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Calendar
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February 3, 2021
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This conference is co-sponsored by the Energy Bar Association and the Environmental Law Institute.
EBA's Gas, Oil and Liquids Steering Committee presents a half-day program on Wednesday, February 3, 2021. The Natural Gas Act and the Interstate Commerce Act regulate pipelines in the U.S.; however, the statutes are not the same on matters related to permitting and siting, and federal policy is divergent with regard to rate and terms of service regulation. The half-day virtual program is intended to provide participants with an overview of the NGA and ICA differences from a statutory and practical perspective. It will also discuss FERC's revised policy on the mechanism used to establish the return on equity for jurisdictional pipelines, which was updated this summer. Furthermore, the program will include a presentation on LNG export facility development and siting from the government's perspective Panelists: Please visit the event page for registration and further details. |
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February 4, 2021
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An ELI Public Webinar Five years after the Gold King Mine wastewater spill, the scope of abandoned mine lands (AMLs), and the potential environmental contaminants left with them is still unknown. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) notes there may be as many as a half million AMLs, potentially affecting 110,000 miles of streams with total cleanup cost projections ranging from $50-70 billion. Considering the prevalence of AMLs, a particular challenge lies in determining responsibility for who pays for the cleanups. While many AMLs are on federal lands, and may be the responsibility of the federal government if there is no viable private party, the government’s ability to restore these lands is often hindered by scarce resources and competing capacity to address the more than 1,300 priority Superfund sites across the United States. A potential solution is for third parties such as private industry, conservation groups, or local governments acting as a “Good Samaritans” fund to execute the restoration efforts. Currently, under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Clean Water Act (CWA), third parties participating in voluntary cleanups often assume substantial risk with few incentives. What are the opportunities and obstacles to both mitigate disincentives and broaden incentives for Good Samaritans to undertake cleanup efforts of AMLs? What are the best practices for undertaking such cleanup efforts? What steps can be implemented at the planning stage of new mines as well as end-of-life restoring to prevent environmental degradation? Join the Environmental Law Institute and expert panelists to explore the opportunities and challenges of current and future policies that can prevent further environmental degradation and remediate abandoned mines. Panelists: Materials: |
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February 8, 2021
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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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February 10, 2021
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An ELI and BioCycle Public Webinar Between 30%-40% of food is wasted along the supply chain, from processing through in-home and dining-out consumption. Strategies to address food waste can save money for families and businesses, increase food security, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and protect the environment. Preventing food waste and recovering edible food to feed hungry people are top priorities in addressing the problem. But for the food waste that inevitably remains, the priority is to divert it from landfill disposal — where it becomes a major source of GHG emissions — and recycle it through composting, animal feeding operations, or anaerobic digestion. Significant potential for improvement in recycling exists: USEPA estimates that in 2018 over two-thirds of non-industrial food waste was disposed of through landfill or incineration. However, a major challenge is the lack of recycling facilities. To address a gap in organics processing infrastructure, six states — Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, California, and most recently, New York — as well as a number of cities, have adopted bans on landfill disposal of food waste, or recycling mandates. Inverting the logic in the movie Field of Dreams (“if we build it, they will come”), the implied logic of the bans is that if a supply of organic feedstock can be created, the infrastructure to process it will be built. Has the experience with landfill bans and recycling mandates fulfilled this implicit promise? What types of recycling facilities have been brought online, and what has been the role of the public and private sectors in developing facilities? What additional policies were put in place to support implementation of the mandates and bans? Join the Environmental Law Institute, BioCycle, and leading experts as they explore these questions and more as they seek solutions to reducing food waste and diverting it from landfills. Panelists: Materials: ELI members will have subsequent access to any materials/a recording of this session (usually posted w/in 48 hours). If you are not an ELI member but would like to have access to archived sessions like this one, go HERE to see the many benefits of membership and how to join. |
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February 11, 2021
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An ELI & WELL Public Webinar Outdoor recreation is often regarded as emphasizing sustainability through environmentally-conscious branding, promoting healthy activities, and reinforcing an appreciation for the natural world. Yet the outdoor recreation sector has far too often failed to be representative of a variety of communities, especially non-white participants. Data from the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service demonstrate a severe disparity in levels of access to national parks and public lands comparing white and non-white participants. Recognizing this widespread and longstanding issue, several major outdoor recreation companies have committed to increasing access to the outdoors for non-white participants. For many corporations this began internally in 2018 with initiatives to significantly diversify their predominantly white workforces, and has largely focused on building diversity into their hiring practices. Then the disturbing killings of African American citizens during the spring of 2020 proved to be a watershed moment for racial reckoning in the United States at large, and so too for the outdoors industry. There is an increased sense of urgency to employ broader diversity initiatives, and to foster diversity in outdoor spaces and public lands by restructuring marketing approaches, business models, and emphasizing access to outdoor spaces and national lands for non-white participants. How can the outdoors industry be a driver to foster increased and more meaningful diversity and inclusivity? What are the main barriers remaining for non-white participants to access national parks and public lands? What do activist groups and outdoors industry leaders see as the most significant opportunities and challenges to promoting diversity and inclusion in the outdoors? Join ELI and expert panelists to explore opportunities for improving diversity and inclusion in the outdoors and access to national parks, public lands, and outdoor recreation. Panelists: |
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February 17, 2021
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An ELI Public Webinar For decades, administrative agencies in the United States have used cost-benefit analysis to evaluate and improve regulatory decisions. However, recent changes regarding which costs and benefits to account for have become somewhat controversial. This is aptly seen with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) April 2020 final rule to no longer account for co-benefits. Co-benefits are benefits that are not directly related to the regulatory goal, but nevertheless produce beneficial outcomes. For instance, EPA’s cost-benefit analysis for its Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule accounted for reductions in mercury pollution from power plants required by the rule, but also the indirect benefits from reductions in particulate matter that the agency expected from enforcing the rule. In announcing the new rule on co-benefits, EPA stated that these changes are key to more accurately accounting for a projects’ costs and benefits, while critics argue this change in methodology can artificially tip the scale against regulation by discounting the potential benefits. Thus, critiques contend, a proposed environmental regulation is less likely to be seen as cost-beneficial as not all benefits are accounted for. In their new book Reviving Rationality: Saving Cost-Benefit Analysis for the Sake of the Environment and Our Health, Michael A. Livermore and Richard L. Revesz examine the use of cost-benefit analysis during the Obama and Trump administrations, exploring the changes in the norms concerning the role of analysis, evidence, and expertise in regulatory decision-making and how future administrations will treat co-benefits. Join the Environmental Law Institute and expert panelists to explore how cost-benefit analysis has changed in recent years, the impact on environmental projects, and what to expect in the future. Panelists: Materials: ELI members will have subsequent access to any materials/a recording of this session (usually posted w/in 48 hours). If you are not an ELI member but would like to have access to archived sessions like this one, go HERE to see the many benefits of membership and how to join. |
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February 18, 2021
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly expanded in recent years, becoming both more sophisticated and more prolific as legal and regulatory frameworks struggle to keep up. While the rise of AI has garnered much attention, the environmental implications are often overlooked, both by those who use AI systems and by those who are tasked with regulating them. But as AI grows, so too do its environmental impacts. Across sectors, AI holds immense promise for environmental protection and climate change mitigation and adaptation; for example, algorithms can help reduce pesticide use through precision agriculture, increase the efficiency of the energy grid, and much more. At the same time, without proper controls, AI has the potential for environmental harm. Algorithms can be of course used to accelerate unsustainable resource practices just as readily as sustainable ones. Harder to predict – but often no less damaging – are the “mistakes” that can result even when programmers have the best of intentions, environmentally and otherwise. And then there are the significant energy demands associated with the data processing needed to support expanding AI applications. Like the technology itself, AI’s effects on the environment are both widespread and quite complicated. What promise does AI truly hold for environmental protection? What concerns does it raise? And perhaps most importantly, what governance mechanisms are needed to ensure that we harness the opportunity while mitigating harm? Join our expert panelists as they dive into these questions and more, exploring the future of AI and environmental regulation. Panelists: |
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February 23, 2021
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An ELI & WELL Co-Sponsored Public Webinar Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is an umbrella term for thousands of potentially toxic “forever” chemicals found in many everyday household items and packaging of common items. While exposure to PFAS occurs throughout the United States, it is especially concentrated in low-income communities and communities of color. Simultaneously, these communities are experiencing higher Covid-19 infection and mortality rates. An emerging concern is that higher PFAS exposure levels might limit the effectiveness of existing Covid-19 vaccines. PFAS exposure has been widely linked to disrupting the immune system and decreasing the immune response to vaccinations, but, thus far, many uncertainties regarding these exposures and vaccinations remain. What are the Biden administration’s priorities in addressing PFAS regulation and environmental justice? How can communities reduce their exposure to PFAS? Should communities with high PFAS exposure be concerned about the effectiveness of immunizations? Join the Environmental Law Institute and expert panelists to explore how the ongoing pandemic is intersecting environmental justice, PFAS exposure, and the response from the Biden administration. Panelists: Materials: |
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February 24, 2021
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An ELI Public Webinar As climate change intensifies and extreme weather events wreak havoc on communities, human populations are becoming increasingly mobile despite minimal legal protections for climate migrants. By 2050, events linked to climate change – including extreme drought and agricultural losses, wildfires, sea-level rise and other flooding, and impacted economies – are expected to forcibly displace 50-200 million people worldwide. A particular challenge migrants face is the varied laws and processes each nation has in regard to immigration. Without a global framework for environmental refugees, this challenge is likely to worsen. One approach gaining traction to combat these issues is bilateral agreements between the countries where people are expected to leave and the countries likely to receive them, which may ease the migration process and provide protections for climate migrants. How can international laws and agreements be leveraged to alleviate the disproportionate risks and harms migrants face from climate change and natural disasters? What are the opportunities and obstacles for climate migration policies and agreements? What should the core considerations be in the design of climate migration bilateral agreements? Join ELI and expert panelists to explore these questions and the opportunities and challenges to increase protections for climate migrants. Panelists: Materials:
February 24, 2021 - February 26, 2021
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This conference is co-sponsored by ALI CLE and the Environmental Law Institute. Why You Should Attend Five decades ago -- just after the first national environmental law was passed, ALI CLE and ELI began offering the first national CLE on the subject. Now in our 51st year, we are still at it: helping lawyers understand the key current environmental law issues that their clients need them to know. Although we can’t gather together in DC this year as we have for the last 50, you can still get the latest developments in air, water, endangered species, climate change, chemicals, renewable energy as well as what’s to come from the newly reconfigured Supreme Court and what may be coming under the Biden-Harris administration and a new Congress. Our national faculty of seasoned private practitioners, governmental officials, law professors, and public interest advocates will keep you current and alert you to changes in the many facets of environmental law affecting your practice and your clients. What You Will Learn Expand your comprehensive understanding and be on alert for the changes underway today and in the future. Even if your practice is specialized, this high-level program will brief you on the key issues arising in each of the major areas of environmental law and their intersections. This year’s topics include, but are not limited to:
Register today! Don’t miss this opportunity to invest in yourself and your practice. Who Should Attend This webcast series will benefit private and governmental attorneys who are engaged in the practice of environmental law as well as environmental consultants, in-house attorneys, and public interest attorneys. Schedule, Faculty, CLE & More Please visit the event page for the latest information. |
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February 25, 2021
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An ELI Public Webinar A decade of research in the 1970s and 80s resulted in a fateful discovery: the ozone layer, which protects living things from harmful ultraviolet radiation, was not only depleting, but had, and significantly dissipated over Antarctica. This discovery accelerated an unprecedented global response that resulted in perhaps the most remarkable environmental international agreement to date: the Montreal Protocol. The Montreal Protocol is a multilateral environmental agreement designed to phase out ozone-depleting substances (ODSs). It was ratified in 1989, only four years after the discovery of the ozone hole, and targeted chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which remove ozone in the stratosphere. At the time, CFCs and HCFCs were ubiquitous in household appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and freezers. Since the ratification of the Montreal Protocol, ozone levels in the atmosphere have shown significant recovery, and in 2019, reports indicated the ozone hole was the smallest it has been since 1982, making the Montreal Protocol one of the most successful international agreements to date. Join ELI and expert panelists intimately involved in the development, creation, and facilitation of the Montreal Protocol for a roundtable discussion to commemorate the success of this significant agreement, including how they successfully collaborated across multiple administrations, highlighting the challenges faced, and extrapolate lessons that can be applied to future global agreements and environmental governance. Panelists: Materials:
February 25, 2021
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An ELI Webinar Over the last couple of decades, ocean stewardship efforts have started focusing more on such ocean governance approaches as the creation and enforcement of marine protected areas (MPAs) and the implementation of sustainable fisheries practices, including small-scale fisheries (SSF) co-management. The implementation of these approaches always requires the enactment of a legal mechanism. The Environmental Law Institute recently published the Law and Governance Toolkit for Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries: Best Regulatory Practices. This Toolkit presents a methodology for assessing the reforms needed to strengthen SSF governance and offers examples of model regulatory language for the core governance elements. The Toolkit particularly focuses on creating and implementing co-management mechanisms, and also addresses related elements, including exclusive fishing rights for SSF communities, creation of exclusive zones for SSF, effective monitoring and enforcement, long-term conservation and sustainable use, and regulatory implementation of area-based management. Bridging legal research and country implementation, the Toolkit was developed in close cooperation with Parliamentarians for Global Action, an international network of democratically elected lawmakers promoting human rights and security. Our webinar brings together drafters of the Toolkit, representatives from Parliamentarians for Global Action, and other experts to discuss how legal reforms can strengthen small-scale fisheries governance, as well as the role the new SSF Toolkit can play. Presentations will be followed by a discussion with the webinar’s participants. Please register for the webinar here. Panelists:
February 24, 2021 - February 26, 2021
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This conference is co-sponsored by ALI CLE and the Environmental Law Institute. Why You Should Attend Five decades ago -- just after the first national environmental law was passed, ALI CLE and ELI began offering the first national CLE on the subject. Now in our 51st year, we are still at it: helping lawyers understand the key current environmental law issues that their clients need them to know. Although we can’t gather together in DC this year as we have for the last 50, you can still get the latest developments in air, water, endangered species, climate change, chemicals, renewable energy as well as what’s to come from the newly reconfigured Supreme Court and what may be coming under the Biden-Harris administration and a new Congress. Our national faculty of seasoned private practitioners, governmental officials, law professors, and public interest advocates will keep you current and alert you to changes in the many facets of environmental law affecting your practice and your clients. What You Will Learn Expand your comprehensive understanding and be on alert for the changes underway today and in the future. Even if your practice is specialized, this high-level program will brief you on the key issues arising in each of the major areas of environmental law and their intersections. This year’s topics include, but are not limited to:
Register today! Don’t miss this opportunity to invest in yourself and your practice. Who Should Attend This webcast series will benefit private and governmental attorneys who are engaged in the practice of environmental law as well as environmental consultants, in-house attorneys, and public interest attorneys. Schedule, Faculty, CLE & More Please visit the event page for the latest information. |
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February 24, 2021 - February 26, 2021
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This conference is co-sponsored by ALI CLE and the Environmental Law Institute. Why You Should Attend Five decades ago -- just after the first national environmental law was passed, ALI CLE and ELI began offering the first national CLE on the subject. Now in our 51st year, we are still at it: helping lawyers understand the key current environmental law issues that their clients need them to know. Although we can’t gather together in DC this year as we have for the last 50, you can still get the latest developments in air, water, endangered species, climate change, chemicals, renewable energy as well as what’s to come from the newly reconfigured Supreme Court and what may be coming under the Biden-Harris administration and a new Congress. Our national faculty of seasoned private practitioners, governmental officials, law professors, and public interest advocates will keep you current and alert you to changes in the many facets of environmental law affecting your practice and your clients. What You Will Learn Expand your comprehensive understanding and be on alert for the changes underway today and in the future. Even if your practice is specialized, this high-level program will brief you on the key issues arising in each of the major areas of environmental law and their intersections. This year’s topics include, but are not limited to:
Register today! Don’t miss this opportunity to invest in yourself and your practice. Who Should Attend This webcast series will benefit private and governmental attorneys who are engaged in the practice of environmental law as well as environmental consultants, in-house attorneys, and public interest attorneys. Schedule, Faculty, CLE & More Please visit the event page for the latest information. |
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