• The Clinic represented a community group in Maryland in administrative zoning hearing processes to challenge the siting of a new gas station.
• The Clinic provided several hours of legal counseling and trainings to community groups on participation in the environmental review process for major infrastructure projects in Maryland, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. One training in particular attracted over 70 participants. The Clinic also drafted a lengthy NEPA comment for a community group on a proposed Maryland rail project.  
• The Clinic drafted administrative comments regarding urban agriculture for the Farm Alliance of Baltimore to submit in the public participation process for Baltimore City’s municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) permit.
• The Clinic worked on a large industrial wastewater permit compliance sweeps for Baltimore City, helping clients and partners understand which facilities are out of compliance with existing environmental regulations. The Clinic also conducted a community training on the importance of public participation in the industrial wastewater permit process.
• The Clinic presented complex research on state enforcement authorities associated with tampering of emissions controls on cars, and transportation justice, at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association mobile source air pollution conference.
  
  
• The Clinic continued to work on coal-ash in two matters. First, the Clinic continued to monitor water pollution levels at three coal ash facilities in Maryland pursuant to a long-standing judicial consent decree.  Second, the Clinic completed a draft regulation for potential new coal ash regulation, for an environmental organization in the country of Bosnia, based on existing coal ash regulations in the United States.  
  
  
• The Clinic continued to provide state comparative research support to environmental groups advocating for a state constitutional amendment to support a right to a healthy environment.

• The Clinic wrote briefs and argued a long-standing zoning case involving a coal ash landfill in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. In particular, one Clinic student had the rare opportunity to argue in front of a 3 judge panel in January, 2020.   Although the decision, which came out in spring 2020, was unfavorable, the Clinic is continuing to support the litigation up to Maryland’s highest court. 
  
  
• The Clinic provided several hours of legal counseling and trainings to community groups on participation in the environmental review process pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. 
  
  
• The Clinic drafted policy recommendations for the Farm Alliance of Baltimore on changes to city and state legislation involving water usage, fees, and zoning,. One Clinic student presented on urban agriculture at Maryland’s annual Agriculture Education Law Initiative conference.
  
  
• The Clinic worked on large permit compliance sweeps for two areas within Maryland, helping clients and partners understand which facilities are out of compliance with existing environmental regulations.
  
  
• The Clinic completed a white paper for the Mid-Atlantic States on legal options for handling tampering of vehicles in violation of the Clean Air Act and other relevant state laws.

• The Clinic provided complex legal research support for the Center for Progressive Reform on federal rulemaking, resulting in a white paper.

• The Clinic continued its representation of the Patuxent Riverkeeper in a zoning proceeding regarding a special exception allowing a polluting coal ash landfill to exist in an area zoned for low-impact residential use. The case proceeded to judicial review in Circuit Court and one of our clinic students argued the case, receiving praise from both the Judge and opposing counsel.
   
• The Clinic submitted additional comments in multiple letters to the Maryland Department of Environment on behalf of several groups regarding the implementation of a 2013 settlement involving the Clean Water Act. The letters involved extensive understanding of technical information and coordination amongst multiple clients.
  
  
• The Clinic provided legal counseling to several community groups involving litigation risk analysis, agency rule development, and other advocacy tools regarding environmental impacts from proposed projects and facilities in specific areas across Maryland. Clinic students were able to attend community meetings to work with impacted or potentially impacted individuals.
  
  
• The Clinic provided legal support to the Maryland Environmental Health Network (MDEHN) in legislative efforts. Two clinic students testified in front of the Maryland General assembly.
   
• Clinic students joined the environmental law program’s TEA project, analyzing ways in which information collection on harm in developing countries can help in advocacy with governments and corporations. Two clinic students implemented their analysis on a summer 2019 trip to Guinea, West Africa.
  
  
• Clinic students provided complex legal research and analysis for environmental advocacy groups on citizen science, potential arguments for comment in federal agency rulemaking, and legal preemption. The analysis resulted in legal memorandum that will be useful for clients in ongoing advocacy efforts.
  
  
• Clinic students worked with the law school’s Small Business and Community Equity Development Clinic, to produce a toolkit for the NAACP’s environmental and climate justice program, on financial tools in climate change adaptation. One clinic student presented the toolkit at a large forum held at the law school for the NAACP.

How to Write a NEPA Comment, Case Study on Road Projects (youtube)

Public Commenting and Industrial Wastewater Pollution in Maryland