IN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW Friday, March 24, 2017 9:00 am-4:30pm Dean Rusk Hall, Larry Walker Room ,,
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Coal Comq;usponResiduals:{lJ!.qnagement ofCCRs in the Wake ofChalJge~ {?JEPA andl}f;~~~ules Pertaining to Solid ' Waste~:.··r·,: __ ·:<> Opening Remarks by Dink NeSmith, President of Community Newspapers, Inc. Keynote Address by Jud Turner, Former Director ofEPD
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Welcome
The Red Clay Conference is an annual student run conference at the Univ~rsity of Georgia School of Law. This event was established to increase public awareness of environmental issues on a regional, national, and international level through a series of educational presentations and open forum discussions. The Conference attracts attorneys as well as students and interested members of the Athens community. This year's Conference will focus on emerging issues in environmental law. Specifically, it consists of one keynote speaker and three panels, which will address the following topics: Coal Combustion Residuals, Transboundary Water Issues, and Clean Power Plan.
8:00a.m.- 9:00a.m.
Agenda Breakfast & Registration
9:00a.m.- 9:30a.m.
Opening Remarks: Dink NeSmith, President of Community Newspapers, Inc.
9:30a.m. -10:45 p.m.
The Future of the CPP & Other Air Regulatory Issues Moderator: Professor Peter Appel Panelists: Kurt Ebersbach, Southern Environmental Law Center Karen Hays, Air Protection Branch Chief, EPD Ethan Shenkman, Former Deputy General Counsel, EPA
11 :00 a.m. - 12:15 a.m. Trans boundary Water Issues: Implications of Florida v. Georgia Moderator: Professor Laurie Fowler Panelists: Lewis Jones, King & Spalding Wilton Rooks, ACF Stakeholders Group Todd Silliman, Dentons 12:20 p.m.- 1:20 p.m.
Lunch
1:30 p.m.-2:45p.m.
Coal Combustion Residuals: Management ofCCRs in the Wake of Changes to EPA and EPD Rules Pertaining to Solid Waste Management Moderator: Professor Chris Manganiello, Ph.D. Panelists: Beth Blalock, Land Branch Assistant Branch Chief, EPD Melanie Jablonski, Georgia Power David Stewart, Crowder Stewart, LLP
3:00p.m.- 4:15p.m.
Keynote Address: Professor Judson Turner, Adjunct Professor at University of Georgia School of Law & Former Director ofEPD
4:15 p.m.- 4:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks: Dean Peter "Eo" Rutledge, University of Georgia School of Law
4:30 p.m.-
Closing Reception@ Blue Sky
Opening Remarks: Dink NeSmith In 1958, Dink NeSmith was 10 years old and already active in the newspaper business. When the 3 o'clock bell rang at Orange Street Elementary School, he would jump on his bike and race seven blocks to the back door of The Jesup Sentinel. There he would buy a stack of the weekly newspapers for a nickel each. Pedaling as fast as he could, he rushed to the shift change at Sea Island Shirt Factory. As the ladies left work, he turned his nickels into dimes before the ink dried on the latest edition of the local news. Fourteen years later, he borrowed $3,000 to start investing in newspapers. Today, the 1970 graduate ofThe University of Georgia is co-owner and president of Community Newspapers Inc: (CNI) based in Athens. CNI publishes more than two dozen newspapers in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina. NeSmith is a past president of the Georgia Press Association, Leadership Georgia and UGA's Alumni Association. He's served as chairman of the Georgia Telecommunications Commission. In 2103, he was chairman of the University System of Georgia Board ofRegents ..He is chairman emeritus of the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership and a past chairman of the Richard B. Russell Foundation. Since January 2016, NeSmith has led a grassroots' effort to halt the proposed dumping of 10,000 tons of coal ash-per day-into Republic Services' private landfill in his hometown. At the center of the issue is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit application to destroy wetlands in order to build a massive rail spur to accommodate up to mile-long trains of coal ash and out-of-state garbage. Since the world's richest man, Bill Gates, is Republic's biggest shareholder, NeSmith has dubbed it a modem-day David-and-Goliath battle. 1
Panelist Biographies The Future of the CPP and Other Air Regulatory Issues Kurt Ebersbach (Senior Attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center) Mr. Kurt Ebersbach is a Senior Attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. A University of Georgia School ofLaw graduate, Mr. Ebersbach is currently involved in many of SELC's efforts to make solar energy more affordable and accessible in the Southeast. Specifically, Mr. Ebersbach is actively involved in SELC's solar initiative, which focuses on removing the multiple barriers that still prevent some Southerners access to solar energy. Additionally, Mr. Ebers bach is involved in SELC's advocation of energy efficiency and its large-scale efforts to help the Southeast meet the requirements
Keynote Address: Professor Judson Turner On September 1, 2016, Judson ("Jud") H. Turner completed10 years of public service to the State of Georgia in various senior legal and management posts. Throughout the remainder of2016, Mr. Turner's served as Special Assistant Attorney General, focused primarily on the United States Supreme Court equitable apportionment case, Florida v. Georgia, that tried before the Special Master, Ralph Lancaster in November of2016. Mr. Turner also began his year as Practitioner-in-Residence at the University of Georgia, School of Law, where he is teaching Water Law this semester. On January 1, 2017, Mr. Turner joined the firm, Gilbert, Harrell, Sumerford & Martin P.C. as Of Counsel. Mr. Turner's practice is focused primarily in the areas of environmental litigation, regulatory compliance and permitting, and government relations. Having spent over 4 years as Director of Georgia's Environmental Protection Division (GA EPD), the state's chief environmental regulator, Mr. Turner is well-versed in a broad array of environmental matters involving water, waste and air regulation at both the state and federal levels. Mr. Turner is also considered one of the state's top experts in environmental policy - in particular, policy related to sustainable water supply development in the state. While Director, Mr. Turner was active in the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) and served as Region IV Representative on the Executive Committee, the governing body ofECOS. In addition to his time as Director of GA EPD, Mr. Turner also served as Director of the Governor's Office oflnter- agency Coordination and Management of Water Resources, a position newly established to co-ordinate and manage activities related to the state's defense of the original action matter filed by the state of Florida against the State of Georgia in the United States Supreme Court seeking an equitable apportionment of the waters of the ApalachicolaChattahoochee-Flint Basin. In between stints of government service, in 2008 Mr. Turner founded the law firm of Turner, Bachman & Garrett LLC, specializing in administrative and regulatory law, governmental affairs and litigation, with a particular focus on water resources law, environmental and education law. Mr. Turner was also a founding partner ofGeorgia360 LLC, a multidisciplinary government relations firm . From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Turner served initially as Deputy and then Executive Counsel to Governor Sonny Perdue. His practice included counsel to the Governor on wide array of executive branch legal matters, including issues related to the state budget process, judicial appointments, government procurement, education policy, retirement pensions and other post-employment ethics and litigation. Prior to service as Counsel to Governor Perdue, Mr. Turner served as General Counsel to the Georgia Department of Education. He began his
Jaw practice as an associate at Bradley Arant Rose & White LLP in Birmingham, Alabama. Mr. Turner was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate in economics and political science from the University of Georgia and earned his law degree from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. While at UGA, Mr. Turner served as President of the Student Government Association. In recognition of his broad experience in the areas of environmental regulation and policy, in 2016, Georgia Trend Magazine named Mr. Turner one of its 100 Most Influential Georgians. Mr. Turner was also selected as one of Georgia Trend's 40 Under 40 in 2008 and named one of the UGA Alumni Association's Inaugural 40 Under 40 in 2011. Mr. Turner presently serves on the UGA, Griffin Campus, Board of Visitors and served for a number of years on UGA's Honors Program Young Alumni Board. He is a native of Albany, Georgia and resides in Griffin with his wife Courtney and two children
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Moderators Peter Appel, The Future of the CPP & Other Air Regulatory Issues Peter Appel is the Alex W. Smith Professor of Law at the University of Georgia School of Law where he teaches courses in property, environmental law, and natural resources law. He earned his Bachelor and Law degrees from Yale University, where he served on the notesediting committee of the Yale Law Journal and was a member of the Yale Law and Policy Review. Before coming to UGA, Professor Appel clerked for Chief Judge Gilbert S. Merritt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and served for over six years in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. His research spans the use of law to promote sustainable comm(lrce, wilderness preservation and the courts, and more traditional doctrinal scholarship in environmental and natural resources law and property. In addition to teaching at Georgia Law, Professor Appel has served as an instructor to senior members of federal agencies and federal wilderness managers. Laurie Fowler, Trans boundary Water Issues: Implications of Florida v. Georgia Environmental attorney Laurie Fowler is the Associate Dean for Public Service and Administrative Affairs at the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia and the director for policy of the River Basin Center. She also serves on the clinical faculty (adjunct) at the School of Law. The focus of her teaching, research and service is on watershed management, protection of biodiversity, and associated land conservation and land use policies. Dean Fowler received her LL.M. from the University of Washington, her J.D. from the University of Georgia and her B.A. from the University of the South. Over the past three years, Dean Fowler has coordinated a partnership between major academic institutions-the University of Florida, Florida State University, Albany State University, Auburn University and the University of Georgia-to provide assistance to the ACF Stakeholders, Inc. to develop sustainable transboundary management of the ACF. Dean Fowler has served on advisory boards to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, the Attorney General and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. Professor Chris Manganiello, Ph.D., Coal Combustion Residuals: Management ofCCRs in the Wake ofChanges to EPA and EPD Rules Pertaining to Solid Waste Management Dr. Christopher J. Manganiello is Chattahoochee Riverkeeper's Water Policy Director. He leads the organization's water supply program, tracks
regional water planning, and works on legislative initiatives to ensure there is enough clean water for healthy communities, environments, and economies. Chris has published in a variety of formats and is the author of a book, titled Southern Water. Southern Power: How the Politics o(Cheap Energy and Water Scarcity Shaped a Region (The University of North Carolina Press, 20 15). Chris was a Smithsonian Institution Fellow, a faculty member at the University of Georgia and Georgia Gwinnett College, and most recently the Policy Director at Georgia River Network.
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of the EPA's Clean Power Plan and continue its transition to a cleaner energy future
Karen Hays (Branch Chief for the Air Protection Branch of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division) Karen Hays has been with the EPD since 1998. Karen started work in the Air Protection Branch as an inspector and was manager of the Stationary Source Compliance Program and manager of the Policy and Radiation Program prior to becoming Branch Chief in 2015. Karen has a BS in Engineering and Applied Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Masters in Environmental Engineering from Georgia Tech. Karen is registered in Georgia as a Professional Engineer. Ethan Shenkman (Former Deputy General Counsel for EPA) Ethan G. Shenkman recently joined Arnold & Porter Kaye as a partner in the environmental practice group. Before joining the firm, he served as Deputy General Counsel at the US Environmental Protection Agency from May 2014-January 2017. In that role, he oversaw the legal and regulatory work of the Office of General Counsel on a number of subjects, including Clean Air Act regulation, climate change, international environmental law, trade and the environment, environmental justice and civil rights, and programs for Native American Indian Tribes. From 2010 to 2014, he served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General, at the US Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), where he supervised a wide range of environmental and natural resources litigation, and was a recipient of the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service in Litigation and the John Marshall Award for Outstanding Achievement in Providing Legal Advice. He previously worked in ENRD from 1996 to 2004 in several other capacities, arguing numerous cases in the courts of appeals. Between stints at DOJ, he was a partner at a Washington, DC law firm. Ethan is currently an adjunct professor of environmental law at Georgetown University Law Center. Ethan received his BA in Philosophy from Yale University and his JD from the University of Virginia, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. Following law school, he clerked for the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and served as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General at DOJ.
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Panelist Biographies Transboundary Water Issues: Implications of Florida v. Georgia Decision Lewis Jones (Attorney at King and Spalding) Lewis Jones is a partner on the environmental team at King & Spalding. He practices in the area of water, natural resources, and general environmental litigation. He has represented the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Atlantaarea water supply providers in the water wars with Alabama and Florida since 1999. He recently helped to establish the National Water Supply Alliance, an advocacy organization consisting of state and local governments with an interest in the water supply program of the Army Corps of Engineers. Lewis earned his undergraduate degree from University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee and then earned a Master's degree in Land Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison before attending Harvard Law School. Wilton Rooks (Member of the ACF stakeholders group) Wilton Rooks grew up in Tifton Georgia, graduating from high school in 1957. Afterwards, he attended Georgia Tech and received a BS in Aeronautical Engineering and a MS in Aerospace Engineering. He served three years in the Air Force, where he was a member of the Apollo program Saturn propulsion team in Huntsville, Alabama. After leaving the Air Force, Mr. Rooks spent the rest of his career in various positions in the computer industry in Atlanta. Mr. Rooks has been involved in several community and environmental organizations, including participating in Leadership Atlanta in 1971, serving as a board member for Saint Augustine Florida Lighthouse from 2000 to 2004, serving as an executive director and board member of Scenic Georgia, and others. He served as the first Chairman of the ACF (Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint rivers) Stakeholders, Inc., a grassroots organization of ACF stakeholders from the GulfofMexico to the headwaters of Chattahoochee River, which works with state and federal organizations on management of the waters of the ACF basin. He currently resides in Gainesville, Georgia, where is a member of the Executive committee for ACF Stakeholders and is President of the Lake Lanier Association. Todd Silliman (Attorney at Dentons) Todd Silliman is a partner with Dentons, a firm with over 7,000 lawyers worldwide. He has practiced environmental and natural resources Jaw for over 20 years. Todd's practice includes environmental litigation, as well as advising clients on regulatory compliance and in corporate and real estate transactions, including brownfield redevelopment projects. For 15 years, under 3 different governors, Todd represented the State of Georgia in the TriState Water Wars, including in interstate compact negotiations, litigation, and regulatory
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proceedings. Todd received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his law degree from the University of Virginia.
Panelist Biographies Coal Combustion Residuals: Management of CCRs in the Wake of Changes to EPA and EPD Rules Pertaining to Solid Waste Management Beth Blalock (Land Branch Assistant Branch Chief, EPD) Beth Allgood Blalock is a land use and environmental attorney and has a wide range of experience working on environmental and land use issues. She currently serves as the Assistant Branch Chief for the Land Branch of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. Prior to this role, she was the General Counsel for the Georgia Conservancy and worked to foster communication and collaboration between developers and environmental stakeholders. She was previously an environmental attorney with King and Spalding and the Southern Environmental Law Center, and spent several years as a land use attorney representing developers in rezoning hearings. She has also taught environmental sustainability at Agnes Scott College and served as the Project Director for Georgia Legacy. She graduated with a degree in ecology and political science from the University of Georgia and also received her law degree from the University of Georgia. Beth is an active member of All Saints' Episcopal Church, where she serves as the Junior Warden, and sits on the alumni board at Pace Academy. She is a 2016 graduate of the Institute of Georgia Environmental Leaders. She and her husband, also an attorney, enjoy living in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood of Atlanta with their two young children. David Stewart (Attorney at Crowder Stewart in Augusta; represents the Center for a Sustainable Coast) David Stewart is a partner at Crowder Stewart LLP in Augusta, Georgia, where he focuses his law practice on representing businesses and individuals in all stages of litigation, especially with federal agencies and in federal court. Mr. Stewart received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University in 2001 and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law in 2004. While in law school, Mr. Stewart served on the Environmental Law Association's Executive Board and helped organize the annual Red Clay Conference. After graduation from law school, Mr. Stewart moved to Augusta where he served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Dudley H. Bowen, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. After his two-year clerkship, Mr. Stewart practiced law with the Atlanta law firm of Chilivis, Cochran, Larkins & Bever LLP. From 2007 to 2014, Mr. Stewart served as an
Ass istant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Georgia, working with a wide variety of federal law enforcement agencies to prosecute violations of federal law, including environmental crimes. Since returning to private practice, Mr. Stewart has represented a number of clients in environmental matters Melanie Jablonski (Environmental In-House Counsel at Georgia Power) Melanie joined Georgia Power in 2016 as an attorney in the Legal Department. She leads the in-house legal team for environmental and generation fl eet matters. Prior to joining Georgia Power, Melanie spent nearly a decade in private practice representing investor-owned and private corporations, public utilities, railroads, municipalities, and individuals in Georgia and throughout the nation in environmental litigation, and regulatory, compliance and enforcement matters. Melanie earned her B.S. in industrial and systems engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. She earned her Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. Melanie is a member of the Georgia Bar, Atlanta Bar, Georgia Association of Water Professionals, Georgia Air & Waste Management Association, Georgia Brownfield Association, National Hydropower Association, and Women' s Energy Network. She serves on the board of directors for the Georgia Tech Women' s Alumnae Network. Melanie is a 2009 graduate of the State Bar of Georgia Young Lawyers Division Leadership Academy.
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Special Thanks to the Environmental Law Society
29th Red Clay Conference Executive Board Ethan Morris, Co-Chair, em01833@uga.edu Blake Ogden, Co-Chair, wbogden@uga.edu Nichole Novosel, Co-Chair, nnovosel@uga.edu