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Government lawyers Section
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before local hearing officers ( EPC Act Section 9 Appeals ) or State Administrative Law Judges ( petitions pursuant to Chapter 120 , F . S .). The majority of the work for an EPC attorney is “ in-house counsel ” and transactional work . With the exception of some reoccurring staff meetings , every day is unique in the EPC Legal department . Today I am fortunate to get out into the field in the dover area to learn about EPC ’ s new Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Station ( shown in photo on previous page ). This addition to our robust air quality monitoring program is part of a nationwide project , specifically an ozone precursor monitoring network .
The array of sampling devices , air filters , and technology the staff must keep running 24 / 7 is overwhelming , but it keeps our community safe and informed about potential threats to air quality . The Legal department plays a small part in the monitoring program by ensuring contracts for purchase of equipment , and property access agreements are legally sufficient . It was nice to see the fruits of our legal support put into action in the field and made me appreciate not working in the hot sun every day ! Later in the afternoon I meet with Wetlands staff to review a proposed wetland impact permit application to ensure we can defend the issuance of the permit or denial of the request . After checking e-mails , handling public records requests , and returning calls , I have one more meeting to review proposed changes to our noise pollution rule that eventually will be considered at a public hearing before our County Commissioners sitting as the EPC Commission . I am proud to have the opportunity to serve the citizens of Hillsborough County and to protect our beautiful natural resources , while balancing the needs of our ever-growing region . n
Author : Ricardo “ Rick ” Muratti – Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County
Governmental Lawyers and Criminal Law Sections Joint CLE onoctober6 , theGovernmentallawyersandcriminallawsectionsheldaninterestingcleonthetopicofbodycameras . Panelistsincluded Judgechristophersabellaofthe13thJudicialcircuit , rockyBrancatoofthePublicdefender ' soffice , megannewcomboftheTampaPolice department , andstephaniePizarroofthestateattorney ’ soffice , whodiscussedpolicy , issues , andwhatmembersneedtoknowaboutthetopic .
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