We appear on behalf of our clients before all levels of government, on matters from permitting to legislation to policymaking. Sometimes this is on clients’ projects, operations, licenses, contracts, grants, enforcement, hearings and appeals.
Air quality is regulated on the federal level by the EPA under the Clean Air Act and at the state level by DEP's Division of Air Quality under the state Clean Air Act. Federal and state regulations impose permit requirements and emission limits for certain stationary and moving air pollution sources and certain types of emissions G.L. c. 111, §§ 2B, 31C, 142A-F.
Adopted by the voters in November 1972, Article 97 of Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution requires special, high-level consideration of any proposed disposition of or change in use of parklands. Specifically, Article 97 requires a two-thirds roll call vote of each house of the state legislature in order to dispose of or change the use of certain state, county or local public lands taken or acquired for natural resources purposes, broadly defined. Amendment Article 97 created Article 49 of the constitution itself.
Businesses, facilities and operations of every nature face environmental issues and problems. Our audit and due diligence services provide the foundation data essential for wise business management on a continuing basis.
The term Brownfields refers to lands often in urban or older suburban areas which, for reasons of real or perceived contamination, have remained abandoned or underused. This is because developers choose to build on comparatively pristine land elsewhere, often in less developed suburban or rural areas. Similarly, lenders and investors can be reluctant to finance projects that may involve the risk of environmental liability.
Businesses for which we have worked deal with agriculture and agricultural products and processing; automobiles and auto salvage; boatyards, marinas and boat services; building materials and construction; chemical manufacture, storage and transportation; concrete and asphalt manufacturing; electric power generation and transmission; equipment and machinery yards; jewelry manufacturing; hazardous waste storage, treatment, transport and disposal; metal plating and fabricating; medical waste handling; natural gas pipelines, storage and transmission; recycling facilities and operations; oil storage and transportation; paper and box manufacturing; pesticides and herbicides storage and application; printing and painting operations; road construction and reconstruction; sewers and sewage treatment; solar array siting and operations; solid waste transfer stations, landfills and incinerators; underground and above ground storage tanks; and wind turbines siting, transportation, assembly and operations.
The Office of the Coastal Zone Management (OCZM) within EOEEA administers the CZM Program within the state as authorized by the federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). This involves promulgating policies and regulations, plus reviewing projects and permits of state agencies for consistency with policies within the coastal zone.
The Division of Water Quality (DWQ) in the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) implements the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) in Massachusetts as well as similar state laws. DWQ approves new public wells and reservoirs (including those of municipalities) and enforces the state’s maximum contaminant levels (MCLs), mandates monitoring of water supplies, requires wellhead protection zones, and evaluates public and private projects with water supply impacts. DWQ can impose various kinds of moratoria.
Federal legislation requires that municipalities plan for emergencies. Industry is required to cooperate by sharing information and giving notice of chemical releases and spills. Each city and town must have an emergency management plan and make it work.
Environmental and energy policies are converging. Massachusetts is one of the leaders in reorganization of the agencies under one umbrella, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA). EOEEA and its Division of Energy Resources (DER) implement six seminal laws enacted 2008.