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. Who: Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association Where: Testa Science Center, Assumption University, Worcester, MA When: June 6, 2024 3:00-6:00 PM The program’s information and practical skills, however, are transferable so other governmental attorneys and other officials are welcome as guests. The modest registration fees and contact information are below ..read more

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. Pennsylvania Coal has transcended its primary relevance as a touchstone for compensation for the taking of private property to become a limit on governmental power over the individual and business interests in a range of land use and financial settings. This session will survey the origin and evolution of Regulatory Takings through the U.S. Supreme Court and Massachusetts SJC cases, w ..read more

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. The listing will affect site assessments, Due Diligences, Innocent Landowners, existing and closed Superfund sites and those buying or selling dirty property. Earlier in April ..read more

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 The new EJ Strategy, which has been in development since October 2022,3 can be found here: https://www.mass.gov/doc/february-2024-environmental-justice-strategy-english/download. The 2024 EJ Strategy is essentially EEA’s adopti ..read more

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 On February 7 of this year, after receiving nearly 700,000 written comments,2 the EPA finalized updates to their NAAQS as it relates to PM2.5.3 Such standards have been in place for approximately 20 years without change.4 The updates strengthen the annual health-based NAAQS for PM2.5 from a level of 12 micrograms per cubic ..read more

Partner in the firm Nathanial Stevens will present, with other experts, a workshop on the science and analyses used to evaluate artificial turf field projects in and near wetland resource areas and buffer zones.  Additionally, climate resilience impacts will be discussed. The workshop will include the regulatory framework, recent MassDEP decisions under the state Wetlands Protection Act, and specific recommendations from the Town of Arlington’s Artificial Turf Study Committee. Cities and towns are grappling with the pros and cons of siting artificial turf fields in and around wet ..read more

For several years, firm partner Nathaniel Stevens has taught Unit 201 of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions’ certification program, which is a popular workshop entitled “Getting Home Before Midnight: How to Run an Effective Meeting.” He will reprise this training module at the MACC Annual Environmental Conference (AEC) on March 2, 2024 at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA. MACC long has had a goal to educate and train these volunteer municipal boards from whom permissions of various kinds are needed to do work or engage in activities in and near wetlands and relate ..read more

Gregor I. McGregor, Esq., the founding partner of the environmental, land use, and real estate law firm of McGregor Legere & Stevens PC in Boston, will present his short treatise called “Boundaries” to the Massachusetts Association of Land Surveyors and Civil Engineers (MALSCE) The treatise takes a fresh look at traditional and modern Massachusetts laws and legal doctrines on the many kinds of boundaries, especially concerning water, which surveyors, civil engineers, land use planners, real estate clients, and their legal counsel must deal with in plans, titles, transactions, permittin ..read more

Firm senior partner Gregor I. McGregor and wetlands and open space expert Michele Grzenda have teamed up to present a Q&A workshop at the Annual Environmental Conference (AEC) of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC). The date is March 2, 2024 at Holy Cross College. Mr. McGregor and Ms. Grzenda say It will be fast paced, focused on nuts and bolts, and painfully practical. Conservation agents and Conservation Commission members have limitless questions on so many subjects and need straight answers and useful tips. Mr. McGregor and Ms. Grzenda say they are open ..read more

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. Who: Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association Where: Testa Science Center, Assumption University, Worcester, MA When: June 6, 2024 3:00-6:00 PM The program’s information and practical skills, however, are transferable so other governmental attorneys and other officials are welcome as guests. The modest registration fees and contact information are below ..read more