The intersection of two events assured that 2017 would be an important year for the development of environmental policy. At the state level, Gov. Christie's tenure, defined by what many believed to be a lukewarm commitment to environmental protection, was rapidly drawing to a close. At the federal level, the nascent Trump administration confirmed its intention to scuttle key elements of the national environmental program.

As these events were unfolding, the statutory, regulatory and judicial processes continued to grind away. This article identifies 2017's top 10 state environmental issues, many of which will continue to have a long shelf life.

10. On the Supreme Court's Docket. Two cases that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear are of interest to the environmental bar. The issues in Continental Insurance Company v. Honeywell International are: (i) whether New Jersey law should be applied to the allocation of insurance coverage for personal injury asbestos claims, and (ii) whether the policyholder assumed its own risk when coverage for these claims was no longer available. In Catena v. Raytheon Co., the court will decide whether the plaintiff's fraud claims that arose from the nondisclosure of a partial environmental cleanup prior to a property transfer were barred by the statute of limitations or whether the discovery rule applied.