More internships! NY State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (Albany, NYC)

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ("DEC") is looking for law-student interns to work within 2 of its legal departments. Those interested in environmental law, administrative law or New York State law, you are strongly encouraged to apply.


DEC's Central Office (Albany, NY) and Region 2 Office (Long Island City, NY) are seeking 2L and 3L legal interns.






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Dilution's the solution!

The Oyster Creek nuclear power plant's operating license was due to expire in early 2009.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission deemed the plant good to go for another 20 years, despite some serious questions regarding the integrity of the drywell containment shell (think big metal can that keeps the bad stuff in).  Not two weeks after relicensing, tritium (carcinogen, half-life: 12.3 years) turned up in local groundwater outside the plant.

The spill at Oyster Creek - the nation's oldest, continuously operating nuclear plant - measured as high as 6 million picocuries in some monitoring wells, about 300 times the level the federal Environmental Protection Agency considers unsafe for drinking water. Since then, some of the drawn samples have fallen to safe levels during the past year, even without human intervention.

In response to public outcry, Exelon, the plant's owner-operator, promised to address the problem immediately (read: whenever they felt like it?).  So it is that almost 18 months later, the company has finally arrived at a winning solution to a problem that has already leaked upwards of 180,000 gallons of tritium tainted water.  Pump contaminated groundwater back into the plant, use it in the cooling process, and then discharge it with the flood of cooling water into public waterways. (Aside: When did we stop arguing about closed cycle cooling?)

"This water will be extensively diluted as it cycles through the plant. The amount of tritium released will be indiscernible from background radiation levels," Benson said. "It won't impact the discharge canal or the Barnegat Bay."

Cap'n trade detractors, rejoice!

Carbon offsets and international trading have long been weak links in cap and trade scheming.  Ensuring that offsets generated abroad are legitimate is a mammoth undertaking, particularly when  they come from areas with notoriously lax environment oversight.  Now, the European Commission is set to ban carbon permits generated by Chinese industrial gas entities from trading inside the E.U.

The European commission is planning to clamp down on a £1.6bn carbon trading scam. The use of carbon permits from industrial gas projects in China could be banned because of their "total lack of environmental integrity", the climate change commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, has told the Guardian.

Billions of euros' worth of the controversial permits were used between 2008-09 in the European Union's emission trading scheme (ETS), in which companies must exchange pollution permits for any emissions produced. The ETS allows some of those permits to be bought in from developing countries.

U.S. proponents of cap and trade as a means to control domestic carbon emissions have looked to the ETS as a model for the successes, and undoubtedly pitfalls, of implementing market-based approaches to environmental regulation.  The ETS is the largest multi-national carbon trading scheme in the world.  The E.C. reports that their scheme has created certain perverse incentives, in this instance the building of carbon-generating facilities in China and India for the purpose of creating negotiable carbon permits.

DOT, EPA Propose the Nation’s First Greenhouse Gas and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Trucks and Buses

EPA and DOT logos (2010)

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today announced the first national standards to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses. This comprehensive national program is projected to reduce GHG emissions by about 250 million metric tons and save 500 million barrels of oil over the lives of the vehicles produced within the program’s first five years.

EPA and DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are proposing new standards for three categories of heavy trucks: combination tractors, heavy-duty pickups and vans, and vocational vehicles. The categories were established to address specific challenges for manufacturers in each area. For combination tractors, the agencies are proposing engine and vehicle standards that begin in the 2014 model year and achieve up to a 20 percent reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fuel consumption by 2018 model year.

External Pressure Builds on CA Climate Change Initiative

With federal legislation on climate change stalled, the fight rages over whether California's own climate change law will be overturned by Proposition 23, on the ballot next week. 

On Friday, Tesoro and Valero, the Texas oil companies that are largely funding Prop 23, contributed $1.5 million to the campaign in the first seven-figure donation since Sept. 2, when the billionaire Koch brothers dropped $1 million into campaign coffers, according to California Secretary of State records.

Check out this N.Y. Times article dishing on the longterm political maneuverings of influential billionaires Charles and David Koch.  

Minority Fellowships in Environmental Law

This fellowship program is designed to encourage minority law students to enter the field of environmental law.

Presented by: NYSBA Environmental Law Section

Co-Sponsored By: NYC Bar Association Committee on Environmental Law and the ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources.

Nomination Deadline: November 19, 2010





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Searching For Science In Marcellus Shale Decisions (Law360)

-Image: Geology.com

Law360, New York (October 20, 2010) -- Along with lower energy costs and new jobs, investment in the development of natural gas resources in the Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania has brought claims of groundwater contamination and litigation to the commonwealth. Marcellus Shale development has also precipitated increased scrutiny by federal and state lawmakers and regulators.

Critical and scientific evaluation of reports and other information concerning the potential link between Marcellus Shale production activities and environmental problems is essential to reasoned decisions in the courtroom and in setting public policy for this industry.





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DRBC Again Delays Rules Covering Natural Gas Drilling

The Delaware River Basin Commission is again delaying the release of rules covering the drilling of natural gas within the watershed.

In a statement, the commission announced that the proposed regulations, which were to be unveiled in September and then were delayed until mid-October, now won't come for at least another month. The commission said the delay was to give staffers time to ensure that it minimizes bureaucratic overlap with other regulators.

"The commissioners are working with staff to continue refining the draft regulations to ensure protection of basin waters while minimizing regulatory duplication," the statement said. "The draft regulations will likely be published in November or December 2010, and will be accompanied by a public rulemaking process. This process will entail two public hearings and a written comment period."

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network, which opposes drilling, urged supporters to lobby against releasing the proposed regulations until a federal study is completed. "This federally funded comprehensive study must be done first and then the information learned be used to inform the regulations that the DRBC will adopt regarding gas development in the Delaware River Watershed," said Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum in a statement. "This is essential to [prevent] … pollution and degradation to the Delaware River and the water supply for more than 15 million people."