Earlier this year, jurors awarded two homeowners $186,000 in damages caused in part by a developer’s failure to disclose the presence of an invasive plant on their property. The homeowners had brought a single-family home in a new development in Pepperell. Unbeknownst to them, before their lot was graded, a… READ MORE
On May 8, FAA published its Aircraft Firefighting Foam Transition Plan, which outlines additional information, timelines, and preparatory steps for airports to consider as the federal government’s search for PFAS-free firefighting foam continues. The plan, which was required by Congress in 2022, provides an important “next step” in helping… READ MORE
On Feb. 9, 2023, Olympia “Libby” Bowker will speak at Boston Bar Association’s Speed-Networking event: “Find Out What Practicing Environmental Law Is Really Like.” Participants will learn from public and private sector attorneys about the paths that led them to their career in environmental law and hear more about their… READ MORE
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay. Wading into a dispute about the Clean Water Act’s applicability to groundwater discharges, the Supreme Court handed environmentalists a somewhat surprising victory in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund. However, the lower courts, EPA, and the regulated community will have many… READ MORE
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