Last Chance to Register for the 20th Annual Superconference!

The 20th Annual Texas Environmental Superconference is almost sold out. If you are planning to attend, we encourage you to register right away because the Superconference may be sold out before pre-registration ends on July 25th. Click here to register now! There will be no walk-in registration. Also, the sponsor hotel, the Four Seasons Hotel, has no more rooms. If you have not yet made your reservations, please check out these neighboring hotels.

The Superconference will be held on Thursday and Friday -- August 7-8, 2008 -- as always, in Austin at the Four Seasons Hotel. This year’s theme, inspired by politics, is “Join the Party." And, on this 20th anniversary, party we will. Continuing a tradition begun three years ago, there also will be a Wednesday evening program, "A Brownfields Toolkit," with the political theme, “Digging up Dirt.”

Co-sponsored by the State Bar of Texas Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section, the Air & Waste Management Association – Southwest Section, the Water Environment Association of Texas, the Texas Association of Environmental Professionals, The Auditing Roundtable, and the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, the conference routinely draws in excess of 500 attendees, from both the public and private sectors.

Featured speakers this year include Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”) Commissioner Bryan Shaw, Railroad Commission of Texas Chairman, Michael Williams, Carl Bauer, Director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and, from EPA Headquarters, Chief of Enforcement Granta Nakayama and Director of Solid Waste Matt Hale, in addition to many other distinguished representatives from TCEQ and EPA Region 6 and from the private and public sectors. Topics include air quality (“California here we come”), water quality (“Tippecanoe and Tyler too”), energy planning (“Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow”), climate change (“Change we can believe in”), Internal Investigations (“You ain’t seen nothing yet”), enforcement (“Speak softly and carry a big stick”), lobbying ethics (“The buck stops here”), and natural resource damages (“A chicken in every pot”). Other topics include: environmental and administrative case law updates, municipal sustainability initiatives, solid waste, and EPA in the Next Administration. This year we will be having a series of point-counterpoint discussions with Professors Tom McGarity of the University of Texas School of Law and Victor Flatt of the University of Houston School of Law, on a variety of intriguing topics, including biofuels v. food, wind power v. birds and bats, nuclear v. carbon-based fuels, and chemical security v. confidentiality. Click here for the program.

Unlike in prior years, the Wednesday evening session will not be a primer, but instead will entail "in-depth" discussions of key concepts relating to the remediation and development of contaminated properties in Texas. For those who like acronyms, this program will discuss a plethora of them, including the following: VCP, IOP, MSDs, TDCRP, USTs, and TRRP.

As always, there are steep discounts for governmental attendees. Although registration must be made online, participants have the option of paying online by credit card or by mailing a check, payable to “State Bar of Texas – Texas Environmental Superconference.” Checks may be sent to: Texas Environmental Superconference, 600 Congress, Suite 1300, Austin, TX 78701. For further information, please contact superconference@haynesboone.com.

Attend the ENRLS Annual Meeting!

The ENRLS annual meeting will be held August 8th at 1:00 p.m. in the Austin Four Seasons Hotel. The annual meeting is scheduled in conjunction with the Texas Environmental Superconference each year. A vote will be taken on the new ENRLS officers and executive committee members. The Four Seasons Hotel is located at 98 San Jacinto Blvd.