Turner Environmental Law Clinic

Emory Law’s Environmental and Natural Resources Law program has established a new DEI scholarship and stipend program to promote broader diversity in the practice of environmental law.

KMCL-gift to Emory Law will increase diversity among environmental lawyers

Mindy Goldstein represents Beyond Nuclear, a group that has challenged the interim storage of nuclear waste at a site in New Mexico. The group filed an appeal in federal court that asks for review of an NRC decision that Goldstein says violates the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. "Agencies have to work with what Congress gave (them)," Goldstein tells the Albuquerque Journal. "We feel NRC is stepping around that requirement. Congress has said that DOE can't own this waste." Goldstein is director of Emory Law's Turner Environmental Law Clinic. (subscription required)

An appeal filed in the D.C. Court of Appeals argues the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's licensing of a proposed New Mexico facility would violate federal law, Energywire reports. It flouts the Nuclear Waste Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act due to the facility's potential reliance on the Department of Energy as its main customer. "This NRC decision flagrantly violates the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which prohibits an agency from acting contrary to the law as issued by Congress and signed by the president," said Turner Environmental Law Clinic Director Mindy Goldstein, who also represents Beyond Nuclear.

This month, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said an application to store "a massive quantity of highly radioactive irradiated nuclear fuel" in southeastern New Mexico violates federal regulations, KRWG reports. But the commission ruled that the unlawful provisions of the license application could be ignored and would not bar approval. Turner Environmental Clinic Director Mindy Goldstein represented Beyond Nuclear, a nonprofit which opposed the application. "The NRC's decision flagrantly violates the federal Administrative Procedure Act," she said, adding the commission lacked a "legal or logical basis for its rationale."

The farm-to-table movement, which provides restaurants with locally grown, high-quality produce generated $12 billion last year for small-scale producers including cheesemakers and vintners. But as restaurants have shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic, small farms are in trouble. "I was getting calls as soon we went into lockdown," Mindy Goldstein, director of the Turner Environmental Law Center, told the New York Times. "The question is how do we get these folks any form of market."

The Turner Environmental Law Clinic at Emory University School of Law represented Emory in the development and negotiation of a new partnership with The Conservation Fund.

A new solar ordinance, created by Emory Law's Turner Environmental Law Clinic, UGA and Georgia Tech was shaped to fit Georgia's particular needs--from its large commercial timber tracts and farm fields to its delicate coastal ecosystem, Energy News Network reports. It's already been adopted by several cities and counties, and more are expected to follow suit. "All of us did this work pro bono," said Clinic Director Mindy Goldstein, "to ensure the process was both neutral, academically rigorous and without bias."

Representatives from the Turner Environmental Law Clinic, Georgia Tech's Strategic Energy Institute, and the University of Georgia have published the Georgia Model Solar Zoning Ordinance and accompanying explanatory guide.

"Many are shocked to learn Georgia is a top solar producer," Emory Law Professor Mindy Goldstein writes for the AJC. "This year, the Solar Energy Industry Association ranked Georgia 10th in solar nationwide." But siting is important. "Smart solar siting achieves the right balance between encouraging solar development and protecting local community culture and resources," she says. Emory Law, Georgia Tech, and the University of Georgia combined expert sources to create the Georgia Model Solar Zoning Ordinance and accompanying educational guide.

Critics of the nuclear expansion at Plant Vogtle want more information about private meetings they say took place between Georgia Power and state regulators, WABE reports. They say the Georgia Public Service Commission was wrong to give Georgia Power the go-ahead to keep building two nuclear reactors. Turner Environmental Law Clinic Director Mindy Goldstein said a court challenge to a PSC decision is rare, but this one seems valid. "Disagreeing with the Public Service Commission's finding of facts is not enough really to get you into court, but if you claim that they made a legal error, that's enough to get you into court, and that's what we have here," she said.

As solar takes off, Turner Environmental Law Clinic Director Mindy Goldstein wants to ensure that it grows wisely. She's part of a team determining how to do that in Georgia. The goal is to develop a solar zoning ordinance that will help county and city officials balance their communities' solar development with preservation of its culture and native habitats by preventing deforestation and maintaining agricultural spaces.

The Department of Energy has heavily subsidized Georgia Power's nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, providing a $3.4 billion-dollar loan to the utility in 2014, in addition to the $1.67 billion it is set to receive in 2018. The two reactors are the only ones being constructed in the U.S., and if completed, would be the first built here in nearly 30 years, Mindy Goldstein, director of the Turner Environmental Law Clinic, writes in an AJC opinion article. "If Georgia Power and its utility partners in Vogtle cannot repay their loans, the federal government will take a loss equal to the amount in default. The subsidy fees are meant to protect taxpayers should default occur. But Georgia Power's zero dollars in down payments means taxpayers are entirely on the hook if the project fails," she writes.

Turner Environmental Law Clinic students traveled to Florida this month for a hearing on Florida Power & Light's plans to build two more nuclear reactors at its Turkey Point site. The controversy has been running for seven years, but could be decided by year's end, said Clinic Director Mindy Goldstein.

In November 2016, The Turner Environmental Law Clinic sent two students to Marrakech, Morocco, to attend the 22nd annual Conference of the Parties (COP22) held under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

After 40 years of protests, California's San Onofre Nuclear Plant waits to be dismantled. For the activists who fought to close the plant, the victory is bittersweet, says a Bloomberg story. The reactors will disappear, but 1,600 metric tons of radioactive waste remain. A Texas facility has proposed to store as much as 40,000 metric tons of waste, for as long as 40 years. Allowing an interim site "lets the utilities off the hook," making them less inclined to push for a permanent solution, said Mindy Goldstein, director of Emory Law's Turner Environmental Law Clinic.

Attorneys at the Turner Environmental Law Clinic at Emory Law School, representing three river groups from Georgia and Alabama, filed an amicus curiae brief in Florida v. Georgia, an original action before the United States Supreme Court.

Another wrinkle in the case is drought conditions in 53 Georgia counties, including all of Atlanta. "The fix isn't going to be simple," said Mindy Goldstein, director of Emory Law's Turner Environmental Law Clinic. She's working with Georgia and Alabama environmental groups to weigh in on the case. "It's not just one group or one area or one thing that needs to be fixed. The fix is going to be hard and it's going to be complicated."

A report released today showed a significant decrease in the number of "bee-friendly" home garden plants sold at major retailers that have been pre-treated with pesticides shown to harm and kill bees. The study was conducted by Friends of the Earth and Pesticide Research Institute and allies, including the Turner Environmental Law Clinic.

GreenLaw will honor Mindy Goldstein, a clinical professor of law of Emory University School of Law's Turner Environmental Law Clinic. She will receive the Ogden Doremus Award for Environmental Excellence.

The Clean Power Plan is the centerpiece of the Obama administration's efforts to combat climate change. Shortly after it was issued, 27 states and industry groups brought suit in the D.C. Circuit, arguing it exceeds the EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act. West Virginia, et al. v. EPA, is likely to be one of the most important environmental cases in decades. But a series of unexpected twists have rendered the future of the regulation less certain.

The Turner Environmental Law Clinic at Emory Law School today released a first-of-its-kind report analyzing how various state laws could affect Clean Power Plan compliance in eight Southeastern states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Turner Environmental Law Clinic students recently attended oral arguments in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals concerning a challenge to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) regulation governing nuclear waste storage.

Led by Mindy Goldstein, Turner Environmental Law Clinic students met with co-counsel to discuss litigation strategy for a case pending in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge the NRC's new regulation known as the "Continued Storage Rule."

Kate Lee's article, "CEQ's Draft Guidance on NEPA Climate Analyses: Potential Impacts on Climate Litigation," was recently published in Environmental Law Reporter.

Turner Environmental Law Clinic is advocating on behalf of multiple organizations to support sustainable agriculture initiatives.

On June 29, 2015, the Supreme Court held in Michigan v. EPA that EPA unlawfully delayed consideration of the costs of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. According to the five-justice, conservative majority, the phrase "appropriate and necessary" required EPA to consider costs at the initial phase of the regulatory process, when it was deciding whether to regulate hazardous power plant emissions, and not later on, once it had already decided such regulation was warranted.

Emory Law's Turner Environmental Law Clinic is challenging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's regulation (the "Continued Storage Rule") that addresses nuclear waste storage.

Jeni Lamb 16L, a student working with the Turner Environmental Law Clinic, presented her proposals to revise the Fulton County (Georgia) zoning ordinance to permit and promote urban agriculture.

The Turner Environmental Law Clinic has followed the funding and construction of Georgia Power's nuclear Plant Vogtle for years. A series of FOIA requests by the Clinic to the Department of Energy and other players resulted in the release of thousands of documents and eventually, a $44,000 award in attorney fees for the students' time. Here, Doug Koplow of Earth Track draws a parallel from the recent news that Hillary Clinton used a personal email account while secretary of state, to the clinic's efforts to disclose the true costs of Plant Vogtle for state and federal taxpayers.

The Turner Environmental Law Clinic and GreenLaw hosted noted toxic tort attorney Jan Schlictmann and environmental attorney Rick Kuykendall on February 10, 2015.

Gina McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, visited Emory Law Thursday, February 5.

Emory Law's legal clinics and externship programs engage students in all aspects of the legal process.

Turner Environmental Law Clinic students, Jennifer Lamb and Michael Arwood, presented the Atlanta Public School Board with a toolkit they prepared on behalf of Georgia Organics and Atlanta Farm to Schoo

The City of Atlanta presents its urban agricultural ordinance via ATL26, its cable channel.

Emory Law Turner Environmental Law Clinic students worked with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) to prepare comprehensive comments on the draft Produce Rule itself and on the requisite environmental analysis.

Emory Law alum Whitney Rappole joined the Turner Environmental Law Clinic in representing the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) and investigating federal loan guarantees offered by the Department of Energy.

In this "live client clinic," students take part in all aspects of civil litigation.

Earlier this week, the Atlanta City Council passed the urban agriculture zoning ordinance.

Cooperative federalism regimes offer two substantial benefits: They improve federal-state relations by empowering states to act under federal law, and they allow society to reap the benefit of state innovation instead of having one federal law preempt the field.

The Obama administration proposed a long-awaited rule on Tuesday to clarify that the Clean Water Act protects wetlands near rivers and waterways fed by seasonal thaws and rains.

Turner Environmental Law Clinic students filed on behalf of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Turner Environmental Law Clinic filed FOIA requests with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Office of Management and Budget

Turner Clinic petitioned NRC re revision of Waste Confidence Decision.

Thirty-six Emory Law students worked for the public good in organizations across the United States.

Emory Law's Turner Environmental Law Clinic filed comments on behalf of environmental groups concerned that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is rushing a study.

Turner Environmental Law Clinic students challenged a license issued by the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.