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Law and the Environment

Our blog provides perspective on developments in environmental law and policy - which developments may matter to you, and how and why they matter. Whether you are a manufacturer or a power plant developer, a renewable energy developer or hoping to be a renewable energy consumer, this blog offers commentary on current issues that are important to your business.

Does Loper-Bright Mean the End of Deference to Agency Expertise?
Blog July 31, 2024
Greenwire had an article yesterday with the breathless headline “Post-Chevron era tests courts’ readiness to tackle science.” The article noted that, in the recent Supreme Court decision in Ohio v. EPA, Justice Gorsuch’s majority opinion confused nitrous oxide with nitrogen oxides, using the justice’s confusion to question whether, post-Chevron, judges have the scientific chops to wade into the complicated scientific waters that will be necessary in a post-Chevron world…
Injunctions In RCRA Citizen Suits - Broad, But Not Infinite
Blog March 12, 2019
Two recent cases illustrate the potential scope of, and the potential limitations on, injunctive relief in RCRA citizen suits.  First up, Schmucker v. Johnson Controls. Contamination was detected at the Johnson Controls manufacturing facility in Goshen, Indiana.  In response, Johnson Controls performed substantial remediation under the auspices of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's Voluntary Remediation Program.  Nonetheless, significant contamination remains at the site…
A Dangerous Product Does Not Necessarily Have A Design Defect
Blog September 25, 2015
When the Town of Lexington detected PCBs in building caulk and then in indoor air in an elementary school built in 1960-61, it sued Pharmacia, alleging that Pharmacia sold a product – PCBs – with a design defect.  In alleging the design defect, Lexington largely relied on the decision to ban the sale of PCBs, and the extensive regulation of PCBs under TSCA.  Judge Denise Casper of the District of Massachusetts concluded that this was not enough and she granted Pharmacia's motion for……
Proof and Causation Matter:  District Court Declines to Penalize ExxonMobil in Texas Citizen Suit
Blog December 19, 2014
On Wednesday, Judge David Hittner, of the District Court for the Southern District of Texas, in a decision long enough to require two separate pdfs, declined to impose an injunction or penalties (plaintiffs sought $642,697,500) against ExxonMobil in a Clean Air Act citizens' suit brought by Environment Texas and the Sierra Club concerning the ExxonMobil facility in Baytown, Texas.  The plaintiffs lost even though Judge Hittner did find a number of violations of the CAA…
Differentiating Between Junk Science and Admissible Expert Opinion in Pennsylvania
Blog December 10, 2013
In environmental personal injury cases, proof of causation is key and that causation almost always hinges on expert opinion.  A recent appellate decision in Pennsylvania in Snizavich v. Rohm and Haas Company provides useful clarification about the line between junk science and admissible expert opinion. In Snizavich, the wife of a deceased worker at a chemical plant alleged that her husband had died because exposure to hazardous chemicals in the workplace had precipitated  his brain……

ABOUT

In today’s fast changing world, almost all of us get our news – including our news about developments in environmental law and policy – electronically. This blog is not intended to be a substitute for the BNA™, or Greenwire™, or Google™, although we do hope that we will be able on occasion to let you know about issues that haven’t yet come to your attention.

What we really want to accomplish is to be able to provide some perspective on those developments. We’ll try to tell you which developments may matter to you. And why they matter. And how they matter. Whether you are a manufacturer or a power plant developer, whether you are a renewable energy developer or hoping to be a renewable energy consumer, whether you are a municipality or public agency or university, we want to comment on current issues in a way that is useful to you in your business.

Frankly, this blog also provides us with the opportunity to introduce you to Foley Hoag’s Environmental Practice Group. Our practice has been New England’s preeminent environmental practice for the past twenty years. We have the depth and capacity to handle the wide array of environmental issues that can arise in the course of your business. We will work with you to resolve any environmental issues that must be addressed in order for you to achieve your business goals – from permitting new projects to cost-effective cleanup of urban Brownfields properties to implementation of cost-effective due diligence in the support of acquisitions to navigating the emerging world of climate change regulations.

We will also assist you in the defense and prosecution of environmental litigation. As a result of our service to our clients, we have attained a national reputation in environmental matters. Our lawyers have built an impressive record resolving environmental disputes at the negotiating table and in the courtroom, and a number of our cases have produced precedents of national importance.

The scope of this blog will be commensurate with the scope of our practice. We’ll cover climate change, renewable energy, hazardous and solid waste, clean air and water, sustainability and green design. You name it, if it’s got an acronym attached to it, we’ll cover it.

As the headline indicates, we want to inform, update, comment, and discuss. In other words, while we’re going to enjoy posting, we’ll enjoy the blog more – and its usefulness will increase – if we hear from you also. Please comment on the blog entries. Let us know about developments we missed or implications of our discussions that we did not consider.

We look forward to the conversation.