Environment & Land Use

212 posts

The new Spanish Law for the protection (or not?) of the coast against the effects of climate change

Teresa Parejo Professor of Law Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain) Spain has recently adopted a potentially promising reform to its coastal law to update it in response to climate change threats. However, a close read suggests that the reform contains contradictions that illuminate a less-public minded purpose behind the […]

Panel Provides Insight on Challenges, Opportunities, and Legal Issues in Coastal Managed Retreat

Five months after Superstorm Sandy, the recovering northeast region continues to debate whether to rebuild in the most vulnerable coastal areas or whether to retreat and leave those lands as protective buffers.   A decision to engage in managed retreat would face significant legal, political, and practical challenges, but, according to […]

Bloomberg’s Post-Sandy Redevelopment Program – Not a Buyout Program

by Anne Siders WNYC radio announced this morning that Mayor Bloomberg, as part of his post-Sandy recovery effort, is considering purchasing waterfront homes that were damaged by Sandy.   The plan would use some portion of the $1.8 billion in Community Development Block Grant funding that has been earmarked for New […]

New York Regulations Set CO2 Limits and Require Environmental Justice Analysis for New Coal Power Plants

By Casey Graetz, Intern On June 28, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) adopted regulations (6 NYCRR Parts 487 and 251) with two new important requirements for new and certain expanding major electric generating facilities in the state. First, Part 487 requires these facilities to conduct an […]

D.C. Court of Appeals Dismisses Challenges to EPA Climate Regulation

By: Danielle Sugarman, Fellow On Tuesday, June 26, 2012, in a major victory for the environment and President Obama’s Administration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed a series of challenges to EPA’s body of greenhouse gas regulation.  The cases, called Coalition for Responsible Regulation […]

AEP v. Connecticut: The Reply Briefs

by Daniel Firger Associate Director On April 11, 2011, petitioners in American Electric Power v. Connecticut, five private investor-owned utility companies, filed their reply brief. On the same day, the Solicitor General filed a separate reply brief on behalf of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), an electric utility owned by the federal government, as respondent […]

Early Clean Air Act Greenhouse Gas Permitting Decisions Offer a Preview of EPA’s Implementation Strategy

Gregory E. Wannier Deputy Director In the secondary round of activity regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from stationary sources, EPA has sought to establish permitting programs under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) section of the Clean Air Act, in conjunction with individual states through their State Implementation Plans (SIPs).  […]