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Restoring Greenspace | Agenda | Field Trips | Register Conference News Restoring Greenspace 2008 Keynote Speaker Maureen F. Gorsen, Director of the California Environmental Protection Agency's Department of Toxic Substances Control will offer the keynote speech at Restoring Greenspace 2008. Ms. Gorsen will provide invaluable perspective for attendees, drawing on her vast experience in environmental compliance and land use. Prior to her appointment as Director, Ms. Gorsen served as the Deputy Secretary for Law Enforcement and General Counsel at the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). There, she was responsible for ensuring that the enforcement efforts of Cal/EPA's various boards, departments and local agencies were carried out in a consistent, effective and coordinated manner to protect public health and the environment. Ms. Gorsen also served as General Counsel for the California Resources Agency and in private practice. Lunch Speaker to Address Proposed Brownfield Legislation Elliott P. Laws, Senior Counsel, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, will address attendees during the Thursday lunch session. In this position, Mr. Laws provides crisis management, strategic counseling and legal and policy advice on domestic and international environmental and energy policy issues and litigation. At the session, he will discuss the Recovered Property Protection Assurance Trust (R-PAT), a legislative proposal to provide long term liability relief for owners of brownfield properties. Mr. Laws is a former Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). There, he was responsible for regulatory and policy development and implementation for solid and hazardous waste management. He has also served as President of Safety, Health and Environment for Texaco Inc., a former Justice Department and EPA attorney and a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney, among other positions. Opening Speaker Announced This year’s opening speaker will be Steve Rock, Environmental Engineer for the Remediation and Contaminant Branch at U.S. EPA’s National Risk Management Research Laboratory. Mr. Rock conducts EPA in-house research and provides technical assistance on questions of phytoremediation to EPA regional staff, state and local environmental regulators, and other interested parties. His work with the Alternative Cover Assessment Program (ACAP) has proven critically important in changing the paradigms in which covers are being designed, installed and regulated. Mr. Rock’s expertise is invaluable to those seeking cost-effective and long-term solutions to managing former waste disposal sites, including conversion to wildlife habitats. The research Mr. Rock initiated on alternative landfill covers evaluated engineered systems that use natural processes effectively to protect human health and the environment. This new approach challenges the costly “dry tombs” of conventional landfill closure. His research is widely disseminated through the Interstate Technology Research Council (ITRC) and the Desert Research Institute. Much of the paradigm shift that comes from his work is being accomplished through the development of field-scale performance data for landfill final cover systems, and the peer-reviewed articles, technical papers, and training that have been developed with the information from this research. Continuing Education Units For the second year in a row, attendees will be able to receive Continuing Education Units (CEU) by attending this year’s Restoring Greenspace Conference. Continuing education units are a nationally recognized method of quantifying time spent during professional development and training activities. They can be submitted as proof of continuing education to state licensing boards, employers, etc. CEUs are not related to academic credits and cannot be used towards a degree, but are important for documenting career enhancing activities such as the conferences, workshops and other programs. Earned units will be based on actual instruction time at the event. Ten (10) hours of instruction equal one (1) CEU. Attendees participating in both a workshop and the conference can earn up to 2 continuing education units for this meeting. Continuing Education Units will be offered through Multi-State Working Group to Host National Dialogue The Multi-State Working Group on Environmental Performance (MSWG) will host one of 36 national dialogues to explore a new era of ecological law as part of their major long-term project known as the Path to Washington. The Path to Washington is a three-year effort to produce a new set of legal and policy tools to apply to serious environmental problems, improve ecological conditions, sustain communities and improve everyone’s quality of life. Over 30 more dialogues will be held across the country, including all ten EPA regions, to gain grassroots input on the Path to Stay tuned for more updates! |