In-Person Event
CC

Environmental Law Forum 2026 – Day Two – Harrisburg


  • City:Harrisburg Hilton, One North 2nd St., ., Harrisburg, PA, 17101
  • Start Date:2026-04-23 08:30:00
  • End Date:2026-04-23 16:15:00
  • Length:
  • Level:Various
  • Topics:Environmental

This program is eligible for 6 hours of CLE credit in 60-minute states. In 50-minute states, this program is eligible for 7.2 hours of CLE credit. Credit hours are estimated and are subject to each state’s approval and credit rounding rules.

Overview

Sign up for both days and save! Customers attending both days of the institute will save $199 on the combined registration. The discount will be automatically applied in your cart when you add the second day.

Use this page to register for Day One of the Environmental Law Forum 2026.
Use this link to register for Day Two ONLY.

Join us in Harrisburg for the 2026 Environmental Law Forum!

Speakers who will engage you; concepts that will challenge you…updates, changing laws, developing legislation, new technologies!

Registration is open! Reserve your seat now for the premier environmental law event of the year.

Gathering ground to attorneys in private practice and public service, engineers, consultants, professors, and scientists, this event puts you in the hot seat: learn, network, exchange, debate!

Revitalize & energize your practice—reap the benefits all year long.

• Delve into unexplored areas of environmental law

• Seek out the advanced-level classes to revitalize your practice

• Earmark the sessions that offer legislative and regulatory updates

• Learn proactive strategies for balancing green against green

• Network, network, network!

Tailor your experience with an agenda that offers something for everyone (agenda developing as you read this!)

Choose sessions from this year’s featured tracks:

• Policy

• Implications of All That is New

• Introduction to Areas That Are Not What You Typically Do

• Technical Issues for Lawyers

• Environmental Litigation

• Updates

• Energy, Climate, & Sustainability

• In the Weeds on Hot Topics

Program Sponsor: PBA Environmental and Energy Law Section

Vegan and gluten free meals are available but must be requested in advance. Contact Stacey Thomas at 800-932-4637 x2298 or [email protected].

Don't Miss...

Happy Hour Cocktail Reception

The day doesn’t end when the last class lets out on Wednesday—join your colleagues at the PBA EEL Section Reception and toast the day, the year, the practice, or whatever motivates you to celebrate! We’ll provide the food and spirits; you provide the conversation and good cheer at this happy hour hot spot.

PBA EEL Section Annual Dinner

The camaraderie lives on at the Section’s Annual Dinner, immediately following the reception on Wednesday evening—this is a “must attend” for all environmental professionals! Join the Section as they honor the recipient of their Achievement Award, catch up with old friends, and make new and lasting contacts over fabulous food and drink. More information coming.

Reservations must be made through PBI. Reservations canceled after April 17 will not be refunded.

Hotel Accommodations

Harrisburg Hilton & Towers
2nd & Market Streets

Don’t risk a sellout—reserve your overnight accommodations today! Contact the Hilton at (717) 233-6000 and mention the Forum to receive reduced rate, $164 plus taxes. Rate guaranteed until 3/31/2026.

Public Interest Attorneys are eligible for our standard Public Interest Discount of 50%. Please visit our website for more information: https://help.pbi.org/en/knowledge/does-pbi-offer-discounts-for-public-interest-or.

Special thanks to our exceptional planning team

Kevin J. Garber, Esq., Babst Calland, Pittsburgh
John H. Herman, Esq., Regional Counsel, PA DEP Southwest Regional Office, Pittsburgh
David G. Mandelbaum, Esq., Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Philadelphia
Carol F. McCabe, Esq., Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox, LLP, Bala Cynwyd
Jessica R. O’Neill, Esq., Senior Attorney, PennFuture, Philadelphia
Curtis C. Sullivan, Esq., Supervisory Counsel, PA DEP Office of Chief Counsel, Harrisburg
Matthew L. Wolford, Esq., Educational Liaison, PBA Environmental & Energy Law Section, Wolford Law, Erie

Faculty

Matthew L. Wolford, Esq.

Mr. Wolford maintains a solo practice, Wolford Law, in Erie. Before going into private practice, he served as Regional Counsel and as an Assistant Counsel for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Northwest Region. Before joining the DEP, Mr. Wolford served as a prosecutor for the Office of Attorney General (OAG), Environmental Crimes Section and also as a civil litigation attorney for the OAG’s Torts Litigation Section. He was also a special prosecutor of environmental crimes for both the OAG and the United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Mr. Wolford is currently a member of the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board Rules Committee and the State Water Plan Statewide and Great Lakes Committees. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Environmental and Energy Law Section, a Past Chair of the Section Council, the current Chair of the Section’s Programs and Publications Committee, and previously served as a contributing feature editor for the Section’s newsletter. He has lectured for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (National Enforcement Training Institute), the DEP, the Erie County Bar Association, Pennsylvania’s minor judiciary, and various other organizations.  Mr. Wolford received his undergraduate degree from the Pennsylvania State University and his J.D. from the Temple University School of Law, and is a member of the Erie County and Pennsylvania Bar Associations.

Kevin J. Garber, Esq.

Mr. Garber is a shareholder in the Environmental, Energy and Natural Resources Group of Babst Calland Clements & Zomnir, P.C. in Pittsburgh. He concentrates much of his practice on environmental, water, and land use issues facing the oil and gas, mining, and manufacturing industries, and on infrastructure development issues facing municipalities, municipal authorities, and developers. He represents exploration, development, and pipeline companies working in the Pennsylvania conventional and unconventional oil and gas industries, and represents companies and trade associations in other extractive industries in Pennsylvania, including coal and noncoal mining. Mr. Garber has written and lectured extensively on oil and gas, water, and development issues. He is ranked among Pennsylvania’s top environmental lawyers in Chambers USA: Americas Leading Lawyers for Business. He is listed in the environmental section, the water section, the natural resources section, the environmental litigation section, and the energy section of the Best Lawyers in America, and was selected as its Lawyer of the Year for Pittsburgh each year between 2014 to 2021 and again in 2024 for energy, environmental, or natural resources law, and was named to the 2023 Energy & Environment Power 100 by City & State Pennsylvania. He is recognized as one of Pennsylvania’s Super Lawyers, according to an annual survey published in Philadelphia Magazine. He has served on the council of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Environmental, Mineral and Natural Resources Law Section. Mr. Garber is a member and past chair of the Allegheny County Bar Association Environmental Law Section and is a member of the Pennsylvania and American Bar Associations. He is a member of the board of directors of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce and the 3 Rivers Wet Weather Program, and is a former member and past chair of the board of the Allegheny Land Trust in Pittsburgh. Mr. Garber received his B.S. in biology from Pennsylvania State University, his M.S. in oceanography and limnology from the University of Wisconsin, his Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Pittsburgh, and his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law. He is an adjunct professor at Duquesne University School of Law, where he teaches courses in environmental law and litigation.

John H. Herman, Esq.

John Herman is the Regional Chief Counsel for the Department of Environmental Protection’s Southwest Office of Chief Counsel in Pittsburgh.  The office includes a staff of 15 attorneys, and represents all of DEP’s environmental programs, including Air, Water, Waste, Drinking Water, Wetlands & Waterways, Mining, Radiation and Oil & Gas.  Mr. Herman is a 1982 graduate of the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, and worked in private practice for ten years prior to joining the Commonwealth’s Office of General Counsel and DEP.

Carol F. McCabe, Esq.

Ms. McCabe is the managing partner of Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox LLP, working in the firm’s complex industrial and regulatory practices.  She counsels clients on a wide variety of environmental issues, including permitting, compliance and enforcement matters related to air emissions, hazardous waste, storage tanks, stormwater and wastewater pretreatment.  Ms. McCabe concentrates her practice in air matters for a wide range of industrial clients at both the state and national level. She has assisted clients with environmental due diligence, auditing, permit appeals, emergency planning, and defense of agency enforcement actions. Ms. McCabe has represented clients before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Environmental Appeals Board, and the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. She has been recognized in The Best Lawyers® in America, Pennsylvania Super Lawyers, New Jersey Super Lawyers and Chambers USA – America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Outside of the office, Ms. McCabe serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, among other volunteer roles in the community.  

Curtis Sullivan, Esq.

Mr. Sullivan was appointed Chief Counsel to PA DCNR in April 2024. He previously served as a Supervisory Counsel in PA DEP’s Southcentral Regional Office where he counseled the Waterways and Wetlands program, the Chesapeake Bay program, and the State Conservation Commission. His PA DEP practice focused on enforcement, litigation, and permitting matters related to pipelines, agriculture, and other water-related environmental issues. He also previously served PA DEP as Acting Deputy Chief Counsel and in the Bureau of Regulatory Counsel. Mr. Sullivan received B.S. degrees in Biology and Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University at University Park as well as a J.D. and a Certificate in Environmental Law, Science & Policy from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Jessica R. O’Neill, Esq.

Jessica O’Neill is a Senior Attorney at PennFuture. She is based out of Philadelphia, and her work focuses on water quality and watershed protection as well as the creation and protection of green space for all. She also works on issues related to the petrochemical and fracking industries that threaten our health and environment across Pennsylvania. Prior to joining PennFuture, she was an Assistant United States Attorney with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. She also worked as an environmental lawyer in private practice, where she primarily focused on clean water issues, and as an Assistant Regional Counsel for the Environmental Protection Agency in its Mid-Atlantic office, bringing administrative enforcement actions under federal hazardous waste and toxic chemical regulations. In 2010, she served as an assistant counsel to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. Ms. O’Neill clerked for the Honorable Louis H. Pollak on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Honorable Robert B. Kugler on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. She has an undergraduate degree in environmental studies from Brown University and graduated magna cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center. 

David G. Mandelbaum, Esq.

Mr. Mandelbaum is a shareholder in Greenberg Traurig’s Environmental Practice. His principal offices are in Philadelphia and Boston. His practice tends toward environmental litigation of various sorts, including some Superfund matters that the government characterizes as among its most significant. He also advises on compliance, regulatory and transactional issues. He served as Vice-Chair of the Pennsylvania Statewide Water Resources Committee and as a member of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. Mr. Mandelbaum teaches “Superfund Litigation” and “Oil and Gas Law” in rotation at Temple Law School and the Superfund course at Suffolk (Boston) Law School. He was educated at Harvard University (A.B. 1980; J.D. 1983) and served as law clerk to Hon. Louis H. Pollak, then-United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He is a Fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers.


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