Category: Siting and Land Use
Balancing Local Control and State Mandates: The Implications of the MBTA Communities Act Ruling
The state’s highest court has affirmed the Legislature’s power to force towns to adopt denser, transit-friendly zoning. In 2021, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Communities Act (G. L. c. 40A, § 3A) amended the Zoning Act to require that 177 communities near public transit allow multi-family development as...
Governor Healey Enacts Transformative Clean Energy and Economic Development Laws: Streamlined Permitting, Equity Protections, and Extended Project Approvals
On November 20, 2024, Governor Maura Healey signed the Massachusetts Leads Act, engrossing House Bill 5100 (the “MA Leads Act”), which, among many funding provisions, contains two changes that will significantly benefit project developers. Not to be outdone, on November 21, the Governor signed Senate Bill 2967 , An...
Implications of Supreme Court Affirmative Action Ruling on Massachusetts Environmental Justice Law and Policy
Not everyone would make a connection between the recent Supreme Court affirmative action decision on college admissions and the Massachusetts environmental permitting process. Although it may seem attenuated, for environmental and land use attorneys, we see a link. For example, concerned about the potential for legal challenges to its...
Verrill Attorney Gordon Smith Comments on Lawsuit Claiming Ownership of Maine Coastal Property
A group of beachgoers and seaweed harvesters have filed a new lawsuit against several Maine coastal property owners, attempting to overturn centuries of private ownership of intertidal land. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are pitching the unsupported idea that there is a legitimate debate about the legal framework for...
Verrill Helps State’s Largest Solar Project Obtain Principal Environmental Permit
The 100-megawatt Three Rivers Solar Project in Hancock County, Maine has obtained its combined Site Law and Natural Resources Protection Act permit from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Three Rivers Solar will become the largest solar project in the state, twice the size of the next largest facility...
First Circuit Acts on Appeal by South Portland Pipeline Company
On January 10, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit acted on the Portland Pipe Line Corporation’s (PPLC) appeal of the district court order upholding a South Portland zoning ordinance that prohibits the bulk loading of crude oil onto marine vessels. Portland Pipe Line Corp. v...
Maine Supreme Court Decides Seaweed Is a Plant, Not a Fish
After deliberating for a year and a half in Ross v. Acadian Seaplants , the Maine Supreme Judicial Court has unanimously held that rockweed, a type of seaweed that grows on rocks in the intertidal area all over the North Atlantic, is owned by the intertidal property owner, not...
Pipeline Appeals Grant of Summary Judgment to South Portland Regarding Its Ban on Marine Loading of Crude Oil
Judge Woodcock of the U.S. District Court in Portland, finding that the South Portland's Clear Skies Ordinance (the Ordinance) was neither a "preempted pipeline facility safety standard or a discriminatory ordinance enacted for an economically protectionist purpose," granted summary judgment to the City on October 9, 2018. Last month...
Batten Down the Hatches: FEMA Releases New Flood Maps for Cumberland and York Counties
Landowners in Maine’s two most populous counties should take heed: the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) prepares to roll-out updated preliminary flood insurance maps for Cumberland and York counties. FEMA announced Monday it plans to issue revised flood hazard maps on April 14. This is consistent with the state’s...
Large-Scale Solar Having Its Moment in the Sun
Last week the Portland Press Herald reported that the Maine Public Utilities Commission will direct Maine’s transmission and distribution utilities to enter into a long-term contract with Dirigo Solar for the construction of up to 75 MW of new solar installations across the state. The Commission was especially pleased...
Maine DEP Proposed Rule Changes
The Maine DEP is proposing changes to the rules affecting permitting of Site Law projects. The changes primarily involve requirements related to demonstrating adequate financial capacity to construct and operate the development. Additional changes are proposed that affect phased financing, long-term (generally more than ten years) construction projects, and...
EPA and Corps Release Clean Water Rule in Attempt to Clarify Jurisdictional Waters for 404 Permits
The EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today released a new rule attempting to clarify the scope of jurisdictional "waters of the United States" under the Clean Water Act. Work that takes place in waters of the United States can require a dredge and fill permit under...
Maine High Court to Litigious Saco RV Park Owner: Let There Be Frisbee Golf
To the delight of Frisbee golfers across southern Maine, the Maine Supreme Court has affirmed the Saco Planning Board’s approval of a Frisbee golf course in Fitanides v. City of Saco Fred Fitanides, who owns an RV park that abuts the Frisbee golf course, opposed the development and claimed...
USFWS, Congress Explore Incidental Take Exemption Under MBTA
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reportedly planning to issue a notice of intent to create an incidental take permitting regime under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The permitting scheme would theoretically allow otherwise lawful activities to go forward with greater regulatory certainty, while allowing USFWS to require...
USFWS, Congress Explore Incidental Take Exemption Under MBTA
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reportedly planning to issue a notice of intent to create an incidental take permitting regime under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The permitting scheme would theoretically allow otherwise lawful activities to go forward with greater regulatory certainty, while allowing USFWS to require...
Two Federal Leases Secured for Offshore Wind Projects
Two energy companies recently secured leases for offshore wind projects in the Massachusetts Wind Energy Area located 12 nautical miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the winners of the leases totaling 354,409 acres. RES Americas Development LLC (a RES Group holding...
