Appalachian Public Interest Environmental Law (APIEL) Conference

NEW save the date!

2011-04-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

~ Please pass it on ~

SAVE THE NEW DATE!

for

- APIEL 2011 -

www.apiel.org

* * * * * * * *

The 2nd Annual

Appalachian Public Interest Environmental Law conference

October 20-23, 2011

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Knoxville, Tennessee

www.apiel.org

Due to an unforseeable conflict, we have been forced to change the date for APIEL 2011. Please join us on the new date!

The APIEL conference brings together activists, public interest attorneys, scientists, law students, policy and graduate students, funders and media from across the Appalachian region and surrounding states for a dynamic weekend of networking, strategizing, information exchange, skill sharing, and social events. The inaugural APIEL 2010 was a resounding success, with 182 participants hailing from Pennsylvania to Texas and all points in between. Please join us as we continue to strengthen and build community for the Eastern United States' forces of public interest environmental law, science and policy. See more at www.apiel.org, and please pass it on!

Sign up for our information list at:

https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/apielinfo

Save the Date APIEL 2011

2011-01-16T11:38:00.001-08:00

SAVE THE DATE

for

- APIEL 2011 -

www.apiel.org

* * * * * * * *

The 2nd Annual

Appalachian Public Interest Environmental Law conference

October 13-16, 2011

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Knoxville, Tennessee

www.apiel.org

The APIEL conference brings together activists, public interest attorneys, law students, scientists, media and funders from across the Appalachian region and surrounding states for a dynamic weekend of networking, strategizing, information exchange, skill sharing, and social events. The inaugural APIEL 2010 was a resounding success, with 163 participants hailing from Pennsylvania to Texas and all points in between. Please join us as we continue to strengthen and build community for the Eastern United States' forces of public interest environmental law. See more at www.apiel.org, and please pass it on!

thank you!

2010-11-17T19:16:00.001-08:00

Thank you for registering for the Appalachian Public Interest Environmental Law conference!

On behalf of all of us on the APIEL Organizing Committee, I'd like you to know that we are very excited to see you at the 1st annual APIEL conference in Knoxville, Tennessee this weekend. With over 150 registrants and counting, APIEL is shaping up to be a very successful and productive forum on many of our region's most pressing ecological issues.

Here are a few pointers and points of interest to help make your experience this weekend more smooth, productive, and enjoyable:

Payment

Please be reminded that the registration fee for this conference is $45.00. Need-based scholarships are available to attendees and presenters alike.

If you have not already paid your registration, don't fret; just pay when you check in at the registration table when you arrive. Registration will be available on Friday night at Barley's and all weekend at the conference. Cash, check or money order is acceptable.

If you need a scholarship and haven't yet applied for one, please fill one out right away. Scholarships must be applied for before the conference on the registration page of the website at www.apiel.org. Just fill out the "Fee Waiver" form below the registration form. We will ask our scholarship recipients who are not presenters for some volunteer assistance at the conference.

Locations

Friday night, 6:00pm - 10:00pm

We will hold a welcome reception on Friday night with live music and complementary dinner (pizza, salad & tea) at Barley's Taproom & Pizzeria in the Old City at 200 E. Jackson Ave. in Knoxville. Registration will be available at Barley's for those of you who have not yet registered or paid. Look for us upstairs in the back room.

Saturday, 8:00am - 4:45pm

The APIEL conference will be held at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's College of Law, 1505 W. Cumberland Ave. Knoville, TN 37996. You are on your own for lunch on Saturday. Ask at the registration table for a Knoxville guide & a map to find your kind of cuisine.

Saturday, 6:30pm - 9:00pm

A benefit dinner will be held for Knoxville-based United Mountain Defense ( www.unitedmountaindefense.org ) at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Please join us for delicious food by our chef Scott Parkin, live gyspy jazz, and the film 'Coal Country' presented by its producers.

Saturday, After party

An after party is being held in an interesting location for conference goers after the benefit dinner. Come and help us lighten the keg! See your conference brochure for directions to the party.

Sunday, 10:00am - 1:30pm

The APIEL conference will be held at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's College of Law, 1505 W. Cumberland Ave. Knoville, TN 37996. You are on your own for lunch on Sunday. Ask at the registration table for a Knoxville guide & a map to find your kind of cuisine.

Parking

The most convenient parking for the conference is only a block away from the law school. You may park in the large lot on the corner of Clinch Ave & James Agee/15th St. for $5.00 a day. A cheaper alternative is to cruise the neighborhood's sidestreets for one of the free spots.

What to Bring

Your best thoughts, an open and curious mind, something to write on, and your own reusable cup for complementary coffee, tea, and water.

Caucuses

It is our hope that APIEL conference attendees will use this event as an opportunity to spark new collaboration between activists, funders, scientists and public interest attorneys. To that end, we have provided a 75-minute session at the end of the day Saturday where 5 rooms will be available for anyone who wishes to call a caucus meeting on any subject. A large whiteboard will be provided in the common space at the law school for people to call caucus meetings and indicate their locations. Caucus meetings can be used to coordinate work and foster alliance-building on specific issues; to recruit volunteers; to hold ad hoc presentations and anything else that caucus organizers find to be relevant. Don't be shy - host a caucus!

Conference Schedule

For a detailed schedule of the conference, see the 'Presentations' page at www.apiel.org. Specific room locations will be provided in your conference schedule brochure, which you can pick up at the registration table when you arrive.

Lawyers & CLE Credit

Lawyers seeking CLE credit at this conference will need to check in both at the registration table and the CLE table upon arrival.

Presenters

Please check in at the registration table. All of your questions can be answered there, or can be referred to the CLE staff, nearby.

Website

Our website at www.apiel.org is a wealth of information on the conference. See the schedule, read about the presentations and their presenters, read about our sponsors, find contact information for conference organizers, apply for a scholarship, and much more.

Travel well, and we will see you soon!

Perrin de Jong
The APIEL Conference Organizing Committee
www.apiel.org

finishing touches

2010-11-11T17:36:00.000-08:00

Everything is being organized for the weekend. Tables, coffee, food, schedule, t-shirts, clean up--its all being ironed out and moving forward nicely. PLEASE register if you have not. We originally thought we would have 40-50 people at this first conference--117 have registered as I type.

Bring your coffee cup! We will have excellent coffee but ask that everyone bring a cup to cut back on wasted. Additionally we are making a sincere effort to go paperless this conference--well as paperless as we can.

Bring a flash drive to the conference if you want to transfer all the materials from the workshops to your drive--we are planning on bringing at least 3 laptops with all the materials on each.

Come prepared to have fun as well. The APIEL is modeled on the PIELC conference in Oregon and the parties and the fun are often when allot of the scheming and work gets done.

registration info

2010-11-04T16:41:00.001-07:00

Tues nights at 7pm at the second floor of Barleys is when the UMD work party meeting is. Everything seems covered. We have secured two professional musicians who are playing gypsy jazz sat night.

Please register if you have not. It only takes a moment and it helps with planning. If you are a lawyer you must register at the law school site for CLE.

Google registration apparently has eaten some of our registrations--if you have not received and email from APIEL contact us or try to reregister.

No one will be turned away cause the google robot ate them.

Coffee, name tags, workshop space, food--its all being worked on by a working group and is in place.

The first annual APIEL conference is pretty much organized--now for the fun part.

Finalized schedule

2010-10-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

Yo these workshops are final in terms of time. We have them all CLE approved.

3 more workshops may be added but they will be non-CLE community activist workshops.

Thank you to everyone who worked this out.

***********************************

Saturday, November 20, 2010

8:00-8:45am Registration and coffee.

9:00-10:00am Panels

Lawyering For Environmental Justice: The Broadform Deed and Beyond

Professor Dean Hill Rivkin, Esq., University of Tennessee College of Law
John Rosenberg, Esq.

The Clean Water Act's Section 404 & Section 402

Leigh Haynie, Esq. Clean Water Attorney
Stephanie Matheny, Esq. Tennessee Clean Water Network

Collecting Environmental Quality Field Data: Air and Water Quality Sampling

Matt Landon, United Mountain Defense

10:20-11:20am Panels

Casting the Ring into the Fire: Our Obligation to Relinquish Greenhouse Powers

Dr. John Nolt

The Precautionary Principle: Choosing the Safe Route through Alternatives Analysis in NEPA and Beyond (Case Studies in Chemical Weapons Disposal and Power Plant Regulation)

Craig Williams is Goldman Prize Recipient and Director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group.
Elizabeth Crowe, Executive Director, Kentucky Environmental Foundation
Robert Ukeiley, Esq. Clean Air Attorney

The Tennessee Water Quality Act's Section 118(a): Permits, Appeals, and Citizen Enforcement

Brian Paddock, Esq. Clean Water Attorney
Mary Mastin, Esq. Clean Water Attorney

11:40am - 12:10pm Keynote

12:10-1:45pm Lunch

2:00-3:00pm Panels

The Endangered Species Act: The Many Routes to Protecting Southeastern Species and Habitat through the ESA

Tierra Curry, Conservation Biologist, Center for Biological Diversity
Bill Eubanks, Esq. ESA Attorney with Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal

The Clean Air Act: Protecting National Parks and other Class I Areas through the Regional Haze Program

Stephanie Kodish, Esq. National Parks Conservation Association

Getting SLAPPed by Massey: King of MTR Coal, Massey Energy is using Court Orders and Discovery Motions to intimidate a movement espousing reasonable dissent.

David Dawson, Esq.
Larry Hildes, Esq.
Roger Foreman, Esq.

Ecological Economics: Protecting Wild Nature through Economic Analysis

Karyn Moskowitz, MBA, Economist, Greenfire Consulting
Mick Harrison, Esq., Greenfire Consulting
Christine Glaser, Ph.D., Greenfire Consulting

3:10-4:10pm Panels

Lands Unsuitable for Mining: Past, Present, and Future

Mary Varson Cromer, Esq. Appalachian Citizen's Law Center
Stephen A. Sanders, Esq. Director of Appalachian Citizen's Law Center
Deborah M. Murray, Esq. Southern Environmental Law Center.

Uses of Ecological & Historical Data in Administrative and Legal Challenges to National Forest Management"

DJ Gerken, Esq. Southern Environmental Law Center
Jim Scheff, Forest Watch Coordinator, Kentucky Heartwood and Forest Ecology M.S. Candidate, Eastern Kentucky University
Davis Mounger, Council Member, Heartwood

Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Dave Cooper, Campaigner for the Mountains

4:30-5:45pm Caucuses

6:00pm Dinner

6:30pm Speaker

7:00pm Movie . . . . .COAL COUNTRY DOCUMENTRY PRESENTED BY PRODUCER!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

10:00 - 11:00am Panels

Dirty Low-Down: The Sinking of Our Land, Water, Homes, and Hearts with Longwall Coal Mining

Aimee Erickson, Executive Director, Citizens Coal Council
Joyce Blumenshine, Illinois Sierra Club Mining Issues Committee Chair
Attorney Michael V. Nixon, CCC Board member

Rulings from the High Court: What Remedies Are Available to Environmental Plaintiffs After Winter and Monsanto

Bill Eubanks, Esq. Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal

Strategies for a Win for the Environment - Case studies on legal and other tactics

Mary Mastin, Esq. Board Secretary for the Tennessee Environmental Council.

11:20-12:20 Panels

Fighting Biomass Incinerators

Mick Harrison, Esq., Greenfire Consulting
Karyn Moskowitz, Economist, Greenfire Consulting
Christine Glaser, Ph.D., Greenfire Consulting

Leveraging Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to Influence Environmental Law and Policy and Strengthen Organization Capacity

Jovian Sackett, GIS Analyst, Southern Environmental Law Center

Community Empowerment Law: Using Litigation and Lawyers as a Tool to Support
Community Organizing and Empowerment

Stephanie Tyree, Coordinator, OVEC Sludge Safety Project
Mary Varson Cromer, Esq. Appalachian Citizens' Law Center

12:35-1:00pm Evaluations and goodbye!

1:00pm Short interest meeting for next year's apiel conference

draft 4 schedule

2010-10-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Hey this is our 4th draft of the schedule with new workshops and stuff. THIS IS NOT THE FINAL DRAFT. The website is a far better place for finalized info www.apiel.org

The blog is a work in progress. We hope to have the final schedule up by Friday. Here is 4th draft.

Sat
8-8:45 registration and coffee.
9-10:10 panels

"Lawyering For Environmental Justice: The Broadform Deed and Beyond."
Professor Dean Hill Rivkin, Esq., University of Tennessee College of Law
John Rosenberg

The Clean Water Act's Section 404 & Section 402
Leigh Haynie, Esq. Clean Water Attorney
Stephanie Matheny, Esq. Tennessee Clean Water Network

Collecting Environmental Quality Field Data: Air and Water Quality Sampling

Matt Landon, United Mountain Defense

10:20-11:30 panels

Casting the Ring into the Fire: Our Obligation to Relinquish Greenhouse Powers

Dr. John Nolt

The Tennessee Water Quality Act's Section 118(a): Permits, Appeals, and Citizen Enforcement

Brian Paddock, Esq. Clean Water Attorney

Mary Mastin, Esq. Clean Water Attorney

The Precautionary Principle: Choosing the Safe Route through Alternatives Analysis in NEPA and Beyond (Case Studies in Chemical Weapons Disposal and Power Plant Regulation)

Craig Willaims, Goldman Environmental Prize Winner & President, Kentucky Environmental Foundation
Elizabeth Crowe, Executive Director, Kentucky Environmental Foundation
Robert Ukeiley, Esq. Clean Air Attorney

11:40-12:10 keynote

12:10-1:45 lunch
1:45-3pm panels

The Endangered Species Act: The Many Routes to Protecting Southeastern Species and Habitat through the ESA
Tierra Curry, Conservation Biologist, Center for Biological Diversity
Bill Eubanks, Esq. ESA Attorney with Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal

The Clean Air Act: Protecting National Parks and other Class I Areas through the Regional Haze Program

Stephanie Kodish, National Parks Conservation Association

Getting SLAPPed by Massey: King of MTR Coal, Massey Energy is using Court Orders and Discovery Motions to intimidate a movement espousing reasonable dissent.

David Dawson, Esq.
Larry Hildes, Esq.
Roger Foreman, Esq.

"Dirty Low-Down: The Sinking of Our Land, Water, Homes, and Hearts with Longwall Coal Mining."

Aimee Erickson Executive Director
Citizens Coal Council

3:10-4:20 panels

Lands Unsuitable for Mining: Past, Present, and Future

Mary Varson Cromer, Staff Attorney, Appalachian Citizen's Law Center
Stephen A. Sanders, Director of Appalachian Citizen's Law Center

Using historical ecological data in litigation & the administrative process to influence public
lands management in the South

DJ Gerken, Senior Attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center
Jim Scheff, Forest Watch Coordinator, Kentucky Heartwood and Forest Ecology M.S. Candidate, Eastern Kentucky University
Davis Mounger, Council Member, Heartwood

Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Dave Cooper

4:30-5:45 caucuses
6pm dinner
6:30 speaker
7pm movie . . . . .COAL COUNTRY DOCUMENTRY PRESENTED BY PRODUCER!

Sunday
10:20-11:10 panels

Ecological Economics: Protecting Wild Nature through Economic Analysis

Karyn Moskowitz, Economist, Greenfire Consulting
Mick Harrison, Esq., Greenfire Consulting

Rulings from the High Court: What Remedies Are Available to Environmental Plaintiffs After Winter and Monsanto

Bill Eubanks, Esq. Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal

Strategies for a Win for the Environment - Case studies on legal and
other tactics.

Mary Mastin is a lawyer and Board Secretary for the Tennessee Environmental Council.

11:20-12:30 panels

Fighting Biomass Incinerators

Mick Harrison, Esq., Greenfire Consulting
Karyn Moskowitz, Economist, Greenfire Consulting

Leveraging Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to Influence Environmental Law and Policy and Strengthen Organization Capacity

Jovian Sackett, GIS Analyst, Southern Environmental Law Center

Community Empowerment Law: Using Litigation and Lawyers as a Tool to Support
Community Organizing and Empowerment

Stephanie Tyree, Coordinator, OVEC Sludge Safety Project
Mary Varson Cromer, Staff Attorney

12:35-1pm evals and goodbye!
1pm short interest meeting for next years apiel.

new poster

2010-10-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

website/register

2010-10-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

Invitations are going out to all of the lawschools. We website has been updated again and we are asking all presenters to help promote the conference by posting to all of their list, emails, etc about it--we have a paragraph for folks to send.

FYI this blog is just for updates--the website is a better source for finalized information. www.apiel.org

PLEASE go to our website and register if you have not.

Website updated--got CLE

2010-10-08T14:08:00.000-07:00

The website apiel.org has been updated. The State of Tennessee accepted our CLE application so thats a go. We have secured a church for the showing of COAL COUNTRY with full kitchen so Sat night meal and movie is a go. Its located a few blocks from the law school. Invitations are going out to law students and fliers to different activist events. 42 days and counting. The workshops have really come together--some powerful lawyers and groups are coming and presenting on their work. Next we have to find endless amounts of free coffee for everyone.

2nd draft schedule

2010-09-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hey this is really like the 4th draft but its the second on this page!

Sat
8-8:45 registration and coffee.
9-10:10 panels

"Lawyering For Environmental Justice: The Broadform Deed and Beyond."

Professor Dean Hill Rivkin, Esq., University of Tennessee College of Law

The Clean Water Act's Section 404: Defending Wetlands and Fighting the Army Corps of Engineers in the New Orleans District

Leigh Haynie, Esq. Clean Water Attorney

Collecting Environmental Quality Field Data: Air and Water Quality Sampling

Matt Landon, United Mountain Defense

10:20-11:30 panels

Casting the Ring into the Fire: Our Obligation to Relinquish Greenhouse Powers

Dr. John Nolt

The Tennessee Water Quality Act's Section 118(a): Permits, Appeals, and Citizen Enforcement

Brian Paddock, Esq. Clean Water Attorney

Mary Mastin, Esq. Clean Water Attorney

Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Dave Cooper

11:40-12:10 keynote

12:10-1:45 lunch
1:45-3pm panels

The Endangered Species Act: The Many Routes to Protecting Southeastern Species and Habitat through the ESA

Tierra Curry, Conservation Biologist, Center for Biological Diversity
Bill Eubanks, Esq. ESA Attorney with Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal

The Clean Air Act: Protecting National Parks and other Class I Areas through the Regional Haze Program

Stephanie Kodish, National Parks Conservation Association

Getting SLAPPed by Massey: King of MTR Coal, Massey Energy is using Court Orders and Discovery Motions to intimidate a movement espousing reasonable dissent.

3:10-4:20 panels

Lands Unsuitable for Mining: Past, Present, and Future

Mary Varson Cromer,
Stephen A. Sanders Director of Appalachian Citizen's Law Center in Whitesburg, KY.

Using historical ecological data in litigation & the administrative process to influence public lands management in the South

Jim Scheff, Forest Watch Coordinator, Kentucky Heartwood and Forest Ecology M.S. Candidate, Eastern Kentucky University
Davis Mounger, Council Member, Heartwood

Leveraging Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to Influence Environmental Law and Policy and Strengthen Organization Capacity

Jovian Sackett, GIS Analyst, Southern Environmental Law Center

4:30-5:45 caucuses
6pm dinner
6:30 speaker
7pm movie . . . . .DEEP DOWN PRESENTED BY PRODUCERS!

NATIONAL PBS BROADCAST/ INDEPENDENT LENS**

We've just learned that Deep Down, which as most of you know was funded by the Independent Television Service (ITVS), has been selected for the 2010-2011 slate of Independent Lens

Sunday
10:20-11:10 panels

Strategies for a Win for the Environment - Case studies on legal and
other tactics.

Mary Mastin is a lawyer and Board Secretary for the Tennessee Environmental Council.

Ecological Economics: Protecting Wild Nature through Economic Analysis

Karyn Moskowitz, Economist, Greenfire Consulting
Mick Harrison, Esq., Greenfire Consulting

Rulings from the High Court: What Remedies Are Available to Environmental Plaintiffs After Winter and Monsanto

Bill Eubanks, Esq. Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal

11:20-12:30 panels

The Precautionary Principle: Choosing the Safe Route through Alternatives Analysis in NEPA and Beyond (Case Studies in Chemical Weapons Disposal and Power Plant Regulation)

Craig Willaims, Goldman Environmental Prize Winner & President, Kentucky Environmental Foundation
Elizabeth Crowe, Executive Director, Kentucky Environmental Foundation
Robert Ukeiley, Esq. Clean Air Attorney

Fighting Biomass Incinerators

Mick Harrison, Esq., Greenfire Consulting
Karyn Moskowitz, Economist, Greenfire Consulting

12:35-1pm evals and goodbye!
1pm short interest meeting for next years apiel.

1st draft schedule

2010-09-10T19:39:00.001-07:00

This is not set in stone but is the first draft of the schedule of workshops. It does not include about half the workshops--plus we are working on the movie. But you can see where its going!

Sat
8-8:45 registration and coffee.
9-10:10 panels

"Lawyering For Environmental Justice: The Broadform Deed and Beyond."

Professor Dean Hill Rivkin, Esq., University of Tennessee College of Law

The Clean Water Act's Section 404: Defending Wetlands and Fighting the Army Corps of Engineers in the New Orleans District

Leigh Haynie, Esq. Clean Water Attorney

Collecting Environmental Quality Field Data: Air and Water Quality Sampling

Matt Landon, United Mountain Defense

10:20-11:30 panels

Casting the Ring into the Fire: Our Obligation to Relinquish Greenhouse Powers

Dr. John Nolt

The Tennessee Water Quality Act's Section 118(a): Permits, Appeals, and Citizen Enforcement

Brian Paddock, Esq. Clean Water Attorney

Mary Mastin, Esq. Clean Water Attorney

11:40-12:10 keynote

12:10-1:45 lunch
1:45-3pm panels

The Endangered Species Act: The Many Routes to Protecting Southeastern Species and Habitat through the ESA

Tierra Curry, Conservation Biologist, Center for Biological Diversity
Bill Eubanks, Esq. ESA Attorney with Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal

Rulings from the High Court: What Remedies Are Available to Environmental Plaintiffs After Winter and Monsanto

Bill Eubanks, Esq. Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal

3:10-4:25 panels

Using historical ecological data in litigation & the administrative process to influence public lands management in the South

Jim Scheff, Forest Watch Coordinator, Kentucky Heartwood and Forest Ecology M.S. Candidate, Eastern Kentucky University
Davis Mounger, Council Member, Heartwood

Leveraging Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to Influence Environmental Law and Policy and Strengthen Organization Capacity

Jovian Sackett, GIS Analyst, Southern Environmental Law Center

4:30-5:45 caucuses
6pm dinner
6:30 speaker
7pm movie . . . . .DEEP DOWN PRESENTED BY PRODUCERS!

NATIONAL PBS BROADCAST/ INDEPENDENT LENS**

We've just learned that Deep Down, which as most of you know was funded by the Independent Television Service (ITVS), has been selected for the 2010-2011 slate of Independent Lens

Sunday
10:20-11:10 panels

Strategies for a Win for the Environment - Case studies on legal and
other strategies

Mary Mastin is a lawyer and Board Secretary for the Tennessee Environmental Council.

Ecological Economics: Protecting Wild Nature through Economic Analysis

Karyn Moskowitz, Economist, Greenfire Consulting

11:20-12:30 panels

The Precautionary Principle: Choosing the Safe Route through Alternatives Analysis in NEPA and Beyond (Case Studies in Chemical Weapons Disposal and Power Plant Regulation)

Craig Willaims, Goldman Environmental Prize Winner & President, Kentucky Environmental Foundation
Elizabeth Crowe, Executive Director, Kentucky Environmental Foundation
Robert Ukeiley, Esq. Clean Air Attorney

Fighting Biomass Incinerators

Mick Harrison, Esq., Greenfire Consulting

12:35-1pm evals and goodbye!
1pm short interest meeting for next years apiel.

schedule

2010-09-10T19:37:00.001-07:00

We are now putting all the workshops in specific time slots and should have a draft out by sunday. Its inspiring seeing the quality of the workshops. We are also in communication with the CLE director and need the schedule prepared for that. It appears that DEEP DOWN may be the movie we show.

Workshop format

2010-09-08T17:37:00.000-07:00

We have worked out the general times of the presentations--here is what it will look like.

Sat
8-8:45 registration and coffee.
9-10:10 panels
10:20-11:30 panels
11:40-12:10 keynote
12:10-1:45 lunch
1:45-3pm panels
3:10-4:25 panels
4:30-5:45 caucuses
6pm dinner
6:30 speaker
7pm movie

Sunday
10:20-11:10 panels
11:20-12:30 panels
12:35-1pm evals and goodbye!
1pm short interest meeting for next years apiel.

Lawyers AND Activists

2010-09-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

One of our objectives as to this conference is an equal amount of workshops and folks from the grassroots activist community as well as lawyers. We hope to not only get lawyers talking and communicating with other lawyers--but to facilitate education and workshops from non-lawyers. So if your with a grassroots group and/or are an activist this conference is for you. Matt Landon is doing a training on using a YSI conductivity meter in conjunction with field work (water testing). Additionally he is doing a training on an air monitoring system--it will be a hands on workshop where he is bringing in the equipment and will test in class.

So please spread the word among grassroots groups and activist.

CLE update

2010-09-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

We are currently waiting for the CLE director for the Law School to return from break. Our understanding as of now is pretty much any state will be able to get CLE though you will be responsible for reporting and meeting your states individual requirements. The law school will report your attendance to your board--but some states have different requirements. In Tennessee we are required to get a copy of the schedule of the conference and turn it in as well. If your state has a requirement like that then you will have to keep a copy of the schedule. More information will be available on Sept 10.

We are also working on the details for a movie screening of "Coal Country" and dinner for sat night as a benefit for groups resisting strip mining.

New information page written!

2010-07-31T20:58:00.000-07:00

We rewrote an announcement! This is now on apiel.org website.

APIEL

University of Tennessee College of Law

Knoxville, Tennessee

November 19-21

APIEL is designed to unite activists, attorneys, students, scientists and concerned citizens working for environmental justice throughout Appalachian and surrounding states. The weekend conference will feature a series of workshops and dialogues led by activists and lawyers with the goal of exchanging information, sharing skills, and fostering collaboration between the grassroots and the bar in addressing the most pressing ecological problems of the Appalachian bioregion and the surrounding states.

Topics include: mountaintop removal and strip mining, air and water pollution, coal combustion waste and coal plants, the Broadform Deed, chemical weapons disposal and the precautionary principle, wetlands protection in the Gulf region, forest protection and ecological restoration and experiencing the criminal system for activists.

APIEL is an opportunity for activists and lawyers to learn from each other and to reach across state and regional lines to meet and network with others who share common interests and goals.

APIEL is modeled on the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) established in Eugene, Oregon, where once a year lawyers, law students, activists, funders, and media come from around the planet to be a part of the nation's leading annual environmental law convergence.

Weekend Overview:

Friday, November 19: Meet upstairs at Barley’s Tap room in tCity for registration, dinner and socializing.

Saturday, November 20: Conference workshops and panels at the University of Tennessee Law School followed by evening social events.

Sunday, November 21: Morning workshops at the University of Tennessee Law School. Optional lunch out (not included in registration fee) and departure.

All forms for registration and panels available below in multiple formats.

Registration

All conference participants must register by completing and submitting the registration form is available below as both a pdf and word document and can also be found on the APIEL blog at http://apielforms.blogspot.com/

The attendance fee for the conference is $45 for Friday through Sunday which includes pizza on Friday night. All other meals, transportation and lodging are the responsibility of the participant. Participants who are only attending part of the conference may pay by the day, according to the prices listed below.

· $45 Conference admission

· Friday night $10, Saturday $25, Sunday $10

· CLE credit is being organized and will be available as affordably as possible.

A limited number of scholarships are available by completing and submitting the fee waiver form found on the APIEL blog at http://apielforms.blogspot.com/

Workshops

We are currently accepting workshop proposals from lawyers and activist for the APIEL conference. To submit a workshop proposal please complete and submit the application found on the APIEL blog at http://apielforms.blogspot.com/

Sample workshops include the Endangered Species Act (ESA), National Pollution Discharge and Elimination System permits (NPDES), Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, Administrative law and procedures, The Broadform Deed, Legal observing, Collecting Air and Water field data, How to work with your lawyer (for activists), How to work with your activist client (for lawyers), Mountain Top Removal mining (MTR), Water testing on strip mine sites, etc.

For More Information

Please visit the APIEL blog at http://apielknoxville.blogspot.com/ for more information.

Find us on Facebook.

For questions email: apielconference@yahoo.com

Or Call (865) 257-4029

FAX- 1-888-201-1104

Write: APIEL CONFERENCE
POB 20363
Knoxville, Tennessee
37920

website up!

2010-07-31T20:55:00.000-07:00

The APIEL website is now fully functional! We have half our workshops confirmed. We now have a delegated volunteer for handling the sponsorships, and another for housing. Am starting to circulate the website. Am now working on getting a gourmet chef to cook the snacks and meals and put together a menu.

APIEL website under construction

2010-07-30T23:44:00.000-07:00

apiel.org

Our website is up now. We have also confirmed that CLE credit will be available for lawyers. It appears that we are going to have 3 different workshops in a total of 8 periods or 24 workshops for the weekend. We have confirmed we have a trainer who is doing a workshop on digital water and air monitoring. We also have an aquatic biologist confirmed.

save the date!

2010-06-17T09:18:00.001-07:00

Now all of the issues of environmental racism and environmental justice don’t just deal with people of color. We are just as much concerned with inequities in Appalachia, for example, where the whites are basically dumped on because of lack of economic and political clout and lack of having a voice to say “no” and that’s environmental injustice.

— Dr. Robert Bullard

SAVE THE DATE
for

The Appalachian Public Interest Environmental Law (APIEL) conference.
November 19-21 at the University of Tennessee College of Law in Knoxville Tennessee.

APIEL is a conference designed to bring lawyers and activists together from the Appalachian bioregion and the surrounding states.

APIEL is a series of workshops and dialogues led by lawyers and activists who gather to exchange information, share skills, and foster collaboration between the grassroots and the bar in addressing our most pressing ecological problems.

APIEL is a chance for lawyers who are sympathetic to environmental issues to get together socially to chat and drink beer.

APIEL is modeled on the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) established in Eugene, Oregon, where once a year lawyers, law students, activists, funders, and media come from around the planet to be a part of the nation's leading annual environmental law convergence.

There are many lawyers who assist environmental work in Appalachia and the surrounding states, but you wouldn't know it by working in the field. Often we work in pockets of isolation while dealing with huge corporations. APIEL is meant to be a chance to reach across state and regional lines to meet other lawyers and grassroots organizers who share our interests and goals.

APIEL is a chance for activists to learn from lawyers and for lawyers to learn from activists.

The workshop schedule will be:

--meet Friday night
--workshops on Saturday; social event Saturday evening
--workshops on Sunday morning.

Workshops include the Endangered Species Act (ESA), National Pollution Discharge and Elimination System permits (NPDES), Administrative law and procedures, Legal observing, How to work with your lawyer--and vice versa, Mountain Top Removal mining (MTR), Water testing on strip mine sites, etc.

Come to APIEL and eat, drink beer and gather ammo for your various struggles.

Here is the blog for updates.

http://apielknoxville.blogspot.com/

For information email:

apielconference@yahoo.com

Or Call (865) 257-4029

Write: APIEL CONFERENCE
POB 20363
Knoxville, Tennessee
37920

Work in progress

2010-06-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

This week the organizers of the conference confirmed the date for the conference--November 19/20/21.

We began this blog--started the Facebook invitation page. Artwork is being drawn for the logo and we are making a "don't forget this date" email to send out.

We have also compiled the lawyers to be contacted--the application to attend is being written as I type. We are looking for help to get the website linked to this blog.

apielconference@yahoo.com

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=101827116534567

(865) 257-4029

Strip-Mining and Grassroots Resistance in Appalachia: Community Lawyering for Environmental Justice

2010-06-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1478549

Abstract:
Environmental justice campaigns have been a dynamic feature of public interest lawyering for over four decades. These community lawyers, sensitive to the democratic imperatives of their grassroots clients, employ a viscous blend of legal and nonlegal strategies to achieve their clients’ aims. This article is the story of an environmental justice campaign, still being waged, in the Appalachian mountains of east Tennessee. The campaign seeks to halt the destructive practice of mountaintop removal strip-mining for coal through the deployment of traditional litigation and more unconventional extrajudicial strategies, both of which are designed to build the voices and power of the groups and communities opposed to mountaintop removal. This case study places this 'local' struggle in the context of emerging new public interest lawyering.