Great Lakes Law

United States and Canada commit to update the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a special event commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the Boundary Waters Treaty between the United States and Canada to announce that the two countries will begin the process of updating the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement was initiated pursuant to the Boundary Waters Treaty and first signed in 1972 by President Richard Nixon and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. The 1972 agreement focused... Read more →

Clean Water Restoration Act passes out of Senate committee, big step towards passage

Congress took a big step towards restoring protections for our Nation’s freshwater today when the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee reported out the Clean Water Restoration Act. Jim Murphy, Wetlands and Water Resources Counsel for the National Wildlife Federation, is one of the leaders working on this issue and wrote the following guest post providing all of the details. Jim coordinates NWF’s nationwide litigation and policy advocacy on Clean Water Act and wetlands... Read more →

Keep Burning Trash? A debate over the incinerator in Detroit

As the City of Detroit faces a looming decision about the future of its incinerator and waste management, the Detroit Free Press has published a series of debating op-eds on the greenhouse gas implications. My op-ed recommends that the city stop using the incinerator for many reasons, which now includes the potential regulatory cost of millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Not surprisingly, the op-ed by the private company that operates the incinerator (and... Read more →

Wayne Law launches new Environmental Law Clinic in partnership with the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center

Wayne State University Law School is launching a new Environmental Law Clinic in partnership with the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center. Students started work this summer, and the clinic will be open for enrollment beginning this fall. I’ll be co-teaching the clinic with Nick Schroeck, a former fellow with the Great Lakes Commission who currently works with the National Wildlife Federation and is a Great Lakes Environmental Law Center board member. Nick is also my... Read more →

Federal appeals court upholds EPA rule exempting water transfers from Clean Water Act regulation

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Atlanta, has upheld the Bush EPA’s controversial water transfer rule, which would allow polluted water from a dirty waterbody to be pumped and dumped into a pristine waterbody without a Clean Water Act permit. This is a critically important issue for water quality and invasive species in the Great Lakes and nationally. For background on the issue, and the stakes for our lakes, rivers, and streams, see... Read more →

New York State Supreme Court upholds strict new state regulations to control ballast water discharges and prevent invasive species in the Great Lakes

The following guest post is by Thomas Cmar, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Midwest office in Chicago. Thom and NRDC have been at the front of the fight to protect the Great Lakes from invasive species, defending tough new state laws and advocating for a strong national policy. Thom’s work recently resulted in a big win in the legal battle against invasive species when the New York State Supreme Court upheld that... Read more →

President Obama taps Great Lakes advocate Cam Davis to lead Great Lakes restoration program

President Obama and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson have tapped Cam Davis, most recently President of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, for a position that most people will simply call “Great Lakes Czar.” Officially, Cam has been appointed by Administrator Jackson as Senior Advisor on the Great Lakes. While the position will be with the EPA, Cam will be working with numerous agencies to coordinate and implement the Great Lakes restoration work. This appointment fulfills... Read more →

Signs of progress in moving from coal to clean energy in Michigan

Two down, three to go. That’s the latest tally in the fight to stop new coal plants in Michigan and move the state towards clean, renewable energy. In the past few weeks, two of the proposed coal plants in Michigan have officially voided their permit applications – Northern Michigan University’s Ripley Heating Plant in Marquette and Mid-Michigan Energy/LS Power’s proposed plant in Midland. The Northern Michigan University plant took a major legal blow in February... Read more →