Environmental Section Mtg 4/21/21

HBA Environmental Law Section

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DATE: April 21, 2021

TIME: 12:00 – 1:00 pm

LOCATION: Via Webinar

 

 

*Webinar is free to Environmental Law Section members and $20 for non-members.

 

TOPIC:

Community Lawyering: Empowering Residents to Address Environmental Concerns

 

The Presentation will provide a brief overview of how Lone Star Legal Aid’s (LSLA) Environmental Justice Team provides legal services to community groups and residential neighborhoods living alongside industrial actors.

We will then focus on ethical considerations for attorneys providing pro bono services and working directly with communities.

Next, the presentation will cover LSLA’s use of deed restrictions to address the gap left by the lack of zoning in Houston and discuss the team’s existing pro bono program to partner with local firms to adopt a neighborhood in Houston which desires to implement deed restrictions to protect their residential subdivisions from proposed facilities like concrete batch plants or other industrial facilities.

Finally, the team will share a community resource it has developed in coordination with Georgetown University, called the Environmental Nuisance Reporter. This reporting application assists community groups and individuals to raise concerns about environmental hazards in their area to Lone Star Legal Aid and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
 

 

SPEAKERS:

Amy Dinn, Lone Star Legal Aid

Ms. Dinn has been the Managing Attorney for LSLA’s Environmental Justice Team (part of the Equitable Development Initiative) for four years. During that time, she has advocated on behalf of clients in Houston and the upper Gulf Region regarding environmental hazards facing fence-line communities. Before coming to Lone Star Legal Aid, Amy practiced as a commercial litigator for 17 years starting at the law firm of Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP in 2000. She is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and the University of Texas at Austin’s Plan II Program.

Rodrigo Cantu, Lone Star Legal Aid

Mr. Cantu started his legal career with LSLA. In that time he has represented clients and fence-line communities in permit opposition proceedings before the TCEQ and SOAH in cases concerning municipal solid waste, waste water treatment facilities, RCRA hazardous waste permits, and air quality permits. He is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and Texas A&M University with a degree in civil engineering.

Caroline Crow, Lone Star Legal Aid

 Ms. Crow joined LSLA in the summer of 2020 and is a graduate of the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law with a Certification in Environmental & Natural Resources Law. Since joining LSLA, Ms. Crow has advocated on behalf of community groups in Houston, primarily dealing with the disproportionate impacts industrial and commercial users have on certain neighborhoods in the area.

 

DETAILS:

The webinar will begin promptly at noon. Registrants will receive a link to the webinar.

Please RSVP by 12:00 p.m. (noon), Wednesday, April 21, 2021 to receive the link to the webinar.

 

1 Hour MCLE Credit

0.5 Ethics Credit

 

The webinar is FREE to Environmental Law Section members and $20 for non-members.

 

Online registration and credit card payment processing is now available for the section program. To use this feature, visit the HBA calendar at https://hba.org/events to find section program, click on program link, and click on login to register. If you do not have an online account, you can create your online account by using the email address. Once created, you will be able to use account to register for section program. (To create your online account, please click here to create new user account.) Currently only Visa, MasterCard and Discover credit cards are accepted.

 

Make your check payable to HBA, include the member name in the memo line, and mail to:

Baker Botts LLP

Attn: Kim Tuthill White, HBA ELS Treasurer

910 Louisiana Street

Houston, Texas 77002-4995

 

If you have any questions, please contact Treasurer Kim White by email (kim.white@bakerbotts.com) or phone at (713) 229-1166.

 

If you have questions about your HBA membership status or need to register as a new or continuing member, please contact Ron Riojas of HBA at RonR@hba.org or visit www.hba.org.

 

Webinar link will be provided to registrants prior to program time.