Michael B. Gerrard

March 08, 2018 | New York Law Journal

Environmental Law columnists Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan write: Under Barack Obama, climate litigation was mostly industry and red states seeking to block regulations. And now under Donald Trump, it is largely about environmental groups and blue states trying to preserve the rules adopted under President Obama, and to seek novel remedies to get around federal hostility to action on climate change.

By Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan

9 minute read

January 10, 2018 | New York Law Journal

In their Environmental Law column, Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan report on developments and environmental laws enacted in 2017, including those protecting water quality and advancing the state's clean energy goals.

By Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan

8 minute read

October 25, 2017 | New York Law Journal

In their Environmental Law column, Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan write: Both the New York state and New York City bar associations have come out in favor of a Constitutional Convention. Both would leave the Forever Wild clause untouched. However, they come to opposite positions on an environmental rights provision.

By Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan

23 minute read

September 15, 2017 | New York Law Journal

In their Environmental Law column, Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan write: Federal district courts are divided over whether the Clean Water Act prohibits discharges to groundwater when the subsurface receiving water is so closely connected to waters of the United States that it serves as a direct conduit to introduce pollutants to surface waters. Because the failure to have a permit for a regulated discharge can lead to significant compliance obligations, material fines and penalties and can be enforced by private citizens, this unresolved question has far-reaching consequences.

By Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan

7 minute read

July 12, 2017 | New York Law Journal

Environmental Law columnists Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan write that for only the second time since this annual survey began in 1991, no court overturned any agency decision where an environmental impact statement had been prepared. In sum, 2016 was a bad year for plaintiffs in SEQRA cases.

By Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan

8 minute read

May 10, 2017 | New York Law Journal

Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan write: New York's budget this year was adopted against the backdrop of continuing drinking water challenges in Flint, Mich. and across New York state. As a result, significant changes in the way drinking water will be protected, monitored and mitigated emerged from this year's budget process.

By Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan

16 minute read

March 08, 2017 | New York Law Journal

Environmental Law columnists Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan write that now that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has issued official sea level rise projections (up to 75 inches by the year 2100), these projections may begin to affect a broad range of decisions in building and infrastructure siting, design, construction and materials; insurance and financing; securities disclosure; and estate planning.

By Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan

15 minute read

January 11, 2017 | New York Law Journal

Environmental Law columnists Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan write: While 2016 did not bring major environmental legislation in New York state, laws were enacted that could have significant impacts in coming years, including a law that allows plaintiffs to bring toxic tort claims in connection with newly designated Superfund sites that might otherwise be barred by existing statutes of limitations. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo also signed laws requiring lead testing of drinking water in schools, establishing a task force to study ocean acidification, and creating a program to fund local climate change mitigation and adaptation projects.

By Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan

16 minute read

November 09, 2016 | New York Law Journal

Environmental Law columnists Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan detail what they call a remarkable set of developments in the past month at the international level in controlling greenhouse gas emissions—the entry into force of the Paris Climate Agreement, and major new agreements on controlling hydrofluorocarbon emissions and pollution from airplanes. They also provide comments on how the stunning election of Donald Trump on Tuesday casts the future of some but not all of these efforts into doubt.

By Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan

17 minute read

September 07, 2016 | New York Law Journal

In his Environmental Law column, Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan write: Since Superstorm Sandy, federal, state and local resource managers have increasingly come to view wetlands not merely as important natural areas worthy of preservation but as central to sustainable and cost-effective storm water management systems.

By Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan

18 minute read