSHA
Massachusetts has its first significant update of its Public Records Law since the 1970s with promises of swifter responses and real consequences including attorney’s fees for failures to comply.
In August 2015, we...more