On July 18, 2024, in Shirley v. Pennsylvania Legislative Reference Bureau, No. 85 MAP 2022, 2024 WL 3450536 (Pa. July 18, 2024), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed the denial of three nonprofit organizations’ application to intervene in the litigation challenging the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) regulation implementing Pennsylvania’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (the RGGI Regulation).  After rejecting several arguments regarding the appealability of the order denying intervention, the Court found that the nonprofits’ interest in defending the RGGI Regulation under the Pennsylvania Constitution’s Environmental Rights Amendment (ERA) was not adequately represented by the PADEP and therefore the lower court erred in denying intervention.  Because of this ruling, the three nonprofit organizations (Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, Clean Air Council, and the Sierra Club) (Nonprofits) are now able to pursue an appeal of the Commonwealth Court’s final order permanently enjoining the RGGI Regulation from going into effect.  Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Air, Clean Air Act, Environmental Rights Amendment, Greenhouse Gas, Hazardous Air Pollutants, Intervention, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Rulemaking, Standing

This month, in Markmik, LLC v. Packer (unreported decision, No. 23-P-736), the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed a trial court’s finding that a less expensive cleanup option requiring buyers to accept an activity and use limitation (“AUL”), with no diminution in value damages, was appropriate given a guaranty by sellers that was silent about the level of cleanup committed to. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Breach of Contract, Cleanup, Contamination, Cost Recovery, Damages, Groundwater, Massachusetts, Property Value, Real Estate, Remediation, Vapor Intrusion

This entry was authored by MGKF Summer Associate Karina Zakarian

On June 28, 2024, the United States Supreme Court overruled Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council to the extent that the earlier decision had instructed federal courts to defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous statutes. See Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. ___ (2024). The decision stems from a challenge to the Magnuson-Stevens Act by several fishery businesses, but the sole issue before the Court was whether Chevron should be overturned. In a divisive 6-3 decision, the Court’s conservative majority held in the affirmative, entombing Chevron deference based upon the Court’s interpretation of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”). As a result, federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) are now deprived of a doctrine they had long relied upon to defend their regulatory agendas. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Administrative Procedures Act, Chevron Deference, United States Supreme Court