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Supreme Court seems skeptical that Superfund landowners can seek more extensive cleanup than EPA approves
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed to suggest that the Environmental Protection Agency must make the ultimate decisions on cleaning up toxic waste sites, and that landowners’ attempts to use state courts to get additional compensation from companies requires the agency’s approval. The court was considering a massive cleanup of arsenic from a […]
Appeals court tells EPA to stop sales of harmful pesticide
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that the Trump administration endangered public health by keeping a widely used pesticide on the market despite extensive scientific evidence that even tiny levels of exposure can harm babies’ brains. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Thursday ordered the Environmental Protection […]
Environmental Law: Trump reverses past climate change policies with energy independence order
On March 28, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to dramatically shift course from the climate change focus of the Obama administration. The order has several components which will affect United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) climate regulations along with energy production activities. A key aspect is the revocation of the Clean Power Plan […]
Commentary: How Gorsuch’s views could sway climate policy
The keystone of President Donald Trump’s executive order on the environment, signed Tuesday, is a directive to the Environmental Protection Agency to review and rescind the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which aimed to shift the country’s electricity generation from coal-fired plants to sources that emit less carbon. When the EPA acts, that will trigger […]
Environmentalists ready to battle Trump, GOP in court
CHICAGO — The night before Donald Trump’s inauguration, five environmental lawyers filed a federal court brief defending an Obama administration clean-water rule that the new president and his Republican allies had targeted for elimination, considering it burdensome to landowners. The move served as a warning that environmentalists, facing a hostile administration and a Republican-dominate[...]
Volkswagen to admit guilt in scandal
Volkswagen took a major step toward resolving one of the darkest chapters in its history Wednesday, pleading guilty to an emissions-cheating scandal and agreeing to pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil charges as the U.S. announced charges against five new individuals. As part of its settlement, VW pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, obstruction […]
Environmental Law: Donald Trump and the Environmental Agenda
Writing this column in December 2016, now a month past the surprising presidential election result, brings with it many uncertainties. Predicting environmental policy in new administrations is challenging under normal election conditions, but with a businessman about to assume the presidential office in January, the level of uncertainty is at an all-time high. However, based […]
NY AG, others seek to defend EPA
ALBANY (AP) — New York’s attorney general has joined a coalition of 24 states, cities and counties seeking to intervene in court to help defend a federal plan to require power plants cut their greenhouse gas emissions. The group is filing a motion to intervene at the U.S. Court of Appeals defending the Environmental Protection […]
Feds to spend $9.5M, restore Braddock Bay
GREECE — The federal government will spend $9.5 million so the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can restore a bay on Lake Ontario’s New York shore where erosion and silting have drastically reduced wetlands and hampered boating. Sen. Charles Schumer was at Braddock Bay Marina on Monday to announce the Environmental Protection Agency’s project to […]
EPA ordered to redo air-pollution limits in 13 states
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to relax some limits it set on smokestack emissions that cross state lines and taint downwind areas with air pollution from power plants. At the same time, the court upheld the EPA’s right to impose the clean-air standards, rejecting an argument by […]
US settles with NY Coke plant for $12M
BUFFALO — A coal-burning industrial plant that a federal official called an “environmental outlaw” has agreed to pay $12 million to settle claims that it polluted the air and water with harmful chemicals, authorities said Monday. The agreement entered in U.S. District Court requires Tonawanda Coke Corp. to spend $7.9 million on pollution-reducing upgrades and […]
High court to review EPA mercury limits
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is stepping into a new case about Obama administration environmental rules, agreeing to review a ruling that upholds emission standards for mercury and other hazardous air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants. The justices on Tuesday said they would hear arguments from industry groups and states that are […]
Case Digests
- Fourth Department – Negligent performance: Rosenthal v. Syracuse University, et al.
- Second Circuit – Visual Artists Rights Act: Kerson v. Vermont Law School Inc.
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Former foreclosure referee: Opinion 22-157
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – College honorarium: Opinion 22-156
- Second Circuit – Reasonable accommodation: Tafolla v. Heilig
- Fourth Department – Labor Law: Primisch v. Peroxychem LLC
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Judicial candidacy: Opinion 22-155
- Fourth Department – Defamation: Lavine v. Glavin
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Law clerk: Opinion 22-154
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Review of another judge’s actions: Opinion 22-153
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Charitable contributions: Opinion 22-150
- Second Circuit – Class action settlement: Moses v. The New York Times Company
Law News
- Appeals court upholds conviction
- Federal lawsuit reinstated against jail officer over strip search, delayed release
- Hyzon to pay $25M penalty to settle alleged fraud charges by SEC
- NY appeals court reinstates lawsuit over contract to remove snow
- Fourth Department affirms $400K judgment in contract dispute
- Fourth Department affirms decision in NY property dispute
- Greenlight Networks selects Buffalo-based attorney as general counsel
- Barclay Damon hires attorney Matt Smith
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