In July 2019, the Hoosier Environmental Council, the Indiana Audubon Society and a handful of residents filed a complaint against Natural Prairie. The plaintiffs asserted the defendants violated the Clean Water Act by blocking the ditches.
Read More
On October 31st, the US Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari filed by private landowners in the Pavlock case, declining to consider the legal questions posed by petitioners and to require further consideration by the 7th Circuit.
Read More
Spring 2022 will be Professor Jeff Hyman’s final semester teaching the Conservation Law Clinic through Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Jeff has taught over 150 law students throughout his tenure with CLC, many of whom have gone on to practice environmental law as a career. It is safe to say he had high expectations of his students and held them to a high standard, but he also met them with honesty and respect. Clinic students have been fortunate to learn both the practice of law as well as specific areas of environmental law from such an experienced professional.
Read More
Last week, Christian Freitag testified at the new Task Force, stressing the need for data-driven decision making on this critical resource for the state’s environmental health and economic vitality. The state has worked hard to advance its water management in recent years, and we have opportunities to build on those successes using recommendations outlined in CLC’s “Water Report,” available at: conservationlawcenter.org/water.
Read More
Having safe and reliable access to clean drinking water is something easily taken for granted by most Americans, but in reality, 2018 data showed that nearly 30 million Americans were consuming unsafe drinking water. Indiana, along with other states and townships across the country, is facing severe problems with being able to provide reliable drinking water to its citizens.
Read More
We continue to work on solutions to Indiana’s water quality problems thanks to a generous gift of $40,000 from the Herbert Simon Family Foundation.
Read More
On Wednesday, March 22 at 6 pm in honor of World Water Day, Bill Weeks, Director of the Conservation Law Center, and Lily Bonwich, Director of Development of the Conservation Law Center will present a talk entitled "Water and Quality of Life in Indiana."
Read More
On October 26, the CLC submitted comments on the Office of Surface Mining’s proposed Stream Protection Rule on behalf of the Hoosier Environmental Council. The proposed rule updates surface coal mining regulations in light of new information on coal mining’s effects on ecosystems and the difficulty of replacing healthy streams impacted by mining. The proposed rule would allow companies to mine through streams if avoiding the streams is not practicable and the applicant demonstrates that she can replace the form and function of the impacted stream. However, the rule allows states with primary authority over surface coal mining to develop their own standards to measure stream function.
Read More
In response to the recommendation of the Indiana Sustainable Natural Resources Task Force, and in collaboration with members of the Indiana General Assembly, the CLC developed legislation to update Indiana's water management policies. Currently, water management decisions related to flood control, drainage, and water supply planning are the responsibility of a number of different state and local entities.
Read More
The Conservation Law Center was awarded a $150,000 grant by the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust (NMPCT) over a two year period to expand its freshwater conservation work, focusing particularly on the Wabash and White Rivers in Indiana. This grant is the third grant awarded to the CLC by the NMPCT.
Read More
CLC attorneys and Clinic interns advised long-standing client, Great Lakes United, and four other conservation groups in preparing comments on the U.S. Coast Guard's ballast water rulemaking (docket number USCG-2001-10486). The dangers that ballast water poses for the introduction of aquatic invasive species have been recognized for well over a century.
Read More
CLC attorneys and Clinic interns continue the CLC's multiyear involvement in Indiana's antidegradation rulemaking on behalf of client Alliance for the Great Lakes. The rulemaking is required under the Clean Water Act.
Read More
CLC attorneys and Clinic interns continue the CLC's multiyear involvement in Indiana's antidegradation rulemaking on behalf of client Alliance for the Great Lakes. The rulemaking is required under the Clean Water Act. After more than a year of stakeholder working groups and intense negotiations over the language of the rule, the draft rule issued by the agency is still unlikely to be approved by USEPA.
Read More
CLC attorneys and Clinic interns advised long-standing client Great Lakes United as it prepares comments on the U.S. Coast Guard's proposed ballast water treatment regulations.
Read More