You are reading this column in the first days of 2024. This might be an apt opportunity in the “environmental practice” column to consider what we environmental lawyers ought to
Continue Reading Some 2024 Resolutions for Environmental LawyersPennsylvania
Commonwealth Court Offers Another Take on Valuing Contaminated Property
Intuitively, contamination reduces the value of property. But intuition does not count as evidence. The issues of how one proves that one ought to take a discount from a property’s…
Continue Reading Commonwealth Court Offers Another Take on Valuing Contaminated PropertyThe Montana ‘Youth Climate Case’ and the Pa. Environmental Rights Amendment
On Aug. 14, a trial judge in Montana issued findings of fact and conclusions of law after a bench trial in what has been called the Montana “Youth Climate Case.”…
Continue Reading The Montana ‘Youth Climate Case’ and the Pa. Environmental Rights AmendmentPa. Lessons From the New Massachusetts Rules for Cape Cod On-Lot Sewage Systems
Cape Cod has a problem with nitrogen pollution of its embayments and waterways. The solution that Massachusetts began to implement on July 7 may offer some lessons for Pennsylvania practitioners.
Continue Reading Pa. Lessons From the New Massachusetts Rules for Cape Cod On-Lot Sewage SystemsWetlands Regulation in Pennsylvania After ‘Sackett’ Ruling
Last month the U.S. Supreme Court restricted federal jurisdiction over filling and altering wetlands. See Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 21-454 (U.S. May 25, 2023). The president promptly…
Continue Reading Wetlands Regulation in Pennsylvania After ‘Sackett’ RulingAttorney Fees Awards Under the Clean Streams Law
In February, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided that the Environmental Hearing Board could award attorneys’ fees and litigation costs to a prevailing third-party appellant under the Clean Streams Law. Clean…
Continue Reading Attorney Fees Awards Under the Clean Streams LawKaitlyn R. Maxwell Recognized as a City & State PA ‘2022 Impact 50’
Kaitlyn R. Maxwell, a shareholder in Greenberg Traurig’s Philadelphia office, was recognized in the City & State Pennsylvania “2022 Impact 50” issue. The magazine touts Maxwell as…
Continue Reading Kaitlyn R. Maxwell Recognized as a City & State PA ‘2022 Impact 50’Is the Pa. High Court Deciding the Most Helpful Environmental Rights Amendment Cases?
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?
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Remedial Programs
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
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Continue Reading The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Remedial Programs
Environmental Cases in the Pennsylvania Appellate Courts in 2021
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