LACBA Environmental Law Super Symposium – April 12, 2013

The Environmental Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association will present its 27th annual Super Symposium, “Future Perfect — What’s Happening Now in Environmental Law,” on Friday, April 12, 2013, at the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown, located at 711 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, California 90017 (map). Register for the symposium here.

This full-day program will feature a keynote address by the Director of the California Department of Conservation, Mark Nechodom (who will be introduced by HGA attorney Eric Adair), and six hour-long panel discussions featuring attorneys from government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private practice. Speakers will discuss a wide range of critical environmental issues, including: the recent AB 32 cap-and-trade litigation (Citizens Climate Lobby v. CARB); CERCLA cost recovery and enforcement actions; the recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion on stormwater (L.A. County Flood District v. NRDC); CEQA reform efforts; recent air quality regulations; and a primer on environmental justice.

The program will proceed in accordance with the following agenda:

8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. – Registration

8:30 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. – Welcome

8:40 a.m. to 9:40 a.m.
CEQA: The Latest on CEQA Reform Efforts
Jocelyn Thompson, Alston & Bird LLP
Douglas P. Carstens, Chatten-Brown & Carstens
Daniel P. Selmi, Loyola Law School

9:40 a.m. to 10:40 a.m.
Supreme Court Update – Including a Special Insight into L.A. County Flood District v. NRDC
Howard Gest, Burhenn & Gest LLP
Steve Fleischli, Natural Resources Defense Council
Sean B. Hecht, UCLA School of Law

10:40 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. – Break

11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
AB 32: To Offset or Not to Offset – That is the Question
Gavin McCabe, California Department of Justice
George E. Hays, Law Office of George E. Hays
Michael G. Romey, Latham & Watkins LLP
Patrick Dennis, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

12:00 p.m. – Lunch Service Begins

12:30 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Keynote Speaker: Mark Nechodom, Ph.D., Director, California Department of Conservation

1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
CERCLA: What’s New and What’s Next in Cost Recovery and Enforcement Actions
Ronald G. Aronovsky, Southwestern Law School
Gary A. Meyer, Parker Milliken Clark O’Hara & Samuelian, P.C.
James R. Potter, California Department of Justice
Gene Lucero, Latham & Watkins LLP

2:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. – Break

2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Environmental Justice: Finding Cooperative Solutions and Addressing Agency Views
Ramya Sivasubramanian, The City Project
Michelle Shultz Wood, California Air Resources Board
Carol Monahan Cummings, California Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment
Viviana L. Heger, Tropio & Morlan
Gale Filter, Community Action and Strategies for Empowerment

3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Air Quality: Why You Should Care About the AQMP
Robert A. Wyman Jr., Latham & Watkins LLP
Barbara Baird, South Coast Air Quality Management District
Mike Hertel, Ph.D., Southern California Edison
Adriano Martinez, Natural Resources Defense Council

4:30 p.m. – Vendor Drawing & Closing Remarks

We hope you will join us for this outstanding program.

For more information regarding the symposium, please contact Eric Adair. Follow Eric on Twitter: Follow @kericadair

Tagged → AB 32, Cap and trade, CEQA, CERCLA, Department of Conservation, Environmental Justice, LACBA, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Mark Nechodom