The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) recently announced a $350,197 grant for the University of Tennessee in Knoxville (UTK) to supplement a research and development project regarding sustainable technologies for the application of tire rubber in road construction. The grant is part of TDEC’s Tire Environmental Fund, which provides financial assistance for projects beneficial to the end uses of waste tires. “We are seeing great advances in repurposing tires for environmental benefits, and this grant for the University of Tennessee at Knoxville is a great example,” said TDEC Deputy Commissioner Greg Young. “Programs like this not only help clean up sites of used tires, they involve innovative new uses for them.” UTK will contribute $512,793 to the project. Since the Tire Environmental Fund’s inception, grantees have been awarded almost $6.8 million, and approximately 5.5 million tires or nearly 58,000 tons of scrap tires have been diverted from landfills.

The Tennessee Soil and Water Conservation Commission will meet on Dec. 4 at the Marriott Cool Springs Hotel, 700 Cool Springs Blvd., Franklin 37067. In this meeting, the commission will provide reports from partner agencies, organizations and ex-officio members. The selection of a new commission chair will also take place at the event. Public commentary on issues before the commission, including oral and written feedback, will be considered. For more information, contact John McClurkan at 615-837-5305 or john.mcclurkan@tn.gov.

The TBA Environmental Law Forum is Friday! This staple for Tennessee environmental lawyers features dives into two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions affecting the practice area. The program also looks at recent developments to solid waste landfills and provides an hour of ethics regarding how to avoid BPR complaints. Don’t miss your chance to attend this annual favorite and shore up annual CLE requirements. Register now.

Gov. Bill Lee today announced a plan to expand beyond a three-county school voucher program for low-income children by offering public money for private schooling statewide, regardless of family income, Associated Press reports. State lawmakers narrowly approved the savings accounts initiative for the three counties in 2019. The program awards eligible families around $8,100 in public tax dollars to cover private school tuition and other preapproved expenses. The newest initiative will require the approval of the state legislature. Read Gov. Lee’s press release.

The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on Monday vacated a lower court’s approval of a class action lawsuit comprising nearly 11.8 million Ohio residents against manufacturers of “forever chemicals” that are said to contaminate the environment, Reuters reports. The court ruled that the lead plaintiff, Ohio firefighter Kevin Hardwick, didn’t have standing to sue 10 companies over the chemicals found in his bloodstream. The appeals court instructed the lower court to dismiss the lawsuit, which had aimed to force the companies to pay for studies analyzing the health impacts of chemicals known as PFAs used in a wide range of consumer products including firefighting foam and non-stick pans. The PFAs have been tied to cancer and other diseases.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today suspended Hamilton County lawyer John Scott Wesson from the practice of law for seven years and ordered him to contact the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP). The hearing panel found that Wesson failed to respond to a summary judgment motion, respond to opponent’s application to the court for attorney’s fees, reasonably communicate with clients, represent his clients, inform his clients of his previous suspension, make reasonable efforts to expedite litigation, and appear at multiple show cause hearings. The court found that he also knowingly terminated and/or refused to comply with his TLAP monitoring agreement. The panel found Wesson violated Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3 (diligence), 1.4 (communication), 3.2 (expediting litigation), 3.4(c) (fairness to opposing party and counsel) and 8.4(a)(d)(g) (misconduct).

The Tennessee Supreme Court today granted a motion to file a notice and petition for evaluation or examination under seal in regards to Davidson County attorney Alex Fletcher Thompson. The court is also directing Thompson to contact the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) for an evaluation within 10 days to determine if he is capable of practicing law and defending himself on a pending request for conditional admission.

MATHIS, Circuit Judge. A jury convicted Yun Zheng and Yan Qiu Wu on four counts of harboring illegal noncitizens for commercial gain, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii) and (a)(1)(A)(v)(II).1 Zheng and Wu now appeal, challenging the district court’s jury instructions. Specifically, they argue that the district court: (1) erred in instructing the jury on the meaning of “harboring” by not including a requirement that Zheng and Wu had acted intentionally and knowingly in shielding the illegal noncitizens from law enforcement; and (2) invaded the province of the jury by giving examples of “harboring” in the jury instructions. Finding no error, we affirm.

MURPHY, Circuit Judge. In 2009, Clarence Goodwin received a 262-month sentence—one at the bottom of his guidelines range—for conspiring to distribute crack cocaine. The First Step Act of 2018 allowed defendants like Goodwin to seek a lower sentence based on changes to the sentencing laws that occurred after their offense. But the district court denied Goodwin’s motion for a reduced sentence primarily because his guidelines range remained the same even after considering these retroactive statutory changes. Goodwin now argues that the district court committed a procedural error by denying relief in a cursory order. He also argues that it committed a substantive error because his rehabilitation efforts (when combined with other legal changes) required the court to issue a below-guidelines sentence. Disagreeing on both fronts, we affirm.