CLE Lecture with Pat Parenteau, Vermont Law School
April 2, 2019
"WOTUS 2.0: What the Proposed Clean Water Rule Revisions Would Mean for the West"
The UNM School of Law Natural Resources & Environmental Law Program and the Utton Center in cooperation with the Natural Resources, Energy and Environment Section of the NM Bar will host a Continuing Legal Education Lecture:
"WOTUS 2.0: What the Proposed Clean Water Rule Revisions Would Mean for the West" by Pat Parenteau, Professor of Law and Senior Counsel Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic, Vermont Law School.
Professor Parenteau will speak on the Trump Administration's proposed revisions to the controversial 2015 Clean Water Rule, published in the Federal Register on Valentine's Day 2019. The proposal represents a radical reduction in the historic scope of Clean Water Act jurisdiction. Among other things it would eliminate all "ephemeral" streams that flow only after a major rainfall or snowmelt and all wetlands that do not "abut" navigable water or are not connected by a "continuous surface connection."
How would these changes, assuming they survive the numerous legal challenges to come, affect water quality in the West?
About the Speaker
Patrick A. Parenteau is Professor of Law and Senior Counsel in the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic (ENRLC) at Vermont Law School. He previously served as Director of the Environmental Law Center at VLS from 1993-1999; and was the founding director of the ENRLC in 2004.
Professor Parenteau has an extensive background in environmental and natural resources law. His previous positions include Vice President for Conservation with the National Wildlife Federation in Washington, DC (1976-1984); Regional Counsel to the New England Regional Office of the EPA in Boston (1984-1987); Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (1987-1989); and Senior Counsel with the Perkins Coie law firm in Portland, Oregon (1989-1993).
Professor Parenteau has been involved in drafting, litigating, implementing, teaching, and writing about environmental law and policy for over three decades. His current focus is on confronting the profound challenges of climate change through his teaching, publishing, public speaking and litigation.
Professor Parenteau is a Fellow in the American College of Environmental Lawyers. In 2005 he received the National Wildlife Federation’s Conservation Achievement Award in recognition of his contributions to wildlife conservation and environmental education. In 2016 he received the Kerry Rydberg Award for excellence in public interest environmental law.
Professor Parenteau holds a B.S. from Regis University, a J.D. from Creighton University, and an LLM in Environmental Law from the George Washington U.
This CLE Lecture was presented by the Utton Center, the Natural Resources and Environmental Law Program at the UNM School of Law and the Environmental Law Society, in cooperation with the Natural Resources, Energy and Environment Section of the NM State Bar.
