While the SCOTUS’s Loper Bright Enterprises et al. (Loper) decision reversing Chevron was a win for those seeking to rein in the administrative state at the federal level, it does not sound the death...
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) often uses civil penalties to punish environmental violators. The EPA can either pursue a penalty through its internal administrative process or have the Justice Department file suit...
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...
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...
Chapter 91 of the Massachusetts General Laws, otherwise known as the Public Waterfront Act, is the primary law protecting the public’s rights to use and access the coastal tidelands of the Commonwealth. First adopted...
The Maine PUC has recently opened two related dockets that will significantly impact the renewable energy industry. The first, Docket No. 2024-00137, is a follow-on docket to the PUC’s Investigation into the Stranded Cost...
On April 10, 2024, after receiving nearly 122,000 comments on the proposed rule, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced its final National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (“NPDWR”) for six perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl...
In my October 2023 blog post about “ The Plastics Problem in Massachusetts ,” I noted that environmental and some mainstream groups have been attacking traditional recycling of plastics in an effort to stop...
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...
In a groundbreaking move, effective July 1, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection will tighten the permitting requirement for certain existing and new sources of air pollution located near an environmental justice population...