A recent state appellate court decision sharply limited the bases on which Clean Water Act permittees may challenge permitting requirements imposed to comply with a federal Chesapeake Bay “Total Maximum Daily Load” (“TMDL”), often described as a watershed-wide “pollution diet.” The decision directly impacts municipalities with separate stormwater sewer (“MS4”) permits, as well as certain agricultural and other industrial concerns with stormwater requirements. The Maryland Court of Appeals opinion affirmed water pollution (“NPDES”) permits issued…

The legalization of industrial hemp production in the 2018 Farm Bill is a likely boon for farmers grappling with the changing agricultural landscape. Given the strong economic forecasts for hemp production, pesticide registrants are intensifying their interest in gaining approvals for use of their products on hemp. Hemp farmers are also pressing for expanded crop protection tools needed to help them grow the valuable crop. On Aug. 23, 2019, the EPA announced the receipt of 10…

With the recent passage of New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which calls for a carbon free electricity market by 2040, New York became the sixth state to pass legislation calling for a carbon free electricity market. Just one year earlier, California passed similar legislation, SB100, adopting a state policy to achieve a zero-carbon electricity market by 2045. These goals will have to be pursued notwithstanding the fact demand for electricity is…

New York City recently enacted the most ambitious large-scale greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan in the country, requiring a 40 percent drop in GHG emissions by 2030 and an 80 percent drop by 2050. The package of bills, entitled the Climate Mobilization Act (or CMA), includes an overhaul of building emissions requirements affecting around 50,000 existing commercial and residential buildings called Local Law 97 (or LL97). The new law targets the disproportionately high share of…

Each year, businesses in every sector are impacted by a variety of extreme weather events including hurricanes, forest fires, blizzards, and heatwaves. Earlier this year, Jillian Kirn was interviewed by the Urban Land Institute for their publication, Scorched: Extreme Heat and Real Estate. The report examines ways in which land use, real estate, and design sectors can mitigate the impacts of urban heat islands. You can read her input on regulatory trends, as well as…

On July 29, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court returned to Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation v. Commonwealth, a leading case on the Environmental Rights Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution. The court appears to have decided that the commonwealth is free to allow use of Pennsylvania’s pubic natural resources and to apply the income however it chooses. Only proceeds from the sale of public natural resources must be returned to the public trust corpus. The commonwealth had received…

We Didn’t Start the Fire . . . . But Your Employees Might Breathe the Smoke Last year was the most destructive fire season in California’s history. Over 7,600 wildfires burned nearly two million acres. As a result, on July 18, the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) Occupational Safety Health Standards Board adopted an emergency regulation to protect workers from hazards associated with wildfire smoke. The regulation is now in effect, following its approval…