Supreme Court defines ‘the parcel’ in regulatory takings

Gibbons attorneys Jacob J. Franchino and Cameron W. MacLeod write in the firm’s Real Property and Environmental Law Alert:
 On March 22, 2017, we blogged about the importance of the United States Supreme Court’s looming decision in Murr v. Wisconsin – a regulatory takings case that was poised to resolve a key question long left unanswered by the Court’s takings jurisprudence: how do you define the relevant parcel in determining a regulation’s impact on “the parcel as a whole?” On June 23, 2017, the Court issued its ruling, and in a 5-3 decision answered definitively that it depends.
Sometimes a regulation may go so far as to effect a “taking” of one’s property. In determining when a regulation has gone so far, the Court has previously instructed that reviewing courts must consider the regulation’s interference with property rights “in the parcel as a whole.” But the precise boundaries of “the parcel” are not always clear and, in many cases, may prove to be dispositive of whether there was a taking at all. The Court described the problem in Keystone Bituminous Coal Assn. v. DeBenedictis, explaining that because the regulatory takings analysis requires a comparison between the value taken from the property to the value which remains, “one of the critical questions is determining how to define the unit of property whose value is to furnish the denominator.”
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Warren Buffet on GOP healthcare bill: ‘Relief for the Rich’

[Editor’s note: For all you Republican congressmen still pretending that your reprehensible health care bill is anything but a massive tax break for the rich, please heed this message from Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in the world.]

Billionaire Warren Buffet

Rebecca Savransky reports today
in The Hill:

Warren Buffett is attacking the Republican Party’s plans to repeal and replace ObamaCare, claiming bills in the House and Senate would provide tax cuts for the rich.
Legislation passed by the House, he said, should be called “Relief for the Rich Act.”
Buffett, one of the wealthiest men in the country, claimed his tax bill would have been reduced by $679,999, or 17 percent, from the House bill.
“There’s nothing ambiguous about that. I will be given a 17 percent tax cut. And the people it’s directed at are couples with $250,000 or more of income. You could entitle this, you know, Relief for the Rich Act or something,” he said in an interview with PBS.

Buffett made the comments are a question about the GOP plan to do away with an ObamaCare surcharge on people earning a higher income.
Buffett also suggested that the bill would give many lawmakers a tax cut.
The annual salaries for lawmakers are much lower, he noted, at around $174,000 a year.
“But most of them have — if you look at the disclosures, they have substantial other income,” he said.
“If they get to higher than $250,000, as a married couple, or $200,000 as a single person, they have given themselves a big, big tax cut, if they — if they voted for this.”
The Senate on Tuesday decided to delay action on their draft healthcare bill until after the July 4 recess following criticism from conservatives and centrists in the conference.

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Enviros in Pa. fear more green program budget cuts


Kyle Bagenstose reports for the Courier Times:

PennEnvironment, a Philadelphia-based environmental nonprofit, has been counting down the days until Friday’s deadline to pass a Pennsylvania state budget.
In text message blasts to supporters, the nonprofit has warned “9 days to save PA parks from closing,” and on Tuesday, just “3 days until PA budget cuts will force some parks to close.”
But with time running out, environmentalists say they are privy to little about ongoing negotiations between Republican majority leaders in the state House and Senate and the administration of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. They fear the ultimate outcome will be dramatic cuts to state environmental programs.
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NJDEP tables PennEast natural gas pipeline application


State agency seeks detailed information about stream an wetlands crossings but pipeline company can’t comply

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:


The PennEast pipeline project yesterday suffered a setback when the state Department of Environmental Protection stopped reviewing its application, citing the company’s failure to submit information sought by the agency.
In administratively closing the application, the state essentially delayed the project once again, making it more likely the ultimate review of the key water permits the developer needs may come down to a decision for the next administration early next year.
The 120-mile pipeline, beginning in Luzerne County, PA, and ending in Mercer County, is perhaps the most contentious of a more than a dozen natural-gas projects that have come under review by New Jersey authorities.
PennEast has repeatedly stumbled in trying to gain access from homeowners and others to properties along its route. The result is the company is not able to provide to the DEP detailed information about stream and wetlands crossings, which would allow the agency to review applications for a wetlands permit and water-quality certificate.
“Holding PennEast to the letter of the law helps protect our water, land, and communities from the dangers of a pipeline whose owners just want to rush this project through,’’ said Jim Waltman, executive director of the Stony-Brook Millstone Watershed Association.
PennEast downplayed the significance of the DEP action; the agency also turned down a request to extend the review of the two permits.


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20,000 plastic bottles sold per second; too few recycled


Waste Drive, summarizing a report from The Guardian:

  • Approximately one million plastic bottles are purchased every hour around the globe, which breaks down to about 20,000 bottles per second.
  • Fewer than half of the plastic bottles sold in 2016 were collected in 2016 and only 7% were turned into new bottles, according to the same reporting. The rest end up in landfills or in the ocean.
  • Up from 300 billion ten years ago, 2016 saw 480 billion plastic bottles sold. That number is expected to increase another 20% by 2021.

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PA Senator Casey pushing McCain for PFC health study


[Editor’s Note: The chemicals referred to in this story were components of fire-fighting foam used for years at military bases in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and elsewhere. These potentially dangerous compounds have been found at varying levels in drinking water supplies on and off the bases including those in Warrington, Willow Grove and Horsham, Pa and at Fort Dix, McGuire and Lakehurst in NJ]  
Kyle Bagenstose writes for the Bucks County Courier Times:
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, wrote to U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, on Tuesday, urging McCain to help fund a nationwide health study for Americans exposed to perfluorinated compounds in their drinking water.
McCain is the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Casey requested he use his stature to include funding for a study in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.
The letter also was addressed to U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, who is the ranking Democrat on the committee.
“Specifically, I ask that the Committee consider requiring the Department of Defense to contribute to a scientifically rigorous, comprehensive health study. Determining the health effects of PFC contamination in drinking water is essential to establish a baseline for addressing concerns that are likely to spread across many communities across our nation.”
The authorization act is one of two main military spending bills passed each year. An appropriations bill determines the annual military budget, while the authorization act provides the legal authority to spend the money.
Casey’s office said committee staff members from both parties work on language of the bill before the committee members vote on the language. That process is taking place this week, and Casey’s office said McCain has stated he’d like to see the full Senate vote on the authorization bill sometime in July or August.
Related stories: 

New CDC report: Some in Bucks, Montgomery, Pa., near military bases, exposed to PFCs well over safe level


Another delay in setting PFOA safe-health levels in NJ

Under pressure, NJDEP considering tough, new PFOA limits

Carbon filters not totally effective with fire-fighting foam

Safety of fire-fighting foam questioned 16 years ago

Water pollution settlement delayed in Hoosick Falls, NY

On the Road With EnviroPolitics-Day 5 (Hoosick Falls, Video)


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