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September 5, 2018
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ELI Public Webinar When the United States withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, 100 private corporations reaffirmed their commitment to fighting climate change. While governments are often the tasked with facing climate change, many major private institutions are taking steps to significantly reduce carbon emissions reaping the benefits of favorable public image and reduced operational costs from energy and other savings. While private action alone will not be sufficient to address climate change, it can buy time while government policy plans are developed and enacted and can significantly add to the collective mitigation efforts. In their new book, Beyond Politics, Michael Vandenbergh and Jonathan Gilligan argue that private climate initiatives could reduce carbon emissions by up to one billion tons per year over the next ten years. Vandenbergh and Gilligan identify current initiatives and explore future pathways for private climate action, including public and private synergies for climate mitigation and approaches for evaluating the effectiveness of private action. Co-authors Michael Vandenbergh and Jonathan Gilligan, as well as our leading co-panelists, discussed the role of private institutions in climate change mitigation. They discussed the incentives for private actors pursuing carbon reduction initiatives, key factors in successful case studies, and methods for developing and evaluating successful private climate initiatives. Panelists: Materials:
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September 6, 2018
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ELI Member Webinar Join the Environmental Law Institute for the first seminar in the new series . This series will focus on legal issues surrounding climate mitigation and adaptation, and feature experts representing a variety of sectors, including academia, government, industry, and NGOs. The first in our new Determining Responsibility Climate Series, was Government Liability for Hurricane Katrina, featuring an expert panel exploring the St. Bernard Parish Government v. United States case decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 20, 2018. In this case, Louisiana property owners argued “that the government was liable for flood damage to their properties caused by Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes” under takings law. The Federal Circuit, however, disagreed, noting “that the government cannot be liable on a takings theory for inaction and that the government action…was not shown to have been the cause of the flooding.” This panel dove into the ruling and its potential implications for future litigation in a world of changing climate, extreme weather, and uncertain liability. Panelists: Materials: |
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September 10, 2018
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Staying on top of the legal and policy developments in the climate change arena is no small task. As a special service to our members, the Environmental Law Institute provides a series of monthly conference calls with national experts on climate law and policy to keep you up to date and to answer your questions.
Topics addressed in this month's call:
Speakers: Materials: ELI Monthly Climate Briefings are made possible by the NOTE: This call/recording is for ELI members only. No comments may be quoted |
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September 11, 2018
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Hunton Andrews Kurth and the Environmental Law Institute are holding a complimentary summer speaker series featuring key representatives from environmental regulatory agencies. The series of informal seminars will provide attendees with the opportunity to directly interact with environmental regulators and professionals in the field on the latest issues and challenges in environmental law in California and throughout the western United States. SF Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board The mission of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board is to preserve, enhance, and restore the quality of California’s water resources and drinking water for the protection of the environment, public health, and all beneficial uses. The SF Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board is one of nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards in California, all of which operate under the auspices of the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board). The Water Boards are tasked with implementing the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act and the federal Clean Water Act and have regulatory responsibility for the water quality of California’s nearly 1.6 million acres of lakes, 1.3 million acres of bays and estuaries, 211,000 miles of rivers and streams, and about 1,100 miles of California coastline. Speakers discussed the latest topics of significant interest to the public and the priorities being pursued by the Regional Water Quality Control Board. Keith Lichten, Supervising Water Resource Control Engineer, California EPA/San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board **See other sessions in the San Francisco Summer Speaker Series schedule HERE.**
September 11, 2018
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Co-sponsored by: After decades of dominance by three investor owned utilities (IOUs), California is experiencing a transformation in its energy procurement landscape through the emergence of Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs). Recent studies anticipate that the growth of CCAs will pose an ongoing challenge to the IOUs, which could see a significant share of their load departing for CCAs in the future. The roundtable panel discussed this CCA transformation, with a particular focus on the implications for energy procurement and renewable energy project development as well as:
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September 12, 2018
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ELI Member Seminar The contamination of drinking water by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has garnered much attention in recent years, most recently on July 26 with an incident in Parchment, Michigan where officials told residents to stop drinking the tap water after levels of PFAS reached 26 times higher than a federal health advisory. But what exactly are PFAS and what are the impacts of and rules regarding their use at industrial and military sites? PFAS include perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and are a class of man-made chemicals that are notoriously challenging to remediate, and PFAS exposures and risks can result in regulatory concerns and active management at contaminated sites and surrounding areas. Join ELI and leading panelists for an in-depth discussion on the sources, overarching chemistry, environmental fate and transport, exposure, toxicology, and occurrence of PFAS with an emphasis on the state of knowledge regarding the characterization, risk management, and remediation of PFAS-impacted sites. Expertly moderated by Dr. Peter Zeeb, Senior Principal, President, and CEO of Geosyntec Consultants, the panel provided leading updates on state and federal regulatory issues and explored the spectrum of legal challenges associated with the use of PFAS at industrial and military facilities. Opening Remarks: Panelists: Materials: |
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September 17, 2018
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ELI Member Seminar As technology continues to evolve and advance, so too do the applications of that technology to environmental and energy regulation. Blockchain technology, the protocol underlying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is in and of itself a novel way to manage a variety of transactions. Blockchain is a distributed ledger system distributed among multiple computers. As a software technology, blockchain can be applied to all kinds of transactions, including contracts, patents, data gathering, and more. Blockchain is unique in that it can dramatically reduce or eliminate the need for intermediaries and can be paired with smart, or self-executing, contracts, to reduce transaction costs and time. However, critics have pointed to the energy needed to ‘mine’ cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and to the general hype around the technology that often obscures its potential value. Blockchain applications for the energy and environmental sectors are nevertheless rapidly appearing, and examples include enabling peer-to-peer energy transactions for solar and wind energy systems; tracking the movement of objects in industrial, food, or natural resource supply chains; underpinning emission trading schemes; or verifying the ownership of land or genetic resources. However, blockchain’s use by regulatory bodies is still an open question as well as how to deal with issues around blockchain performance including speed and energy use, scalability, and interoperability, all of which could slow its adoption. There is a clear and urgent need to bring together environmental professionals with those developing blockchain platforms and applications. Following the release of Blockchain Salvation, an ELI policy brief that offers an overview of this emerging technology and its promises and perils for the environment, ELI is creating a comprehensive inventory of blockchain applications with relevance to the environment and energy sectors. Panelists: Materials: |
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September 21, 2018
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CLE Conference co-sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, the New York State Bar Association Environment and Energy Section, the New York City Bar Association International Environmental Law Committee, the New York City Environmental Law Leadership Institute, and the Energy Bar Association. ELI is also a proud sponsor of Climate Week NYC ! This conference served as an introduction to the basics of renewable energy finance for environmental and energy lawyers whose work touches on this area. The program explored core legal concepts and documents. AGENDA
Materials: ADDITIONAL MATERIALS: Panel 1:
Panel 2: Panel 3:
Panel 4:
Panel 5:
Panel 6:
Information Regarding New York CLE Credits: Columbia Law School has been certified by the New York State Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Board as an Accredited Provider of CLE programs. Under New York State CLE regulations, this live classroom and live simultaneous transmission transitional and non-transitional CLE Program will provide 8 credit hours that can be applied toward the Areas of Professional Practice requirement. This CLE credit is awarded only to New York attorneys for full attendance of the Program in its entirety. Attorneys attending only part of the program are not eligible for partial credit. Attendance is determined by an attorney's sign-in and sign-out, as shown in the Conference registers. On final sign-out, attorneys should also submit their completed Evaluation Form, provided at the Conference. Please note the NYS Certificates of Attendance will be sent to the email address as it appears in the register unless otherwise noted there. PLEASE NOTE:
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September 24, 2018
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Presented by ABA SEER Committee on Pesticides, Chemical Regulation, and Right-to-Know; the Committee on Science and Technology; the American Chemical Society; and the Environmental Law Institute An examination of EPA's many accomplishments, and occasional growing pains, experienced during the first two years implementing the 2016 "Lautenberg Amendments." A panel of comprised of key participants in the development and implementation of the 2016 amendments were engaged in a lively discussion of the daunting effort required to meet the numerous deadlines imposed by the legislation and the many policy and legal challenges facing both the Agency and the public interest and regulated communities affected by the Lautenberg amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act. Key stakeholders held an unbridled conversation about their expectations and frustrations, and expressed their meditations on the future. Panelists:
September 24, 2018 - September 25, 2018
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The Washington Regional Food Funders (WRFF) is a network of philanthropists, foundations, and companies working together to foster a sustainable, equitable, and thriving food system in the Chesapeake region. WRFF is proud to host the Chesapeake Food Summit and continue the regional conversation around strengthening the Chesapeake Foodshed. The event is being co-sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute. The Chesapeake Food Summit is an unique opportunity for our region’s food system leaders to come together as one community to form new relationships within the food sector, share the latest innovations, and build on the great work already happening to strengthen our region’s growing food system. Unprecedented interest, innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic activity are creating a regional food system that celebrates the diversity of our region’s history, resources, and people, making the safest, healthiest, and most sustainable food available to everyone. The champions of our food economy—our region’s nonprofit leaders, community advocates, farmers, fishers, producers, distributors, retailers, chefs, funders, investors, policymakers, health professionals, educators, media, and consumers—are responsible for the great progress that we’ve made. The Summit is a forum for leaders from across the foodshed to hear their peers’ perspectives and together take the next steps to accelerate food system growth from farm to fork. The Summit will be a collaborative environment where new relationships can be built, past successes and new innovations can be profiled, and inspiration can be found in the diversity of participants and new innovations can be profiled, and inspiration can be found in the diversity of participants who share an interest in working together to nurture a better food system for all. With a deep history as a center of food commerce in the nation’s capital, the Union Market District is renowned for launching and scaling food businesses and for creating community around diverse yet likeminded creative entrepreneurs. With Union Market at its center, it is the perfect setting to bring together thought leaders, advocates and business representatives to innovate and create new paths forward. View the complete 2-day agenda HERE.
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September 24, 2018 - September 25, 2018
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The Washington Regional Food Funders (WRFF) is a network of philanthropists, foundations, and companies working together to foster a sustainable, equitable, and thriving food system in the Chesapeake region. WRFF is proud to host the Chesapeake Food Summit and continue the regional conversation around strengthening the Chesapeake Foodshed. The event is being co-sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute. The Chesapeake Food Summit is an unique opportunity for our region’s food system leaders to come together as one community to form new relationships within the food sector, share the latest innovations, and build on the great work already happening to strengthen our region’s growing food system. Unprecedented interest, innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic activity are creating a regional food system that celebrates the diversity of our region’s history, resources, and people, making the safest, healthiest, and most sustainable food available to everyone. The champions of our food economy—our region’s nonprofit leaders, community advocates, farmers, fishers, producers, distributors, retailers, chefs, funders, investors, policymakers, health professionals, educators, media, and consumers—are responsible for the great progress that we’ve made. The Summit is a forum for leaders from across the foodshed to hear their peers’ perspectives and together take the next steps to accelerate food system growth from farm to fork. The Summit will be a collaborative environment where new relationships can be built, past successes and new innovations can be profiled, and inspiration can be found in the diversity of participants and new innovations can be profiled, and inspiration can be found in the diversity of participants who share an interest in working together to nurture a better food system for all. With a deep history as a center of food commerce in the nation’s capital, the Union Market District is renowned for launching and scaling food businesses and for creating community around diverse yet likeminded creative entrepreneurs. With Union Market at its center, it is the perfect setting to bring together thought leaders, advocates and business representatives to innovate and create new paths forward. View the complete 2-day agenda HERE.
September 25, 2018
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Sponsored by the D.C. Bar Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Community and co-sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute. This year marks the Year of the Anacostia River. Even as the DC region celebrates the great strides that have been made in rehabilitating this beloved river, the occasion also calls for reflection on the choices and circumstances that led to the river's toxic past, and on the trade-offs that its renewal will bring. Our panel explored the successes and challenges of the Anacostia River cleanup; the work of citizen scientists and citizen activists, alongside government agencies, in shepherding that effort; the role of lawyers and the law in the river's fall and rise; and what is being done, and what needs to be done, to ensure that the communities that lived with the river through its worst years will benefit from its brighter future. Speakers:
September 25, 2018 - September 26, 2018
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This two-day meeting was convened by the Ad-Hoc Industry Natural Resource Management Group (Group) in cooperation with The George Washington University Law School. It was the 11th such symposium convened by the Group over its 30-year history. Other co-sponsors of Symposium 2018 included the Environmental Law Institute and The George Washington University Environmental and Energy Management Institute. The 2018 Symposium The first day of our program examined the progression and the diversity of natural resource liability cases in the US - via some specific case/site reviews and corresponding lessons learned. Also discussed was emergent case law with the goal of extracting those elements of successful legal, scientific and economic practice that can be further expanded into the present and future. The second day of the Symposium heard from leaders and decision-makers and discipline experts from the Congress, Judiciary, Academia, National and State Government, Private Industry, conservation organizations and more, with special emphasis on those actions needed to result in an effective national practice, with associated implications for an effective global practice. The Symposium brought together an outstanding set of speakers -- ranging from government policy makers -- to managers responsible for implementing corporate and government policies -- to attorneys, consultants, academics and other experts working in-the-trenches on natural resource matters. The Symposium provided a unique forum for presentation, discussion and exchange, aimed at identifying what is needed now and moving forward, to ensure a reasonable, balanced, predictable and transparent practice arena for all stakeholders while also facilitating flexibility and innovation. Outcomes
The Symposium resulted in a targeted set of actions - inside and outside statutory and regulatory paradigms - and the establishment of one or more multi-stakeholder working groups to continue the work of the Symposium, namely to further develop ideas and work to effect implementation and establish and monitor metrics to measure success. It is hoped that the proceedings of the conference will be published in a suitable peer-reviewed journal as well. Who Will Benefit from Participation The Symposium was open to all parties and we invited participation by the wide spectrum of stakeholder groups engaged in natural resource liability, management and allied matters, such as emergency response, remediation, restoration, biodiversity, corporate environmental stewardship, sustainability and more. Symposium participants represented a variety of disciplines interfacing with the natural resource liability and restoration practice field, including law, science, economics, statistics, decision analysis, engineering and more. This program was meant to be of interest to those with responsibilities for legal, technical, policy, public and regulatory affairs, risk management and financial issues in industrial companies; key government staff at the political appointee, managerial and on the ground levels; key congressional and executive branch members and staff; representatives of think tanks, conservation and research organizations; University professors and students; attorneys, scientists, economists and other specialists working with industry and government on natural resource liability, restoration, optimization and related issues. Topics Included:
See the complete agenda HERE. |
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September 25, 2018 - September 26, 2018
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This two-day meeting was convened by the Ad-Hoc Industry Natural Resource Management Group (Group) in cooperation with The George Washington University Law School. It was the 11th such symposium convened by the Group over its 30-year history. Other co-sponsors of Symposium 2018 included the Environmental Law Institute and The George Washington University Environmental and Energy Management Institute. The 2018 Symposium The first day of our program examined the progression and the diversity of natural resource liability cases in the US - via some specific case/site reviews and corresponding lessons learned. Also discussed was emergent case law with the goal of extracting those elements of successful legal, scientific and economic practice that can be further expanded into the present and future. The second day of the Symposium heard from leaders and decision-makers and discipline experts from the Congress, Judiciary, Academia, National and State Government, Private Industry, conservation organizations and more, with special emphasis on those actions needed to result in an effective national practice, with associated implications for an effective global practice. The Symposium brought together an outstanding set of speakers -- ranging from government policy makers -- to managers responsible for implementing corporate and government policies -- to attorneys, consultants, academics and other experts working in-the-trenches on natural resource matters. The Symposium provided a unique forum for presentation, discussion and exchange, aimed at identifying what is needed now and moving forward, to ensure a reasonable, balanced, predictable and transparent practice arena for all stakeholders while also facilitating flexibility and innovation. Outcomes
The Symposium resulted in a targeted set of actions - inside and outside statutory and regulatory paradigms - and the establishment of one or more multi-stakeholder working groups to continue the work of the Symposium, namely to further develop ideas and work to effect implementation and establish and monitor metrics to measure success. It is hoped that the proceedings of the conference will be published in a suitable peer-reviewed journal as well. Who Will Benefit from Participation The Symposium was open to all parties and we invited participation by the wide spectrum of stakeholder groups engaged in natural resource liability, management and allied matters, such as emergency response, remediation, restoration, biodiversity, corporate environmental stewardship, sustainability and more. Symposium participants represented a variety of disciplines interfacing with the natural resource liability and restoration practice field, including law, science, economics, statistics, decision analysis, engineering and more. This program was meant to be of interest to those with responsibilities for legal, technical, policy, public and regulatory affairs, risk management and financial issues in industrial companies; key government staff at the political appointee, managerial and on the ground levels; key congressional and executive branch members and staff; representatives of think tanks, conservation and research organizations; University professors and students; attorneys, scientists, economists and other specialists working with industry and government on natural resource liability, restoration, optimization and related issues. Topics Included:
See the complete agenda HERE. |
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September 27, 2018
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Co-sponsored by the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Hosted by Alston & Bird LLP EPA Region 4 Administrator Trey Glenn Trey Glenn leads the EPA’s environmental protection efforts in the southeastern states, bringing 23 years of environmental and regulatory experience to this role. Serving 63 million people who live and work in the largest EPA region, Mr. Glenn champions protection of our ecosystems and natural resources, encourages partnerships with our states and helps EPA achieve its mission. Previously, Mr. Glenn served as director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) from 2005-2009. In this position, he was tasked with ensuring a safe, healthy, and productive environment for all Alabama residents. He also served as division director for the Alabama Office of Water Resources from 2001-2005, where he was responsible for leading day-to-day operations on coordination and management of Alabama’s water resources. Most recently, he worked as an independent engineer consultant and business owner focused on environmental issues. In his new role, Mr. Glenn is responsible for the eight southeastern states, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee, as well as six federally-recognized tribes. Mr. Glenn is a graduate of Auburn University with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering . He received his MBA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Mr. Glenn is also a professional engineer. Mr. Glenn discussed recent office accomplishments, updates on agency priorities and his Office’s goals for the upcoming months.
September 27, 2018
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ELI Public Seminar ELI's annual U.S. Supreme Court Review of October Term 2017 and Preview of October Term 2018 again featured some of the nation’s leading experts on environmental law in the Supreme Court. The event took place just four days before the “First Monday of October” when the Supreme Court formally closes October Term 2017 and begins October Term 2018. Expertly moderated by ELI Vice President of Programs and Publications John Pendergrass, leading environmental law professors Sharon Jacobs and Robert Percival reviewed key rulings from the Court’s last term before turning to the cases that have been granted review or are likely to be considered by the Justices for the upcoming term. The review covered issues including federal district courts’ sole jurisdiction over the challenges to the controversial Waters of United States Rule, courts’ redressability in an interstate water use dispute, and the federal government’s participation in another interstate water use compact suit to defend “distinctively federal interests.” They also addressed cases to watch in the upcoming term, such as the dusky gopher frog case which will determine the extent to which the Endangered Species Act can be interpreted to designate and protect critical habitat, as well as the Virginia Uranium v. Warren case, which deals with whether the Atomic Energy Act pre-empts a state statutory ban on uranium mining on non-federal lands in Virginia. Additionally, speakers highlighted pending court cases, including whether the pre-enforcement bar under CERCLA preempts state litigation seeking cleanup remedies that may conflict with EPA-ordered remedies and whether a landowner at a Superfund site requires EPA approval before engaging in any remedial action even if the EPA has never ordered the landowner to pay for a cleanup. Lastly, the speakers continued the conversation first held at ELI’s Breaking News: The Impact of Justice Kennedy on Constitutional Environmental Law and the Effect of His Impending Retirement on Kennedy’s legacy and implications caused by his recent departure from the Supreme Court. Panelists: Materials: |
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