Areas of Practice
This practice area description coming soon... Thanks for your patience.
[Dated: April 4, 2023]
We appear on behalf of our clients before all levels of government, on matters from permitting to legislation to policymaking. Sometimes this is on clients’ projects, operations, licenses, contracts, grants, enforcement, hearings and appeals.
We enjoy working for clients on the many ways in which farming, forestry and trees are both regulated and promoted in Massachusetts.
Agriculture is encouraged by state law authorizing municipalities to establish incentive areas and relaxing nuisance laws somewhat for farming. G.L. c.111, §§125A and 143. There is some protection for farmland from eminent domain. G.L. c.79, §5B. The state Zoning Act exempts agricultural activities on lots of a certain size, and exempts farm stands if they meet certain requisites. G.L. c.40A, §3.
Air quality is regulated on the federal level by the EPA under the Clean Air Act and at the state level by DEP's Division of Air Quality under the state Clean Air Act. Federal and state regulations impose permit requirements and emission limits for certain stationary and moving air pollution sources and certain types of emissions G.L. c. 111, §§ 2B, 31C, 142A-F.
Adopted by the voters in November 1972, Article 97 of Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution requires special, high-level consideration of any proposed disposition of or change in use of parklands. Specifically, Article 97 requires a two-thirds roll call vote of each house of the state legislature in order to dispose of or change the use of certain state, county or local public lands taken or acquired for natural resources purposes, broadly defined. Amendment Article 97 created Article 49 of the constitution itself.
Businesses, facilities and operations of every nature face environmental issues and problems. Our audit and due diligence services provide the foundation data essential for wise business management on a continuing basis.
The term Brownfields refers to lands often in urban or older suburban areas which, for reasons of real or perceived contamination, have remained abandoned or underused. This is because developers choose to build on comparatively pristine land elsewhere, often in less developed suburban or rural areas. Similarly, lenders and investors can be reluctant to finance projects that may involve the risk of environmental liability.
Businesses for which we have worked deal with agriculture and agricultural products and processing; automobiles and auto salvage; boatyards, marinas and boat services; building materials and construction; chemical manufacture, storage and transportation; concrete and asphalt manufacturing; electric power generation and transmission; equipment and machinery yards; jewelry manufacturing; hazardous waste storage, treatment, transport and disposal; metal plating and fabricating; medical waste handling; natural gas pipelines, storage and transmission; recycling facilities and operations; oil storage and transportation; paper and box manufacturing; pesticides and herbicides storage and application; printing and painting operations; road construction and reconstruction; sewers and sewage treatment; solar array siting and operations; solid waste transfer stations, landfills and incinerators; underground and above ground storage tanks; and wind turbines siting, transportation, assembly and operations.
This practice area description is coming soon... Thanks for your patience!
[Dated: April 4, 2023]
This practice area description coming soon... Thanks for your patience.
[Dated: April 4, 2023]
Across the spectrum of environmental law we offer advice and representation
with practical, results-oriented lawyering.