The Supreme Court can only decide so many cases. If we are to have a constitutional environmental provision with relevance to the interaction of private activities with the government, Pennsylvania
Continue Reading Is the Pa. High Court Deciding the Most Helpful Environmental Rights Amendment Cases?
Known colloquially as the BIF—the bipartisan infrastructure framework—or sometimes as the “bipartisan infrastructure bill,” even though it is no longer a bill, IIJA authorizes over a trillion dollars to an
Continue Reading The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Remedial Programs
A review of the environmental cases decided by the Pennsylvania appellate courts last year follows. Please forgive any omissions of cases or detail in this catalogue. Many of these cases
Continue Reading Environmental Cases in the Pennsylvania Appellate Courts in 2021
Last week, an intermediate appellate court in Pennsylvania held that a jury properly awarded no compensation for a right to flood a lakefront property by an additional 5.5 feet in
Continue Reading The Value of a Right to Flood by an Additional 5.5 Feet
On July 21, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court revisited the Environmental Rights Amendment, Article I, Section 27, of the Pennsylvania Constitution when Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation v. Commonwealth returned to the
Continue Reading Identifying the Natural Resources Subject to the Environmental Rights Amendment
Roughly 15 years ago, many Pennsylvania landowners entered into oil and gas leases in the expectation of receiving royalties for the extraction of shale gas and oil underlying their properties.
Continue Reading Is the Oil and Gas Lease Over? Court Ruling Offers Guidance
Last month, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court reiterated its general view of the Environmental Rights Amendment, Article I, Section 27, of the Pennsylvania Constitution. That court seems to believe that executive
Continue Reading Another ERA Decision and Some Cautions About Making Government Work
Pennsylvanians have called for action on climate change and resource reuse in the commonwealth. Although the commonwealth has delayed action on a number of “zero waste” bills, Pennsylvania recently took
Continue Reading Pa.’s Advancement of Waste Reduction and Recycling: Amendments to the SWMA
On Feb. 11, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit decided that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) did not overstep the statute of limitations in
Continue Reading Fourth Circuit Rejects Statute of Limitations Challenge to FERC Electricity Market Manipulation Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court recently had the opportunity to overturn Auer deference, Kisor v. Wilkie, No. 18-15, (U.S. June 26, 2019). A 5-4 majority declined to do so, but
Continue Reading What Environmental Lawyers Should Know About the Limits of ‘Auer’ Deference