Read how Chesapeake Legal Alliance staff, volunteer attorneys, and our community partners are working to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay and its communities.
To say that it’s been an unusual year is an understatement! The pandemic has impacted every facet of life, and the 2021 Maryland General Assembly Session was no exception. Public participation, which is key to our democratic process, was limited to remote access this year. Despite all of the limitations, elected officials and advocates overcame […]
By Evan Isaacson, Director of Policy & Research CLA staff and a volunteer attorney (and board member) assisted the Chesapeake Bay Commission and its Maryland members, including Delegate Stein and Senators Elfreth and Guzzone, in drafting and developing the Clean Water Commerce Act (CWCA) of 2021. This significant new legislation reauthorizes, modifies, and doubles in […]
By: Angela Haren, Senior Attorney, Director of Legal Innovation A powerful part of many environmental laws is the ability for the public to step in and enforce against polluters when the government fails to do so. The vast number of pollution violations coupled with government agency funding constraints or unwillingness to enforce, means that many […]
By: David Reed Since the 1970s, as the nation’s clean water and air laws developed into a robust suite of environmental protection programs, feedlots, or concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), have been regulated under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Recent growth in the CAFO industry has caused more attention to be given to this regulatory […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 11, 2021 Contact David Reed, Co-Director, Chesapeake Legal Alliance (202) 253-5560, Kathy Phillips, Assateague COASTKEEPER, Assateague Coastal Trust, (443) 235-2014, Landmark Win for The Bay Court Orders Maryland to Stop Ammonia Pollution Flowing to the Chesapeake Bay In […]
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, […]