Blog Posts: Environmental and Energy Law Update
Visit the Full BlogThe Environmental and Energy Law Update blog provides an analysis and discussion of the most critical and timely legal issues and announcements environmental, natural resource, and energy sectors.
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...
Better Communication Among Regulators and the Regulated Can Improve Outcomes for Wastewater Permittees
As our understanding of the environment and anthropogenic impact grows, protection efforts increasingly spawn regulation. Media coverage of perceived harms to health and the environment and well-funded advocacy by conservation organizations usually eclipse the perspective of the regulated community. The disconnect between the regulators and the regulated is especially...
Massachusetts’ Mandated Multi-Family Zoning Moves Forward, But Some Towns Resist
Town Meetings across Massachusetts are voting on zoning bylaws that would encourage multi-family housing. According to Section 3A of the Zoning Act, passed in 2021, 177 cities and towns near MBTA transit must ensure that their zoning codes allow multi-family development “as of right” without a discretionary process such...
Massachusetts’ Resiliency Push Continues with Proposed Waterways Rules
Last month, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) extended the comment period for amendments it proposed in December 2023 to the Massachusetts Waterways Regulation, 310 CMR 9.00. Peter Vetere recently wrote about proposed amendments to the Wetlands Protection Regulations and Stormwater Management Standards intended to address climate change...
Can Building Codes Ban Natural Gas After 9th Circuit Court Declines Rehearing?
The 9 th Circuit Court of Appeals’ refusal to rehear a pivotal gas appliance regulation decision has thrown a wrench into local efforts to reduce fossil fuel use. Last spring, in California Restaurant Association v. City of Berkeley , a three-judge panel of the 9 th Circuit found a...
Halloween Special: Biden Vetoes Congressional Threat to Endangered Listing of Local Bat
On September 26, in time for the most bat-friendly month of the year (Halloween, here we come!), President Biden vetoed a bill that would have lessened protections for the northern long-eared bat (NLEB). The bat’s population has been decimated by a fungal disease, white-nose syndrome , discovered in 2006...
EPA Signals PFAS is a Priority with New TSCA Disclosure Rule
As we have been reporting in this blog, regulators are increasing their focus on the latest group of “forever chemicals.” This month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published a final rule requiring manufacturers of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) to undertake a massive reporting effort. The rule (40...
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...
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...
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...
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...
