About 30 of us gathered in the basement of the Electrical Engineering Building on the University of Washington’s Seattle campus for the first class of the Environmental Law and Regulation certificate program. Offered through University of Washington Extension, the program is designed for those who seek to understand the complex regulatory context in which environmental decisions are made.
Over the course of nine months (September 2008–June 2009), we will take three courses: “The Environment’s Regulatory Context” in the fall; “Environmental Regulation: Laws and Institutions” in winter; and in the spring we will complete a “Practicum Project in Environmental Regulation.” At the end of the program, we will have an understanding of environmental regulation, as well as familiarity with key laws that have the greatest influence on the management of natural resources. And upon completion of the practicum project, we also will have produced a deliverable to a real client and made valuable contacts.
According to UW Extension’s website, the certificate program is geared toward employees of municipal, state and federal agencies charged with environmental responsibilities, conservationists, developers, environmental consultants, attorneys and concerned citizens. We have representatives from each of those groups in class. There are practicing attorneys, longtime volunteers and non-profit employees, college graduates deciding on career or graduate school paths, people looking to change jobs, and agency and private sector staff seeking more in-depth knowledge of environmental laws and regulations.
As of this writing, we are in Week 7 of the fall quarter. The class meets once a week on Wednesdays from 6-9 p.m. So far, class time has been focused on the general overview of state and federal environmental laws, including their historical development. We also spent one class studying tribal law. Guest speakers have included environmental attorneys from private firms and the Port of Seattle, as well as the planning director at Futurewise (who also will be our instructor during the winter quarter). We have weekly readings and have periodically been assigned case studies, where we read about real-life issues and post our analyses on the class blog.
This week, we are preparing for a simulated negotiation, which will take place in Week 8. Our instructor, David Tetta, a policy adviser and information systems specialist at the Environmental Protection Agency, has handed out background documentation and assigned us roles as tribal members, environmentalists, developers, Department of Ecology staff and representatives from local government. During tonight’s class, the various groups met to formulate their negotiating strategies.
The last assignment due this quarter is an evaluation of a public meeting that we have attended (or will soon attend) this fall. I attended the Seattle Neighborhood Summit, which took place at City Hall on October 28. Representatives of neighborhood community councils and other groups from throughout the city gathered to discuss present and future issues facing neighborhoods, and to formulate questions for City Councilmembers Sally Clark and Tom Rasmussen, who were on hand during the last hour of the event. Among the environmental concerns raised were air quality, pollution, and public health and land-use issues, such as incentive zoning and neighborhood plan updates.
After the holiday break, we will reconvene with our winter quarter instructor Tim Trohimovich for more-detailed discussions of environmental legislation; federal statutes such as the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act; state laws such as the Growth Management Act and the Shoreline Management Act; and local ordinances that address critical areas and land-use planning at the city and county level.
We looked ahead to spring quarter during Week 5 when we were visited by three participants from last year’s program, as well as the spring quarter instructor, James Shellooe, the Seattle area manager at AMEC Earth and Environmental, who talked about the practicum project. We were encouraged to begin forming groups of three or four to begin discussing possibilities for our project and potential clients. So far, one of the other attorneys in the class with an interest in land use and I are starting to talk about a possible project involving land trusts.
Examples of titles of projects from previous years are:
- Suquamish Tribe’s Assessment of the Proposed Development of the Kitsap Lake Technology Park;
- Salmon Stocks Restoration in the Green-Duwamish River System;
- Land Bank Plan for Brownfield Redevelopment in the Duwamish Corridor;
- Alaska Way Viaduct Restoration Alternatives — Environmental Considerations;
- Land Stewardship: Balancing Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Fate of a Dairy Farm; and
- Urban Village Development in the Context of the Growth Management Act.
More information about the Certificate Program in Environmental Law and Regulation can be found at http://www.extension.washington.edu/ext/certificates/env/env_gen.asp.
Maura Kelley Deering is a solo practitioner in Seattle focusing on environmental law, land use and real estate law. She can be reached at 206-679-8486 or through her website, www.raining.us/attorney.htm. She has applied for CLE credit for the Extension program. You may contact her if you’re interested in finding out the results.
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