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Environmental Law Program

Environmental Law Clinic

The Environmental Clinic is part of the school's nationally acclaimed environmental law program and is a primary way of meeting the requirements for students to receive a certificate of specialization in that area. Students hoping to take the Clinic in order to satisfy certificate requirements should note that fact in their registration materials. However, the Clinic is also an appropriate choice for students interested in an administrative, legislative, and litigation practice involving health and safety regulation at both the federal and state levels.

Two Semester Commitment

Because the Clinic's cases are typically large and complex, lasting for years, as opposed to weeks or months, students must take the Clinic over two semesters, for four credits per semester and a total of eight credits.

Clinic Docket

The Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Maryland School of Law provides pro bono legal services to environmental organizations and other clients concerned about environmental problems in Maryland, as well as issues of national significance that affect the State's environment. The Clinic's practice includes advocacy in the areas of litigation, legislation, rulemaking, permitting, counseling, and negotiation. Outlined below are examples of the Clinic's projects.

Monitoring Clean Water Act Compliance

On behalf of the Potomac Riverkeeper, Inc., the Chester River Association and the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, the Clinic is investigating individual facilities’ compliance with their NPDES permits. The Clinic works, through negotiation and litigation, to ensure that violators bring their operations into compliance with permit requirements. This includes reviewing public records, meeting with State regulators and local citizens and meeting with facility representatives to discuss compliance issues.

Improving Clean Water Act Permits

The Clinic submits comments to MDE regarding the renewal of general and individual permits under the Clean Water Act’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ("NPDES"). These comments urge MDE to issue strong permits that comply with all of the requirements of the Clean Water Act and state law. During the 2007-2008 term, the Clinic submitted substantial comments on the State General Permit for Construction Activities that has resulted in an extended review of this permit to address some of the concerns highlighted by the Clinic.

To encourage public participation in this process, during the 2006-2007 term, the Clinic prepared a manual entitled, Writing for Your Watershed: A Citizen's Guide to Effective Comments on National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ("NPDES") Permits, and conducted a training session for environmental organizations and interested citizens on writing persuasive comments.

Advocating for Stricter Enforcement of the Clean Water Act

The Clinic represents Chester River Association, a non-profit environmental organization, in litigation against a local chemical manufacturing facility that is discharging pollutants into groundwater and nearby waterways. The Clinic filed and argued a Motion to Intervene in Kent County Circuit Court, and filed a Clean Water Act citizen suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

The Clinic also represents the Waterkeeper Alliance as well as a number of Maryland-based Riverkeepers in an lawsuit filed in Anne Arundel Circuit Court appealing the refusal of the Maryland Department of Agriculture to release nutrient management plans required to be filed by poultry operations on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Chesapeake Bay Region Waterkeeper Alliance "Stormwater Summit"

In fall 2007, the Clinic hosted a two-day conference on improving stormwater management in the Chesapeake Bay region. Waterkeepers from the Chesapeake Bay region attended this conference to learn about federal, state, and local regulation of stormwater management; to share knowledge about successful citizen efforts to improve stormwater management; and to develop a comprehensive two-year strategy for reducing stormwater runoff from construction sites, municipalities, and industrial sources. Clinic students shared their knowledge about stormwater regulation in Maryland and showed participants how they could use technology such as industry databases and Google Maps to locate sources of stormwater discharges in Maryland.

Get the Dirt Out Chesapeake: The Good, The Bad, and The Illegal: Construction Stormwater and Water Quality in Maryland

The Clinic developed materials and produced a conference inaugurating a region-wide initiative of Waterkeepers Chesapeake and the Environmental Law Clinic to reduce stormwater runoff from construction sites. The one-day training session taught community volunteers how to properly identify erosion and sediment control violations from active construction sites and poorly maintained Best Management Practices ("BMPs"), and how to stop violators. In the future, the Clinic will be working with local Riverkeepers to further implement this program.

Environmental Justice

The Clinic currently represents a historic African-American community in Prince George’s County that is fighting the construction of a new industrial operation in its community. This small neighborhood is already beset by more than its share of industrial activity, with the resulting environmental issues that are associated with these types of industry. Clinic students will be representing the community association in an appeal for a county zoning determination.

Legislative Work

Clinic students are providing legal advice and drafting legislation for a coalition of non-profit organizations working to strengthen the enforcement provisions of Maryland’s Critical Areas Law. This work is an outgrowth of the Clinic’s May 2006 report entitled Enforcement in Maryland’s Critical Area: Perception and Practice. This report examined the enforcement of the Maryland Critical Area Act, a 1984 law that seeks to preserve the shoreline environment while accommodating growth. The report, prepared on behalf of the West/Rhode Riverkeeper and other Maryland Waterkeepers, was featured in articles in The Baltimore Sun and The Capital. A brief report of findings and the full report are available here.

Ward Kershaw Conference on Environmental Clinics Throughout the World

In April 2007, the Clinic participated in the 2007 Ward Kershaw Environmental Law Symposium on "Globalizing Clinical Education to Protect the World's Health and Environment," which the Environmental Law Program hosted at the University of Maryland School of Law. Environmental and public health clinicians, government officials, and public interest lawyers from six continents attended the conference.

In November 2007, the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic co-hosted and participated in the Chesapeake Bay Region Waterkeeper Alliance "Stormwater Summit." Following the Clinic's involvement in the "Stormwater Summit," the clinic as asked to train waterkeepers and citizens in Maryland on how to identify and report violations of federal, state, and local environmental protection standards. The Clinic hosted this training, entitled "Get the Dirt Out Chesapeake: The Good, The Bad, and the Illegal: Construction Stormwater and Water Quality in Maryland" on February 29, 2008.