Touro Law To Host Inaugural Long Island Resiliency Conference

The Long Island Coastal Resiliency Summit will be held on April 16, 2015

April 8, 2015

Touro Law Center will host the first-ever conference focusing on the role of local law and policy solutions, including the newly enacted Community Risk and Resiliency Act, to the threats of climate change on Long Island on Thursday, April 16th at 9:00 am, announced Dean Patricia Salkin. 

The Long Island Coastal Resiliency Summit will bring together attorneys, planners, government officials from all levels of government, climate and marine scientists, and others for the inaugural annual conference of Touro Law's Land Use & Sustainable Development Law Institute. This day-long conference will address the formidable impacts of climate variability and disruption on Long Island, focusing specifically on solutions and strategies local governments can take to create more resilient communities and related legal tools and obstacles. 

“With hundreds of miles of coastal and estuarine shoreline, nearly 11 million people in the metropolitan region living just above sea level, and a mix of urban, suburban and agricultural communities—Long Island faces unique challenges from extreme weather, storm surges and rising sea levels,” said Dean Salkin. “I am proud that Touro Law has taken a leading role through the Land Use Institute to discuss and address important issues that face Long Island.”

Speakers include scientists, leading land use and municipal law scholars, planners and representatives from local and county governments, the New York Department of State and Department of Environmental Conservation, FEMA, and EPA, in addition to esteemed keynote speakers Michael Gerrard, the Director of Columbia Law School's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, and Kate Dineen, Director of the NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program, which has worked closely with communities throughout Long Island to develop community resiliency plans. Conference sponsors include The New York Sea Grant, Cashin Spinelli & Ferretti, LLC, Cameron Engineering & Associates LLP, Sahn Ward Coschignano & Baker, PLLC, the Metro New York Chapter of the American Planning Association, the Municipal Law and Environmental Law sections of the New York State Bar Association, the New York Conference of Mayors & Municipal Officials, the Association of Towns of the State of New York, and the New York State Association of Counties.

Land Use & Sustainable Development Law Institute Director Sarah Adams-Schoen stated, "As every Long Islander knows, our future is inextricably tied to the sea. So many of us are still struggling to rebuild after the devastation of Super Storm Sandy and many experience flooding on a regular basis. Recognizing that severe storms and floods are projected to increase in intensity and frequency, many local governments on Long Island have developed coastal resilience plans and some have begun to implement these plans. Touro Law is pleased to bring together many of the organizations and individuals on Long Island and throughout the region who have been working for years to increase the resilience of our coastal communities, and to facilitate an in-depth discussion among this diverse group, focusing in particular on the legal tools and obstacles to moving from coastal resilience planning to implementation."          

For registration and sponsorship information and details regarding the conference agenda, visit www.tourolaw.edu/resiliency2015 or email landuse@tourolaw.edu.   
 
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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art law school is located adjacent to both a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro Law’s proximity to the courthouses, coupled with programming developed to integrate the courtroom into the classroom, provide a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law, which has a student body of approximately 650 and an alumni base of more than 6,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs, several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College system.

Touro Law’s newly implemented Portals to Practice is a cutting-edge, experiential learning program that reconceives and restructures the law school experience. Portals to Practice expands the scope and quality of legal education by focusing on the development of legal professionals, from pre-law through post-graduation. 

About the Touro College and University System 
Touro is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approximately 19,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem, Moscow, Paris and Florida. New York Medical College, Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro University Worldwide and its Touro College Los Angeles division are separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/media/

For more info contact:
Patti Desrochers
Director of Communications
pattid@tourolaw.edu
(631) 761-7062

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