Previous Events & CLE Programs
September 4, 2008
Committee Meeting
Bank v. Thermo-Elemental, Inc.: The Most Recent SJC Decision on Chapter 21E
Sponsors
Environmental Litigation Committee
Hazardous & Solid Waste Committee
Lisa Goodheart, Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen, P.C., and Jonathan Sablone, Nixon Peabody LLP, counsel for the parties in Bank, will discuss the case and its implications for practitioners. In Bank, the SJC resolved the long-pondered question whether a party who does not strictly comply with the MCP in performing a cleanup may nonetheless recover its cleanup costs under Chapter 21E. In so doing, the Court also confirmed that attorneys’ fees incurred in the course of implementing the cleanup are recoverable as response costs under Chapter 21E and established a new rule that a party seeking to recover attorneys fees under section 4A of Chapter 21E must affirmatively plead the claim.
June 5, 2008
Committee Meeting
Recent Massachusetts Wetlands Bylaw Court Decisions: Oyster Creek and Tremont Development cases
Sponsors
Environmental Litigation Committee
Wetlands, Waterways & Water Quality Committee
Please join Mary Giorgio, Kopelman & Paige P.C., James Quirk, James H. Quirk, Jr., P.C., and Donald Pinto, Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster as they discuss their experiences as involved counsel in several recent Superior Court decisions, specifically:
- Oyster Creek Preservation, Inc. v. Harwich Conservation Commission and
- Tremont Development Corp. v. Westwood Conservation Commission.
These cases have addressed important procedural issues and scope of review/preemption aspects of project review under local wetlands bylaws. Speakers will focus on the interesting lessons to be learned in this type of project review, permitting and litigation.
May 1, 2008
Committee Meeting
Fallout from New Jersey v. EPA Decision: What's Next for Mercury Regulation?
Sponsors
Environmental Litigation Committee
Air Quality & Climate Change Committee
Join Ann Weeks, Clean Air Task Force, Richard Sugarman, WolfBlock, and Barbara Kwetz, Director of Bureau of Waste Prevention's Division of Planning & Evaluation, as they offer three distinct perspectives on the DC Circuit's recent decision in the NJ v. EPA case.
The decision vacated the Clean Air Mercury Rule and EPA's delisting rules regarding mercury, the interesting procedural maneuverings after the decision was rendered, and issues facing DEP in the aftermath of the decision.
April 3, 2008
Committee Meeting
DEP Enforcement Update
Sponsors
Environmental Litigation Committee
Environmental Law Section
Laurie Burt, Commissioner, Margaret Stolfa, General Counsel, and Pamela Talbot, Head of the Office of Enforcement, at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection will provide an update of enforcement successes, initiatives, and priorities.
February 28, 2008
Committee Meeting
USDOT/PHMSA: Federal Hazardous Materials RegulationsApplicability and Enforcement
Sponsors
Hazardous & Solid Waste Committee
Environmental Litigation Committee
Mike Hilder and Margaret Carson, U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration ("PHMSA"), will present an introduction on the applicability of Federal regulations to the transportation of all types of hazardous materials by air, rail, highway, and water, and the measures of Federal, State, and local officials to promote compliance with those regulations.
Mr. Hilder, an attorney with PHMSA’s Office of Chief Counsel, will summarize the Federal statutory and regulatory scheme and the relationship of DOT’s authority with that of OSHA, EPA, and the U.S. Postal Service. He will also explain PHMSA’s procedures for conducting civil penalty enforcement cases when investigators discover noncompliance. Ms. Carson, an investigator with PHMSA’s Office of Hazardous Materials Enforcement, will discuss PHMSA’s procedures for conducting inspections and observations to investigate whether shipments are being made in compliance with the Federal regulations. They hope to provide insight into measures you can take to help clients achieve compliance and deal with PHMSA in the event that noncompliance is discovered.
February 7, 2008
Committee Meeting
Detoxifying Toxic Tort Claims
Join us as Jan R. Schlichtmann discusses the new creative model he has developed for putting together classes of plaintiffs to pursue toxic tort and environmental damages claims through a trust vehicle. Mr. Schlichtmann will explain his trust model and how he is putting it into action in cases such as the Danvers Explosion. He will also talk about a legislative proposal he is working on to codify the trust form.
Mr. Schlichtmann is a plaintiff's attorneys specializing in the area of consumer, environmental, product, toxic, and mass tort litigation. He has most notably received recognition for his work in the 1980's case against W.R. Grace and Beatrice Foods for the contamination of the Woburn City water supply, subject of the national bestseller and movie "A Civil Action."
MEPA Re-invention 2007
The Patrick administration will be implementing significant enhancements to the MEPA program. There are three significant initiatives that will be implemented or started this year:
(1) e-MEPA will allow for electronic filing and record retrieval;
(2) MEPA will coordinate state agency participation in MEPA review of certain projects to incorporate agency permit reviews within the MEPA framework; and
(3) Greenhouse Gas impacts will now have to be documented and offset.
Deerin Babb-Brott, the Director of MEPA, and Ken Kimmel, General Counsel of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs will present this brand new era of an electronic, permit review and carbon offset MEPA program.;R.J. Lyman, of Goodwin Procter LLP and a former Director of MEPA, will discuss how the new MEPA reforms would impact a large development, using the Assembly Square project as an example.
November 14, 2007
Committee Meeting
MEPA Re-invention 2007
The Patrick administration will be implementing significant enhancements to the MEPA program. There are three significant initiatives that will be implemented or started this year:
(1) e-MEPA will allow for electronic filing and record retrieval;
(2) MEPA will coordinate state agency participation in MEPA review of certain projects to incorporate agency permit reviews within the MEPA framework; and
(3) Greenhouse Gas impacts will now have to be documented and offset.
Deerin Babb-Brott, the Director of MEPA, and Ken Kimmel, General Counsel of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs will present this brand new era of an electronic, permit review and carbon offset MEPA program.;R.J. Lyman, of Goodwin Procter LLP and a former Director of MEPA, will discuss how the new MEPA reforms would impact a large development, using the Assembly Square project as an example.
October 4, 2007
Committee Meeting
State Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Automobiles Impact of Vermont Court Ruling in Green Mountain
Sponsors
Environmental Litigation Committee
Air Quality & Climate Change Committee
Join us as Kevin Leske, Assistant Attorney General and counsel for the State of Vermont, and Matthew Pawa, counsel for various NGO intervenors/amici discuss the landmark, first-in-the-nation ruling in which a federal district court judge recognized the right of Vermont to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles. Mr. Leske and Mr. Pawa will discuss the court's decision in the Green Mountain case, where it leaves the legal controversy over state and federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, and what future rulings may be on the horizon.
In the case, brought by the auto industry, the judge wrote that the auto industry had failed to demonstrate either that federal law pre-empted the states from setting the regulations or that such standards were not achievable. Vermont is one of 11 states have adopted California’s “Pavely” standards, and similar cases remain pending in federal courts in California and Rhode Island. In addition, EPA still needs to rule on whether to grant California's request for a waiver that will allow the state regulations to take effect.
June 13, 2007
Committee Meeting
SLAPP and Anti-SLAPP: The Healer v. DEP Case
Richard J. Yurko, founder and president of Yurko, Salvesen & Remz, P.C., and Alexander Joyce, who represented the plaintiffs in Healer v. DEP, will discuss the procedural and substantive issues associated with the Healer decision. Specifically, they will discuss:
- the showing that needs to be made to prove that actions are "protected petitioning activities" entitled to the statutory protection.
- an overview of the Anti-SLAPP statute and how it impacts the traditional torts of abuse of process and malicious prosecution.
In Healer v. DEP Superior Court Judge Hines allowed the plaintiffs' special motion to dismiss the Town of Falmouth's claims for abuse of process and malicious prosecution pursuant to GL c. 231, sec. 59H (the Anti-SLAPP) statute, on the grounds that plaintiffs' appeal constituted statutorily protected "petitioning activities."
May 3, 2007
Committee Meeting
NPDES Litigation Before the EPA Environmental Appeals Board: The Marlborough Wastewater Treatment Facility Case
Join us as we discuss the background and final resolution of the Marlborough Wastewater Treatment Facility case in which the EAB determined that the EPA had not shown that the NPDES permit was sufficiently stringent to control algal blooms and other nutrient-related water quality impairments into the Hop Brook. The panelists will also highlight the unique nuances of federal and state permit appeal processes involved in litigation before the EAB.
Panelists include:
- E. Michael Thomas, representing the Town of Sudbury
- Donald Anglehart, representing the City of Marlborough
- Samir Bukhari, representing EPA
April 2, 2007
Committee Meeting
Landlocked Tideland and the Moot Case
Sponsors
Environmental Litigation Committee
Wetlands, Waterways & Water Quality Committee
The recent Massachusetts Supreme Court case of Moot v. the Department of Environmental Protection held that the DEP lacked statutory authority to exempt landlocked tidelands from the Chapter 91 process. Ultimately, this affects Boston, Cambridge, New Bedford, Gloucester and other coastal communities. Legislation has been filed by Governor Patrick to address the question and the SJC has granted a 6 month stay on the matter. The panelists will discuss the regulations, the status of the case and the legislation.
- Carl Dierker, EPA counsel for Region 1 and one of the architects of the DEP regulations will provide a history of the landlocked tidelands discussion;
- Ben Ericson, Assistant Attorney General will describe the status of the case from the Commonwealth’s perspective;
- Kenneth Kimmell, the new General Counsel to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs will offer a description of the proposed legislation.
March 1, 2007
Committee Meeting
State of the Massachusetts Division of Administrative Law Appeals
James Rooney, Administrative Magistrate, will be joined by other DALA representatives as he discusses the state of the Massachusetts Division of Administrative Law Appeals. Specifically, he will focus on:
- the status of environmental adjudicatory appeals since DALA took jurisdiction over the Office of Administrative Appeals within EOEA in 2004
- case flow
- appeal processing
- recent decisions of note
January 22, 2007
Committee Meeting
**This meeting is co-sponsored with the Wetlands, Waterways & Water Quality Committee**
We will review the recent SJC decision in Giovanella v. Conservation Commission of Ashland. In this case the Court held that no compensatory takings of property occurred in the Conservation Commission's denial of a residential lot development under the local wetlands bylaw and buffer zone setback restrictions. Speakers will include:
December 12 , 2006
Committee Meeting
Friends and Fishers of Edgartown Great Pond v. DEP
Please come to a roundtable discussion of the issues involved in the Friends & Fishers of Edgartown Great Pond v. DEP case, in which the SJC upheld the DEP’s issuance of a groundwater discharge permit to the Edgartown Wastewater Commission for the operation of a municipal wastewater treatment plant. We look forward to hearing about the different perspectives and positions advanced by the parties in the case, and the SJC’s response.
Joining us will be the four attorneys who participated in the Friends & Fishers lawsuit, including:
- Douglas H. Wilkins of Anderson & Kreiger, who represented plaintiffs Friends & Fishers
- Michael S. Nuesse, who represented plaintiff Ten Citizens Group
- Siu Tip Lam, Assistant Attorney General, who represented the Dept. of Environmental Protection
- Lisa C. Goodheart, of Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak, & Cohen, P.C., who represented the Edgartown Wastewater Commission.
October 5, 2006
Committee Meeting
EPA/Region 1 National and Regional Enforcement Priorities
Joel Blumstein, Manager of EPA Region 1's Regulatory Legal Office within the Office of Environmental Stewardship, will review Region 1's enforcement priorities for 2006 and beyond. Mr. Blumstein will also discuss the EPA’s perspective on its enforcement of federal environmental laws and regulations.
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