Environment & Land Use

214 posts

June 2017 Updates to the Climate Case Charts

Each month, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law collect and summarize developments in climate-related litigation, which we also add to our U.S. and non-U.S. climate litigation charts.  If you know of any cases we have missed, please email us at columbiaclimate at gmail dot com. HERE […]

Sabin Center Urges FEMA to Consider Climate Change in Review of National Flood Insurance Program

by Justin Gundlach & Jessica Wentz  By changing sea levels, coastlines, and patterns of precipitation, climate change is literally shifting the ground under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  Even as floodplains in many parts of the country (especially on the coasts) […]

New whitepaper: Putting Green Infrastructure on New York City Private Property

by Justin Gundlach What is green infrastructure (GI) and why does New York City need more of it? Green roofs, bioswales, and porous pavers are all examples of GI (see images at right), which one article defines as “a network of approaches and technologies that mimic, maintain, or restore natural […]

Article Describes NEPA Requirements for Disclosing Upstream and Downstream Emissions from Fossil Fuel Projects

The Harvard Environmental Law Review has published an article by Michael Burger and Jessica Wentz, “Downstream and Upstream Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Proper Scope of NEPA Review.” Recently, legal controversies have arisen regarding the scope of greenhouse gas emissions that should be considered in environmental reviews of fossil fuel extraction […]

Sabin Center Urges EPA to Preserve Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards as it Implements Trump’s Deregulatory Agenda

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has requested public input on regulations that may be appropriate for repeal, replacement, or modification pursuant to President Trump’s deregulatory agenda (as outlined in Executive Orders 13771 and 13777). The Sabin Center has submitted a comment letter urging EPA to preserve existing greenhouse gas […]

OIRA Guidance Solidifies Legal Problems Inherent in Trump’s Deregulation Order

Michael Burger and Jessica Wentz Last week, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) published final guidance on implementing President Trump’s Executive Order on Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs, which directs all agencies to control regulatory costs by: (1) ensuring that the “incremental costs” of all new regulations […]

How Impact Assessment Can Lead to “Climate Smart” Projects

by Jessica Wentz Last week, I traveled to Montreal to attend the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) annual conference. The theme of this year’s conference was “Impact Assessment’s Contribution to the Global Efforts in Addressing Climate Change” – a topic that we have explored in great depth at the […]