Clients and Matters
One of the Conservation Law Center's goals is to promote the development of more effective conservation law and policy. We make our work public whenever it does not conflict with confidentiality requirements. We will post public documents on this website as they become available.
Our Clients
- Alliance for the Great Lakes
- Central Indiana Land Trust, Inc.
- Great Lakes Protection Fund
- Great Lakes United
- Indiana Land Protection Alliance
- Land Trust Alliance
- National Speleological Society
- Ozark Regional Land Trust
- Sycamore Land Trust
- Save The River
- Southern Indiana Cooperative Weed Management Area
- The Nature Conservancy
- Additional Projects
Alliance for the Great Lakes
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management, after past failed attempts at rulemaking, currently is in the process of promulgating regulations to implement antidegradation policies pursuant to the Clean Water Act. The agency has opened up the process to various stakeholder groups and CLC is working with environmental organizations in the region to assure that conservation interests are heard.
Documents
- Fed Antidegredation Policy 40 CFR 131.12 [PDF]
- Environmental Protection Agency Water Quality Handbook CH 4 Antidegredation [PDF]
- IDEM Antidegredation draft rule 1 3/14/08 [PDF]
- IDEM Antidegredation draft rule 2 6/5/08 [PDF]
- CLC Comments on 3/14/08 Antidegredation Draft 4/9/08 [PDF]
- CLC Comments on 6/5/08 Antidegredation Draft 6/16/08 [PDF]
- Comments on IDEM's 2nd Notice Draft Rule (Antidegradation) from Environmental Coalition Attachment A -- Proposed Edits to Draft Rule
- Comments on IDEM's 2nd Notice Draft Rule (Antidegradation) from Environmental Coalition Attachment B Ð Enviro Coalition De Minimis Submission, Oct. 2008
- Comments on IDEM's 2nd Notice Draft Rule (Antidegradation) from Environmental Coalition Attachment B Ð Enviro Coalition De Minimis Submission, Oct. 2008
- Comments on IDEM's 2nd Notice Draft Rule (Antidegradation) from Environmental Coalition
Central Indiana Land Trust, Inc.
We have advised CILTI on the implications for its work of Indiana law regarding marketable title for real property.
Counsel to Government Agencies
We have advised Indiana government agencies on land conservation issues ranging from marketable title to carbon mitigation.
Great Lakes Protection Fund
We have provided research regarding certain provisions of the wildlife laws of Great Lakes states, the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, financial responsibility and surety statutes, certain aspects of insurance law, and the law governing the Saint Lawrence Seaway.
Great Lakes United
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The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) proposed amendments to its existing ballast water
regulations to address inconsistencies with the Canadian regulations. Among the issues addressed in the
proposed regulations was saltwater flushing of ballast tanks containing only residual amounts of ballast
water or sediment. Saltwater flushing is intended to reduce the invasive species carried by vessels
passing through the Saint Lawrence Seaway. In collaboration with other public interest groups, CLC assisted
in drafting comments that pointed out a potential loophole in the proposed regulation and suggested language
to improve the protectiveness of the regulation. Several GLU comments were incorporated into the final
regulations.
Documents
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The Saint Lawrence Seaway extends 2,340 from the Atlantic Ocean to the head of the Great Lakes. The SLSDC
is a wholly-owned government corporation, created in 1954 to construct, operate, and maintain deep-water
navigation works in the Saint Lawrence Seaway in cooperation with its Canadian counterpart. CLC prepared a
memorandum tracing the history, authority, and operational structure of the SLSDC.
Document
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Ships entering the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence Seaway over the past half century have introduced aquatic
invasive species highly damaging to the ecology and economy of the Great Lakes states. Ships continue to carry
invasive species into the Great Lakes yet federal legislation has been unable to solve the problem. CLC drafted
model legislation tailored to New York law to provide a tool that states can use to address the aquatic invasives
problem.
Documents
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GLU marked the 50th anniversary of the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway by developing seven principles
for a sustainable future for the Seaway and the shipping industry as a whole. These principles were
endorsed by over 50 organizations in the United States and Canada. Based on our past Seaway work, the
CLC provided GLU with the research and recommendations for the principle of improved Seaway tranparency
and governance.
Document
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The United States Coast Guard proposed to amend its regulations on the discharge of dry cargo residue,
including limestone, taconite, iron ore, coal, cement, and salt, into the Great Lakes. The Coast Guard also
prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement on such discharges. CLC collaborated with GLU and other groups
on comments submitted to the Coast Guard on its proposed rule and EIS.
Documents
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The CLC assisted Alliance for the Great Lakes, Great Lakes United, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition,
Natural Resources Defense Council, and the National Wildlife Federation in preparing comments responding to
the U.S. Coast Guard's Proposed Rulemaking on Standards for Living Organisms in Ships' Ballast Water Discharge
in U.S. Waters. The comments addressed the proposed implementation schedule and standards, the practicability
review, regulating "lakers," the treatment system approval process, among other issues.
Document
Indiana Land Protection Alliance
We provided counsel on the creation of by-laws.
Land Trust Alliance
The U.S. Congress, in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, delegated to electric utility companies the authority to acquire a right-of-way within a designated National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor by the exercise of eminent domain. This eminent domain authority poses a threat to private conservation land interests such as conservation easements. CLC analyzed the extent to which conservation easements held or co-held by private land trusts may be resistant to this eminent domain authority, by virtue of partnerships with governmental entities or other mechanisms.
Documents
CLC assisted LTA by conducting an "ask-an-attorney" call for Indiana land trusts. The subject of the call was the new IRS Form 990, which is the form certain nonprofits must file annually with the IRS to provide information on the organization's mission, programs, and finances. CLC prepared a fact sheet for the Revised Form 990.
Document
National Speleological Society
We provided counsel on certain aspects of Indiana's non profit corporations law.
City of Oakland City
At the City's request, we provided draft ordinances for its consideration.
Ozark Regional Land Trust
We provide ongoing legal support to the Ozark Regional Land Trust, including review of conservation easement agreements and related documents, research of pertinent laws and legal standards, and advice on conservation strategies.
Sycamore Land Trust
- We have provided counsel for the Sycamore Land Trust in many matters, ranging from the application of CERCLA to the implications of certain provisions in the Federal Tax Code.
- Some landowners who donate conservation easements to land trusts want to retain the right to extract timber from the underlying land. CLC drafted a model sustainable forestry conservation easement intended to maintain the conservation values on properties with high quality forests.
- CLC Working Forest Conservation Easement_Post.4.22.08 [PDF]
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Document:
Save The River
The spring opening date for shipping on the Saint Lawrence Seaway is set by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC). Ice breaking may accompany the opening, depending on how early the date is set. Save The River seeks to promote an spring ice breaking policy that protects the delicate ecosystem of the Upper Saint Lawrence River from ship wakes and scouring damage.
CLC assisted STR in preparing a rulemaking petition to the SLSDC, asking the agency to begin a notice and comment rulemaking on the process and criteria it uses to establish the spring opening date of the Seaway.
Document
CLC also assisted STR with a FOIA appeal to the SLSDC.
Documents
- Freedom of Information Act Appeal to the SLSDC for Save The River [PDF]
- Freedom of Information Act Response Scan 1 and Scan 2 [PDF]
- SLSDC's Response to FOIA Request [PDF]
Southern Indiana Cooperative Weed Management Area
www.fs.fed.us/r9/hoosier/docs/plants/sicwma.htm
Cooperative weed management areas are local organizations that provide a mechanism for sharing invasive plant management resources across jurisdictional boundaries to prevent and control invasive plants. The Southern Indiana Cooperative Weed Management Area (SICWMA) covers 36 counties with similar terrain, soil, climate, and threats from invasive species.
- CLC assisted SICWMA in incorporating as a nonprofit in Indiana and obtaining 501(c)(3) Recognition of Exemption from the Internal Revenue Service.
- We continue to provide counsel to SICWMA on nonprofit governance issues.
The Nature Conservancy
We have provided counsel on several matters, ranging from the implications for conservation of certain Indiana laws to certain aspects of the law of conservation easements.
Additional Projects
- Legal Considerations Regarding Amendment to Conservation Easements [PDF]
- We have advised Indiana government agencies on land conservation issues ranging from Marketable Title to Carbon Mitigation.
- The CLC is currently reviewing information on several species that are potential subjects of litigation or a petition for listing under the Endangered Species Act.
- In Defense of Conservation Easements, by Nancy McLaughlin and W. William Weeks [PDF]