In H.B. 96, the Ohio General Assembly snuck anti-environment provisions into the bill at the last minute that removed important protections for Ohioans who want to file complaints against polluters while also invalidating community air monitoring data. These statutory changes have no relationship to Ohio’s budget and thus violate the Ohio Constitution’s requirement that all legislation include only one subject.
Have you ever gone for a walk outside, heard the birds, and felt it clear your mind? Even lift your mood? There's a reason why people say they need to "get outside" – our surroundings have a profound impact on the way we think, feel, and cope with our situations. But what is the effect when those surroundings are polluted, neglected, or even unsafe? Our environment impacts more than just our physical health; it has a substantial impact on our mental health too.
How Can We Help You?
As environmental justice and law nonprofit, we are excited to support systems-change that strengthen environmental justice outcomes. This can include:
Building Connections
Legal “Translation” + Bridging Information
Researching, Strategizing, and Educating about Legal and Policy Levers
Drafting Generalized Legal and Policy Templates
Engaging Community and Amplifying Issues
We can provide any of this support to nonprofits, coalitions, residents, and municipalities at no-cost. Please reach out today and let’s get to work.
Ohio has recently passed legislation that will protect activists against SLAPP suits - so what are these suits and why is this legislation so important?
SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. These are lawsuits aimed at silencing criticism and draining the resources of those who speak up against certain organizations.
An Environmental Justice Advisory Board (EJAB) is a group that advises government agencies on issues related to environmental justice, ensuring that policies and actions address the needs and concerns of marginalized communities disproportionately affected by environmental harms. These boards play a crucial role in promoting fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race or income, in environmental decision-making processes.
Last week Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 377 into law establishing the Appalachian Community Grant Program to the tune of $500 million. The program provides the historically economically disadvantaged region with much needed funding dedicated to sustainable, transformational projects. The program aims to rejuvenate the region and stimulate economic growth through improvements in infrastructure, workforce development, and healthcare across its 32 counties.
Fair Shake and Fractracker Alliance are asking you to take action and raise awareness of spreading brine wastewater on roads to protect our communities’ health and environment from chemical contamination. If you see this being performed in your community, notify Fair Shake here. It would be helpful to us to know which township or borough the spreading was observed in and if a specific company was performing the spreading. Your contributions will help us obtain further information on this practice to help stop it going forward.
A key part to effectively make your voice heard is early and vocal participation in municipality-level public meetings in which decisions are made. In many cases, if a decision is made during a public meeting which you did not attend, you may be barred from later bringing an appeal of the decision in court, regardless of how erroneous the decision made is.
As more people become aware of adverse impacts to local streams and groundwater, brought about by development, they are considering alternative technologies to reduce those impacts. One alternative gaining interest is the composting toilet to replace conventional flush toilets. However, composting toilets can present a challenge to those charged with approving permits and applying building codes. To unmuddy the waters, we offer some basic information about these cost- and environment-protecting products.
Our fundamental right to clean water rests on three cornerstone waterway characteristics: fishable, swimmable and accessible. The barriers that exist to achieving each of those cornerstones come in social, cultural and legal forms. Today, we are releasing a guidebook to address legal barriers to accessible waterways in the Delaware River Basin.
When the topic of estate planning is brought up, many people tend to think of the traditional nuclear family, maybe a hefty amount of assets, and the drafting a will or trust based on those variables. But given the opportunities that estate planning provides, we at Fair Shake ELS view this area of law as becoming a steward of the land— on smaller scale.
Jen joins Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services as a Staff Attorney in our new Philadelphia, Pennsylvania location. She started her early professional career as an engineer with Armstrong World Industries and The Boeing Company, working mainly in developing and improving manufacturing processes. While at Boeing, she became interested in advocating for people on an individual level and started attending law school in pursuit of that endeavor. In law school, Jen participated in the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic at Widener University which she found combined her passion for advocacy and her love of the natural world.
In response to the Planning Director’s comments in the media that the proposed development is a better land use than electroplating or some of the other things that could go on this property, it’s simply a legal falsehood that the City has to grant a conditional use permit and allow this proposed development to move forward.
On October 22, 2020, the East Pittsburgh Borough Zoning Hearing Board voted to affirm the Borough Council’s earlier decision to rescind approval for a natural gas well pad proposed on the U.S. Steel Edgar Thompson property, just outside the City of Pittsburgh.
