The American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources will hold its 30th Fall Conference Sept. 21-23 at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.
In addition to the 30th anniversary of the fall conference, this year also coincides with the 50th anniversaries of monumental federal environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act; the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; the Ocean Dumping Act; the Coastal Zone Management Act; and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The conference will reflect on these and other historic environmental laws as it focuses on the future of the legal practice.
Keynote speakers include Nashville Mayor John Cooper and Jeffrey Prieto, general counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, at 8:15 a.m. CDT on Thursday; and Shalanda Baker, director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity at the U.S. Department of Energy, at 8:15 a.m. CDT on Friday.
Program highlights include (all times are CDT):
• “According to the Supremes, Things are Changing” — Panelists will offer their perspectives on recent Supreme Court decisions and discuss the forward-looking direction of the court, including West Virginia v. EPA and other cases relating to climate change. The panel will also discuss the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act and whether the Sackett family [Sackett v. EPA] will get final closure on being able to build on land they contend is not jurisdictional.
• “Buckle Up: The PFAS Rollercoaster — Across All Environmental Media — is About to Leave the Station” — This panel, featuring leading practitioners engaging in a conversational format, will address the status of critical PFAS-related developments, including the EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap and the latest mitigation and remediation technology and techniques.
• “From Red Tape to Green Machines: Funding Clean Energy Projects Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill” — With the passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law, as well as the Inflation Reduction Act, federal agencies have and will continue to distribute billions of dollars to remedy crumbling infrastructure across the nation and grow a clean energy economy. This panel will focus on the implementation of environmental justice principles and how achieving equitable outcomes intersects with the practice of law and the role of lawyers.
• Two section awards will be presented during the conference at a luncheon at noon on Friday. Black Millennials for Flint will receive the 2022 Environment, Energy, and Resources Dedication to Diversity and Justice Award, and lawyer Patrick A. Parenteau will receive the 2022 ABA Lifetime Achievement Award in Environmental, Energy, or Resources Law and Policy.
Six other awards will be presented during a virtual ceremony to be held later. The honorees are:
• Earthjustice — Award for Excellence in Environmental, Energy and Resources Stewardship
• Acequia Assistance Project — Award for Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy
• Kevin Bromberg and Nancy B. Firestone — Environment, Energy and Resources Government Attorney of the Year Award
• Chris Stone Symposium on Environmental Law — Law Student Environment, Energy, and Resources Program of the Year Award
• Boston Bar Association — State or Local Bar Environment, Energy and Resources Program of the Year Award
