The Plastics Problem in Massachusetts
In The Graduate , Mr. McGuire pulls aside Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, and utters “one word” of career advice – “plastics.” Benjamin’s diffident reaction reflects his wealthy suburban character’s utter lack of direction upon graduation from college. The entire scene also served as a sixties-era commentary on...
Verrill Partner Jim Cohen Speaks to Groups Across Maine About Pine Tree Power
For nearly two years, Verrill partner Jim Cohen , who has been practicing energy and utilities law for more than three decades, has been traveling throughout the State of Maine to speak with numerous groups about Pine Tree Power, which is Question 3 on Maine’s statewide ballot this November...
Is the Massachusetts Constitution a Tool for Climate Change?
After Held v. Montana was decided, and I read Peter Vetere’s blog post, I’ve been thinking about the Massachusetts Constitution. Would Massachusetts’ youth have similar success arguing for a guaranteed safe, clean environment? With students back in school, are ambitious social studies teachers helping children explore constitutional claims to...
Massachusetts Extends Brownfields Tax Credit Program
In August, Governor Healey signed the FY 2024 budget legislation extending for five years until January 1, 2029, the Brownfields Tax Credit that was set to expire at the end of 2023. Consequently, the redevelopment community now has five more years to complete response actions and generate a Brownfields...
Montana Court Upholds Constitutional Right to Safe Climate
Last week, in Held v. State of Montana , the First Judicial District Court of Lewis and Clark County issued a groundbreaking decision in favor of sixteen youth plaintiffs who challenged a Montana environmental review law that prohibited state agencies from considering greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts during...
No Water, No Beer
The American Water Works Association ’s “Value of Water” social media campaign, including its No Water No Beer slogan, provides a stark wake-up call about the dire importance of conserving and protecting our precious water resources – lest we create a dystopian future with no suds. While this mantra...
Work Together or Fend for Yourself: New Rules Aim to Reduce Nitrogen from Cape Cod’s Septic Systems and Watersheds
New rules issued by MassDEP offer Cape Codders a choice for controlling nitrogen pollution. The problem is well-understood. When too much discharged nitrogen reaches coastal waters, excess plant and algae growth replaces desirable ecosystems, such as eelgrass. Excess nitrogen causes eutrophication, an environmental problem, and an economic problem that...
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...
Summer Blockbuster: The PFAS Settlement
As the movie studios begin to roll out their megahits for the summer, the big news last week in environmental law was the blockbuster $12 billion settlement in the multi-district litigation pending in the U.S. District Court in South Carolina on the impacts from PFAS in aqueous film-forming foams...
Massachusetts Clean Heat Standard – No More Business as Usual for the Heating Sectors
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) is gearing up for a massive regulatory effort aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the residential heating sector and the commercial and industrial heating sector. The Global Warming Solutions Act requires the Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs...
Bonnie Heiple, MassDEP’s New Commissioner, Among Fellow Attorneys Heading the Commonwealth’s Environmental Agencies
The Healey Administration has followed a well-traveled path in appointing Bonnie Heiple, a respected environmental and energy attorney from a large Boston law firm (WilmerHale), as Commissioner of MassDEP. The Patrick Administration did the same when it appointed Laurie Burt, head of the environmental department at the Boston law...
Supreme Court Ignores Dictionary, Limits Clean Water Act
The United States Supreme Court decided last week in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency that a word does not mean what the dictionary, Congress, or two federal agencies have for 45 years understood it to mean. The word in question is “adjacent,” and the context is when an “adjacent...
Attorney General Set to Force Compliance with Denser, Transit-Friendly Zoning
As Town Meeting season approaches for many towns across Massachusetts, citizens will vote on zoning articles that seek to address the affordable housing crisis. The Boston Globe cited the high cost of housing as one reason that the Commonwealth lost 110,000 of its nearly 7 million residents since COVID...
The Right Side of the Tracks: EPA Stands Up for Interstate Commerce and National Hazardous Waste Management Infrastructure
By now, we all are familiar with the furor over the derailment of chemical-laden rail tanker cars in East Palestine, Ohio. Locals understandably pushed for immediate cleanup to reduce the risk to their health and the longer-term environmental impacts of the toxins released into the environment. As required by...
PFAS Regulatory Update: Dates You Need to Know
Public Comment on the Federal Proposed Drinking Water Standards for Six PFAS Compounds On March 29, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), published in the Federal Register its proposed national drinking water standards for six PFAS compounds. Official publication of the proposed regulation comes on the heels of...
Carolyn Gilbert Nominated to Maine PUC
On March 28, Governor Janet Mills nominated Carolyn “Carrie” Gilbert to serve a six-year term on the Maine Public Utilities Commission. For the past 15 years, Gilbert has worked at Daymark Energy Advisors where she provides consulting services on renewable energy and economics, policy design, and competitive energy procurement...
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Proposes National Drinking Water Standard for Six PFAS Compounds
On March 14, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced a proposed National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”). PFAS are a category of manufactured chemicals that have been widely used in a variety of industries and consumer products since the 1940s...
Georgetown Broadband LLC Secures Utility Pole Attachment Authorization for Community Broadband Project
On February 17, 2023, Georgetown Broadband LLC (GBLLC) became the latest community broadband entity to receive pole attachment authorization from the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to deploy a fiber broadband network. GBLLC began its path to securing funding and local support for deployment of a high-speed broadband network...
Crisis emerges in Maine over safe disposal of biosolids from wastewater treatment plants
Maine wastewater treatment plants are currently facing intense challenges concerning disposal of their sewage sludge , also called “biosolids.” This is a fast-moving issue getting significant coverage in the media and substantial attention from state officials and legislators. The crisis recently emerged into the public eye when the state-owned...
Maine PUC Asked to Fix “Leapfrogging” Problem Triggered by 2022 Changes to Maine’s Generator Interconnection Rule
The Maine Public Utilities Commission is currently considering whether to commence a formal emergency rulemaking process to amend Chapter 324 of its rules governing generator interconnections. The purpose of the rulemaking would be to correct a growing problem whereby smaller “Level 2” interconnection projects are able to “leapfrog” larger...
Verrill's Jim Cohen To Speak on Past and Future of Maine’s Electric Grid at 2023 Winter Bar Conference
Verrill partner Jim Cohen will be presenting at the Maine State Bar Association’s Winter Bar Conference 2023, on Friday, January 27, in Portland. Cohen’s presentation, The Past and Future of Maine’s Electric Grid , will explore the ins and outs of Maine’s electric system, who owns and operates it...
Maine PUC to Kick Off Review of Grid Plan to Assist Clean Energy Transition
Last month, the Maine Public Utilities Commission initiated a proceeding to identify the priorities to be addressed in an electric grid plan that will assist Maine in the “cost-effective transition to a clean, affordable, and reliable electric grid.” A link to the order can be found here . This...
Verrill Partner Mat Todaro selected to serve on the American Bar Association’s Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources 2022 Fall Conference Planning Committee
Earlier this year, Verrill Partner Mat Todaro was selected by American Bar Association leadership to serve on the 2022 Fall Conference Planning Committee for its Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources. In this role, Mat led the development of a high-profile national panel discussing the latest regulatory and litigation...
Four Verrill Attorneys Recognized by Chambers & Partners for Energy and Environmental Law in Maine
Verrill attorneys Juliet T. Browne, James I. Cohen, Gordon R. Smith, and Mathew J. Todaro were recently recognized for energy and environmental law in Maine in the 2022 Chambers & Partners Guide . Chambers & Partners is one of the world's most respected legal research and publishing firms. Each...
Verrill Partner Mathew Todaro Presents at The National Safety Council (NSC) of Northern New England’s 51st Annual New Hampshire Safety & Health Conference
The National Safety Council (NSC) of Northern New England recently held its 51 st Annual New Hampshire Safety & Health Conference in Nashua. The two-day conference began on June 7 th and featured keynote speakers with 24 breakout sessions on a variety of important safety topics. Verrill Partner Mathew...
Intertidal Court Victory for Property Rights, Marine Conservation, and Public Participation
The Maine Superior Court has dismissed all claims against five intertidal landowners represented by Verrill in Masucci v. Judy’s Moody, LLC . The landowners had been sued because they contacted Maine Marine Patrol to report the illegal removal of rockweed from their intertidal land and because they advocated for...
NextEra Subsidiary Fined $8 Million under MBTA for Eagle Deaths at Wind Power Projects in Western U.S.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that ESI Energy LLC (ESI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Nextera Energy Resources LLC, pleaded guilty to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) and acknowledged at least 150 deaths of bald and golden eagles at 50 of ESI’s 154 wind power facilities...
Maine Public Utilities Commission to Receive Bids for Northern Maine Transmission and Renewable Generation Projects
On or before May 2, 2022, the Maine Public Utilities Commission has requested bids for proposed transmission and generation resources that would boost energy exports from northern Maine. The northern Maine region has long been viewed as having significant untapped potential renewable energy resources, including wind and wood biomass...
Kelsey McCutcheon Selected to Join the Environmental Law Institute’s (ELI) Emerging Leaders Initiative
Verrill associate Kelsey McCutcheon has been selected to join the Environmental Law Institute’s (ELI) Emerging Leaders Initiative. The Environmental Law Institute is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, that seeks to "make law work for people, places, and the planet" through its work as an environmental law educator, convener, publisher, and...
Verrill Alum Bill Harwood Sworn in as Public Advocate for State of Maine
On January 26, 2022, Maine Governor Janet Mills swore in Bill Harwood as Public Advocate for the State of Maine. Bill was unanimously confirmed by the Maine State Senate and the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology. Prior to becoming Public Advocate, Bill Harwood worked as...
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