As government agencies at every level continue to implement programs to combat the spread of the Coronavirus, many environmental practitioners are struggling to make sense of what this means for their environmental permitting timelines. Below, we have compiled an overview of the main federal, state, and local… READ MORE
Image by Baudolino from Pixabay On February 20, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would begin a regulatory determination process aimed at deciding “whether or not to begin the process to propose and promulgate a national primary drinking water regulation” for… READ MORE
This article was first published in the Winter 2019 edition of the Boston Bar Journal. In a unanimous decision last September, the Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) upheld the Commonwealth’s latest climate change regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric generators, rejecting those generators’ arguments that the regulations violate… READ MORE
As our changing climate threatens to exacerbate drought conditions in parts of the country, disputes between states over rights to water are likely to become far more common, and to have far higher stakes. Early this year, the Court heard arguments in two separate water apportionment cases—one involving a dispute… READ MORE
image credit: Ineke Huizing PFAS—a class of chemical substances commonly used in a wide range of products—are drawing increased scrutiny from regulators. Businesses and municipalities should closely follow these developments, as they create both new risks of liability for substantial response costs and opportunities to make… READ MORE
image credit: Steve Johnson In January 2016, the Supreme Judicial Court issued a strong climate change decision under Massachusetts’ 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act. The GWSA required the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to adopt regulations reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions to 25% below 1990 levels by… READ MORE
Fear of losing pond access won’t let you sue over a zoning determination. Reaffirming the limits on neighbors’ ability to challenge local zoning decisions, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently held that an abutter lacked standing. The case is Picard v. ZBA of Westminster. It emphasizes that, in order… READ MORE