Read how Chesapeake Legal Alliance staff, volunteer attorneys, and our community partners are working to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay and its communities.
What does the Maui case mean for the Chesapeake Bay? By: Evan Isaacson & Angela Haren On April 23, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved an important Clean Water Act issue that has divided lower courts. The 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA or Act) protects our nation’s surface waters from direct discharges of pollution. The […]
In a victory for Deep Cove Creek, and after 25 hearings over the course of 2 years, the Anne Arundel County Board of Appeals dismissed the pending appeal regarding Snyder Development’s efforts to build its disputed housing development within the Resource Conservation Area (RCA) of the Critical Area in Churchton, Maryland, effectively ending Snyder’s attempts […]
CLA volunteer attorney Katherine Meyer (Meyer Glitzenstein & Eubanks LLP) helped a group of law professors from around the country, who are also Member Scholars of the Center for Progressive Reform, file an amicus curiae brief on Wednesday, May 24 in a case challenging President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 13771 on “Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs.” An amicus brief is […]
CLA volunteer attorney, Mary Staley, recently finalized a white paper analyzing existing legislative barriers to local Pennsylvania municipalities using “Pay For Success” (PFS) models to fund water quality improvement projects. Attorney Staley helped the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) research PFS models and legislative fixes needed to implement these models in Pennsylvania. […]
More than 12 years after plans were first proposed, the disputed planned housing development in Churchton, MD – Turtle Run at Deep Cove – may have been dealt its final death blow thanks to the long running efforts of CLA volunteer attorneys in partnership with South County Citizens for Responsible Development (SACReD), the West/Rhode Riverkeeper, […]
Congratulations to Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy, Sassafras River Association, and the Chester River Association on their recent merger. CLA Volunteer attorneys Scott Gluck, Amauri Costa, and Law Clerk Alison Hopkins (Duane Morris LLP) assisted the organizations in drafting the merger agreement and closing documents to facilitate the merger process. Mr. Gluck and Mr. Costa practice in the area of corporate […]
CLA volunteer attorney Emily Russell was successful in negotiating the sale of a 6.5 acre parcel of property that will now be placed in a permanent conservation easement! The property, adjacent to an urban park in a part of Henrico County adjacent to the City of Richmond, was slated to be clear-cut by a developer […]
Wednesday afternoon, the Anne Arundel County Board of Appeals decided that both South County Citizens for Responsible Development (SACReD) and the West/Rhode Riverkeeper have standing to contest a hotly disputed housing development in Churchton, MD – Turtle Run at Deep Cove – proposed by Snyder Development Corporation. The 12-plus yearlong battle to save one of […]
The City of Annapolis is planning to purchase 4.4 acres of contiguous forest close to Quiet Waters Park and place it in a permanently protected conservation easement, open to the public! For the past five years, a total of seven (7) CLA attorneys have been involved in the fight to ensure that the Parkside Preserve […]
In April 2017, the Maryland General Assembly designated $400,000 of the state’s FY2018 budget to fill vacant enforcement and compliance positions within the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). This action reverses years of declining funding for enforcement of environmental laws by MDA and MDE, whose limited resources […]