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MSBA Environmental, Natural Resources and Energy Law Section
2007-2008 Annual Report

The Chair of the MSBA Environmental, Natural Resources and Energy Law Section submits the following annual report of the Section’s activities during 2007-2008:

Section Name Change

One of the major actions the Section took this year was to change its name and identity to the “Environmental, Natural Resources and Energy Law Section.”  Members voted to amend the Section’s bylaws to include energy law as part of the Section’s focus at the monthly Governing Council meeting on November 1, 2007. In doing so, the Council joined the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the International Bar Association and at least a dozen other state bar associations in acknowledging the growing interconnectedness between environmental, natural resources and energy law, as well as recognizing energy law’s emergence as a growing practice area for the 21st century.  The MSBA’s General Assembly approved the bylaw amendments the following month and the Section has been operating under its new name since the first of the year.  The Section’s challenge going forward is to learn how it can best serve attorneys working in the area of energy law and to make that practice area a cornerstone of the Section’s focus.

Seminars
The Section once again offered several high-quality, low- (or no-) cost continuing legal education programs covering timely and important environmental, natural resources and energy law topics.  The Section sponsored or co-sponsored a total of six seminars throughout the year, worth a total of 12.5 CLE credits.   

On November 14, 2007, the Section sponsored its fourth annual “Fall Agency Update” CLE, entitled, “The State of the Environment: 2007 Update from Minnesota’s Regulatory Agencies.”  Over sixty attendees learned of upcoming enforcement, rulemaking and legislative priorities from Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner (“MPCA”) Brad Moore, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Commissioner (“DNR”) Mark Holsten, Minnesota Department of Agriculture Assistant Commissioner Joe Martin and Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources Executive Director John Jaschke. 

Just three weeks later, the Section offered the first of the three free, one-hour CLEs it provided to its members this year.  This program immediately followed the December 6, 2007 meeting of the Section’s Governing Council.  Five members of the Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group (Chair Ed Garvey, J. Drake Hamilton, David Sparby, David McMillan and Barbara Freese) joined us the day before the Group met for the last time to provide their perspectives on the Group’s efforts and their predictions for the Group’s report to the Governor and the Legislature in early 2008.    

Jeff Connell, the head of the Enforcement and Compliance Section of the MPCA’s Industrial Division, provided the year’s second free one-hour CLE following the Governing Council’s February 7, 2008 meeting.  Mr. Connell updated Section members on the MPCA’s current initiatives in the area of stormwater pollution control, with an emphasis on the MPCA’s efforts to revise its general NPDES industrial stormwater permit. 

On April 23, 2008, over 160 attorneys, consultants, and other environmental professionals attended the Section’s premier educational offering, the fourth annual Minnesota Environmental Institute.  Co-sponsored by the Section and Minnesota Continuing Legal Education, the Institute featured a number of prominent state and national speakers addressing a variety of current issues in environmental, natural resources and energy law.  Keynote speaker Granta Nakayama, who is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, EPA Region V Regional Counsel Robert Kaplan and MPCA Commissioner Brad Moore all spoke on the topic of current and future enforcement priorities at the state and federal levels.  The Institute also offered presentations from twenty faculty members on a wide range of timely topics in one plenary and nine small-group sessions.  The presentations included an environmental case law and regulatory update; a presentation by Professor John Dernbach of Widener University on the topic of climate change regulations following Massachusetts v. EPA and another presentation regarding the transactional implications of climate change; three “basics” presentations on the Clean Air Act, RCRA and water and wetlands law; an update on Minnesota’s renewable energy efforts, a case study of a brownfield redevelopment; an update on stormwater regulations; and a discussion of the environmental, health and safety implications of nanotechnology.  Attendees to the Institute who completed a course evaluation gave the Institute an overall average rating of 6.1/7.0.  The Section also once again offered $100 scholarships to the Institute to twenty individuals from governmental or non-profit organizations. 

In conjunction with its Annual Meeting on May 1, 2008, the Section offered its final free CLE for the year.  Marty Vadis, the Director of the DNR’s Division of Land and Minerals, and Lori Stegink, a Vice President at Barr Engineering, discussed the recent resurgence of mining efforts in Minnesota and the environmental and administrative challenges associated with this increased activity.

Finally, the Section sponsored a one-hour CLE as part of the MSBA Annual Convention on Monday, June 16, 2008.  Dr. Elise Amel from the University of St. Thomas and Dr. Christie Manning, a Visiting Assistant Professor at Macalester College, will discuss how law firms can adopt more cost-efficient, environmentally-friendly practices in a presentation entitled “The Psychology of Sustainability:  What a Law Office Can Do.”  In conjunction with this presentation, the Section will sponsor an MSBA-wide challenge this fall to name the “Greenest Law Office” at the 2009 MSBA Annual Convention.

Award
The Section presented its fourth annual Distinguished Service Award at beginning of this year’s Environmental Institute.  The Distinguished Service Award recognizes a member of the bench or bar who has demonstrated a significant commitment and made an outstanding contribution to environmental, natural resources or energy law in the state of Minnesota.  Prior recipients of the award include Eldon Kaul, Chuck Dayton and Mac Hyde.  The Section was pleased to honor Martha Brand as this year’s recipient.  Ms. Brand has been the Executive Director of the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy for the past seven years.  Ms. Brand has also served on the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board and the Board of Directors of American Rivers, was a member of the Metropolitan Council’s Housing and Land Use Advisory Committee and served for a number of years on the Section’s Governing Council.  Ms. Brand is also a frequent lecturer on environmental topics, particularly Minnesota’s lakes and rivers, brownfields redevelopment and smart growth.

Newsletter
The Section has published two newsletters in 2007-2008 as of the time of this writing, with a third slated for publication in the summer.  The two newsletters published to date offered feature articles summarizing the work of the Climate Change Advisory Group, ballast water issues on the Great Lakes, an update on Total Maximum Daily Load issues in Minnesota and a pending auto emissions bill that was before the Minnesota Legislature this session.  In addition, the newsletters contained regular columns discussing environmental issues affecting agriculture and summarizing recent judicial decisions in environmental, natural resources and energy law.

Section Social Gathering
The Section hosted a social for its members on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at the Minnesota Judiciary Center.  Section members and a large contingent of law students mingled over drinks and appetizers, while Minnesota House Representatives Jean Wagenius and Dennis Oment shared their perspectives on a number of environmental initiatives that were before the Minnesota Legislature at the time.  Attendees were then given the option of a tour of the Minnesota Capitol under the guidance of the Minnesota Historical Society. 

Summer Internship
The Section, for the first time ever, funded a partial summer internship through the Minnesota Justice Foundation.  The Section donated $2,500 to MJF to allow it to provide a student with a demonstrated interest in environmental, natural resources or energy law the opportunity to intern at an organization working in those areas that could not otherwise afford to provide such an opportunity on its own.  This year’s recipient will intern at the Sierra Club.  The intern will provide the Section at the end of the summer with a paper summarizing her experience, which we will then post on the Section’s webpage. 

Outreach
Outreach to law students and young lawyers continued to be a priority for the Section this year.  On October 11, 2007, the Section hosted another successful reception in which students from the four area law schools were invited to discuss the practice of environmental, natural resources and energy law with attorneys working in those fields.  Between forty-to-fifty law students had the chance to meet nearly twenty attorneys from a variety of public, private and non-profit offices and organizations.  Law student interest continued throughout the year, as a number of law students attended, without charge, the various CLEs the Section offered throughout the rest of the year.  A number of law students even attended the monthly Governing Council meetings to stay abreast of Section activities. 

Section Elections
The election for Section Officers and Governing Council Delegates yielded a full roster comprised of lawyers engaged in all facets of environmental, natural resources and energy law practice.  The 2008-2009 Section Officers and Council Delegates include attorneys from large and small private law firms, corporations, public interest groups, universities and law schools, and solo practitioners. 

Respectfully submitted

William P. Hefner
The Environmental Law Group, Ltd.
Section Chair 2007-2008

- Last Updated 07/01/08 -