For the 30th CPTC Annual Conference for Massachusetts citizen and professional planners, held at Holy Cross College in Worcester in spring 2025, firm founder Gregor McGregor prepared a new presentation covering the procedures, principles, and practical tips for projects, lawyers and consultants before local Conservation Commissions. It is now available on our firm website in Archives under Slide Shows.
CPTC is the Citizen Planner Training Collaborative headquartered at UMass Boston. www.masscptc.org. It provides ongoing training with webinar series, on demand workshops for towns, groups, and regional planning agencies, authoritative publications on MA land use practice and law, and videos of select training sessions taught by professionals, all capped by its large annual conference.
CPTC is part of a strong network including the MassPlanners (an online forum), the Mass Housing Partnership (strengthening local boards and commissions to support affordable housing), and local regulatory and planning boards that touch the housing development process.
Mr. McGregor’s presentation comprehensively covers the application and hearing process for proposing work and activities in and near wetlands (as they are broadly defined as Resource Areas) and the associated Buffer Zone. Commissions have jurisdiction over these projects and enforcement under the state Wetlands Protection Act and city and town Wetlands Protection Bylaws (in about 215 municipalities).
Below are some useful highlights and diagrams from the presentation. You may watch the entire presentation by clicking the following link... Full Presentation >>
We are proud and pleased to announce that Taylor Donahoe has joined the firm. Her background in business finance and investment law already has benefitted clients with complex, interrelated land use, real estate, environmental, and litigation issues.
Perhaps surprisingly, only after the fourth time Massachusetts enacted legislation extending the life of most land use and environmental permits, there is now an appellate-level court decision ruling that such extensions are added onto, rather than run concurrently with, the time period set by the law under which the permit was granted.
REPOSTED: MAY 21, 2025 — On November 20, 2024, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed the “Act relative to strengthening Massachusetts’ economic leadership.” Also known as the “Mass Leads Act”, this comprehensive economic development bill includes provisions to again extend the life of many types of land use permits issued by municipal, regional, and state government.
The addition of Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, California expands SCOTUS’ Nollan-Dolan-Koontz trilogy to four regulatory taking cases. In this April 2024 impact fee decision, the Court ruled that monetary exactions are subject to the regulatory taking tests, whether imposed as permit conditions or legislative enactments.
Firm founder and senior partner Gregor McGregor this year has prepared his annual survey of environmental law developments in PowerPoint form. It will be further updated throughout the current year. It covers federal, Massachusetts, and municipal court cases, laws, regulations, policies, and enforcement.
Mr. McGregor’s keynote address to the Annual Environmental Conference (AEC) of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC) at Holy Cross College on March 1, 2025, marked his retirement from the MACC Board after 50 years.
The Town of Brookline smoking ban case has favorable implications for local environmental laws.
Section 8 of the Massachusetts Affordable Homes Act (Chapter 150 of the Acts of 2024) amended Section 3 of the Massachusetts Zoning Act. This took effect on February 2, 2025, requiring municipalities to allow ADUs (900 or fewer square feet) as of right in most single-family residential zoning districts, with some important limitations.
Firm senior partner Gregor I. McGregor will deliver the keynote address at the Annual Environmental Conference (AEC) of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC). This is to mark his retirement from the MACC Board of Directors after 50 years.
UPDATED: MAY 21, 2025 — On November 20, 2024, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed the “Act relative to strengthening Massachusetts’ economic leadership.” Also known as the “Mass Leads Act”, this comprehensive economic development bill includes provisions to again extend the life of many types of land use permits issued by municipal, regional, and state government.
Massachusetts recently enacted a new housing statute that makes it easier for homeowners to create accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on their residential properties. These commonly were called “in-law apartments” but the new law allows much more.
A commonly asked question and a conundrum for many is whether and how a conservation commission can approve a project under the state Wetlands Protection Act, G.L. c. 131, § 40 (the “WPA” or “Act”), while at the same time disapprove the project under a local wetlands protection bylaw or ordinance.
Firm senior partner Gregor I. McGregor and firm associate Caroline E. Smith this fall presented our Environmental Law Update 2024 to the Real Estate Bar Association (REBA) and Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association (MMLA) at their annual meetings.
On June 28, 2024, the United States Supreme Court overturned Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 467 U.S. 837, 104 S. Ct. 2778 (1984). The case is Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 144 S. Ct. 2244 (2024)
Firm principal Gregor I. McGregor on May 22, 2024 presented his PowerPoint survey of important legal developments at the Annual Municipal Law Conference co-hosted by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc. (MCLE) and Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association (MMLA).
This year's program of the MMLA - "Stay Out of the Trenches - Avoiding Traps at Every Phase of Your Public Construction Project,” is designed for municipal and state legal counsel involved in any and all aspects of public works projects.
Gregor I. McGregor, Esq., founding partner, McGregor Legere & Stevens PC, will present an online webinar on the U.S. Constitution’s Takings Clause and 100 years of the Pennsylvania Coal v. Mahon doctrine.
EPA in April listed two ubiquitous “forever” PFAS chemicals -PFOA and PFOS- as hazardous substances under Superfund (CERCLA), triggering reporting, testing, cleanup, and monitoring responsibilities for arrangers, transporters, treaters, disposers and other Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs), including manufacturers, users, and property owners under Superfund’s strict, joint and several, and retroactive liability.
On the state level, the new Massachusetts Climate Law, An Act Creating a Next-generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy, set ambitious statewide limits on emissions to achieve net zero by 2050. With interim emissions reduction goals, this new statute should revitalize the need for quick climate solutions and collaborative processes across all sectors.
On February 15, 2024, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) published Massachusetts’ first-ever “Environmental Justice Strategy” (EJ Strategy).1 This EJ Strategy comes as a result of the Commonwealth’s 2021 Environmental Justice Policy, which directed all EEA agencies to develop their own environmental justice (EJ) strategies.2
In early January 2023 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed decision to reconsider the standards on fine particulate matter, commonly referred to as PM2.5, under the Federal Clean Air Act’s (CAA) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).1
Calculate When Your Permits Expire If Issued Before or During the Covid Emergency: 462 Extra Days?
What the Lifting of the COVID-19 State of Emergency in Massachusetts Will Mean for Boards and Commissions
Legislature Revises Local and Regional Permitting Deadlines as COVID-19 Pandemic Continues
MassDEP and EPA Guidance on Waste Site Cleanups and Compliance during COVID-19 Emergency: Some Flexibility but Important Deadlines and On-Site Obligations Still Apply
Across the spectrum of environmental law we offer advice and representation
with practical, results-oriented lawyering.