2024 Ohio Public Interest Environmental Law Conference

Thanks to all who joined the Ohio Environmental Council and the Environmental Professionals Network at the 2024 Ohio Public Interest Environmental Law Conference focused on “Protecting the Spaces and Places of Ohio’s Environment.”

Understanding Governance of of Emerging Contaminants and Environmental Risks in Our Communities

For this session, three panelists will come together to discuss governance of emerging contaminants and environmental risks for communities in Ohio and beyond. Both the risks of PFAS and the emergency response to events like the train derailment in East Palestine present different challenges for legal and policy systems. From their different perspectives on these issues, our panelists will provide insight into what lessons we can learn from these two different environmental concerns.

Speakers:
Haley Shoemaker, MS, extension educator, Ohio Farm Business Analysis and Benchmarking Program, Ohio State University Extension
Zhiyong Xia, PhD, senior technical director, PFAS Practice, GHD
Daniel Lee, environmental engineer and environmental protection specialist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Land and Emergency Management

Moderator:
Miranda Leppla, Director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Two Decades of the Darby Accord

The Big Darby Accord consists of local governments within the Franklin County area of the Big Darby Creek Watershed. The mission of the Big Darby Accord is to cooperatively develop a multi-jurisdictional plan and accompanying preservation and growth strategies, capable of implementation, oversight, and enforcement. In this session, attendees will learn about this multijurisdictional agreement, its limitations, and how jurisdictions currently approach its operation.

Speakers:
Cynthia Vermillion, Hilliard City Council member
Chris Wyche, Columbus City Council member
John Tetzloff, President, Darby Creek Association

Creative Innovations in Utility Scale Solar Siting

Utility-scale solar has significantly increased its footprint in Ohio over the past few years, all while many counties across the state have also taken action to oppose solar under Senate Bill 52. Solar developers are proposing innovative solutions to account for local opposition and to create better proposals before the Ohio Siting Board. Three experts in the field of utility scale solar will discuss the current state of affairs before the Ohio Power Siting Board as well as the innovative solutions proposed by developers to make projects more creatively benefit the public interest.

Speakers:
Tony Logan, Principal Consultant, Agrivoltaics, LLC, and CEO of The Renewables Space, LLC
Sarah Conley, Director of Operations and Development, Solar and Storage Industries Institute
Kara Hernstein, Partner, BrickerGraydon

Recent Major Changes to NEPA and the CEQ Rules and their Impact on Ohio’s only National Forest

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is often described as the “Magna Carta” of federal environmental law. This bedrock environmental statute and its implementing rules have undergone major changes during the Trump and Biden Administrations. The panel will discuss these changes and, for local context, will touch on proposed fracking in Ohio’s national forest.

Speakers:
Nathan Johnson, OEC Senior Attorney for Land and Water
Paul Sanford, Director of Policy Analysis, The Wilderness Society

The Role of Judges in Environmental Law and the Procedure of Standing

The legal doctrine of “standing” underpins the jurisdiction of judges to hear cases in their courtrooms. At both the Ohio Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court, a variety of cases have impacted how individuals and organizations can bring lawsuits in the environmental context. This lunchtime panel will focus the discussion on what factors judges consider when making decisions on standing, especially in light of recent precedent—as well as a discussion of the information necessary for judges to determine standing in certain complex environmental litigation contexts.

Speakers:
Trent Dougherty, Partner, HubayDougherty
Heidi Robertson, Steven W. Percy Endowed Professor of Law and Urban Affairs, CSU|LAW at Cleveland State University
Miranda Leppla, Director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Toxic Secrecy Disabling the Practice of Medicine

This panel will trace the arc and evolution of community right to know to the unfettered expansion of toxic secrecy to such an extent that secrecy is disabling the ability of medical professionals to take complete and meaningful medical histories of and provide diagnoses to those suffering environmental exposure. This topic will discuss how exposure information is needed for accurate medical diagnoses, explore real life case studies on how toxic secrecy has and is adversely impacting the future of Ohio communities, and offer multiple legislative solutions to counter the expansion of toxic secrecy.

Speakers: 
D. Dave Altman, President and founding partner, AltmanNewman Co., LPA
Justin D. Newman, Vice President and partner, Altman Newman Co., LPA
Dr. William Auberle
Dr. Erin Haynes

Words Matter: Addressing Harmful and Derogatory Place Names

The names we give to places matter. There is growing acknowledgement that many place names across the U.S. are derogatory and hurtful, and some are worth challenging and replacing. In the context of Ohio, our currently only National Forest has its name currently under reconsideration through administrative processes conducted by the U.S. Forest Service. This panel explores the history of place names; the harms enshrined and perpetuated by these names; the processes by which these names are being addressed, challenged, and changed; and the opportunity for healing, inclusion, and justice that can come from shared efforts to do better.

Speakers:
Jessica Lambert, High Meadows Fellow, The Wilderness Society
Molly Jo Stanley, Southeast Ohio Regional Director, Ohio Environmental Council

Save Ohio Parks and the Fight against Fossil Fuels on Public Lands

This presentation will focus on two lawsuits challenging the leasing of Ohio’s public lands for oil and gas development: 1) a constitutional challenge to H.B. 507—a bill about poultry that rapidly and clandestinely became a bill mandating the leasing of public lands to oil and gas companies and labeling fracked gas as “green” energy; and 2) an appeal under Ohio’s Administrative Procedure Act of the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission’s decision to open Salt Fork State Park—Ohio’s largest state park—for drilling. The presentation will discuss the legal theories raised by these cases, their significance, and the current status of the litigation. The discussion will also feature discussion from two representatives of one of the plaintiff organizations, Save Ohio Parks, about what comes next in policy fights surrounding oil and gas issues and public lands.

Speakers:
Megan Hunter, Supervising Senior Attorney, Earthjustice
Cathy Cowan Becker, Co-Founder and Steering Committee Member, Save Ohio Parks
Roxanne Groff, Co-Founder and Steering Committee Member, Save Ohio Parks

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