Digital Commons Network^™

Disappearing Acts – Toward A Global Civil Liability Regime For Pollution Damage Resulting From Offshore Oil And Gas Exploration, Kissi Agyebeng

Cornell Law School J.D. Student Research Papers

Civil liability for pollution damage is recognized and firmly established under international law. However, there is no global international treaty that addresses this issue with respect to offshore oil and gas exploration. This may be due partly to the infrequency of the occurrence of offshore oil well blowouts. However, offshore operations represent a constant threat to the marine environment since the risk of a blowout leading to an ecological disaster is ever present. The trend has been the adoption of regional agreements to tackle the issue. However, most of the regional arrangements deal with the issue in a sidelong manner …

Making Main Street Legal Again: The Smartcode Solution To Sprawl, Chad Emerson

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

The Real Problem With New Source Review, Shi-Ling Hsu

Shi-Ling Hsu

No abstract provided.

Restructuring America's Government To Create Sustainable Development, Jeffrey Rudd

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

The Methamphetamine Remediation Research Act Of 2005: Just What The Doctor Ordered For Cleaning Up Methfields—Or Sugar Pill Placebo?, Aaron R. Harmon

Aaron R. Harmon

Methamphetamine labs can be set up anywhere. One batch of methamphetamine produces five to seven pounds of toxic byproduct. These contaminants are often dumped at the production site and, along with airborne contaminants from the cooking process, leave behind a “methfield.” States have developed widely divergent standards for methfield remediation. This Comment examines the solution proposed under the Methamphetamine Remediation Research Act of 2005 (“MRRA”). Part II provides some background on methamphetamine use, production, and cleanup. Part III reviews how methfields have been addressed by state and federal agencies. Part IV evaluates the MRRA and assesses its potential contributions to …

Protecting The Public Trust And Human Rights In The Great Lakes, Melissa K. Scanlan

Melissa K. Scanlan

No abstract provided.

Realizing The Promise Of The Great Lakes Compact: A Policy Analysis For State Implementation, Melissa K. Scanlan, Jodi H. Sinykin, James Krohelski

Melissa K. Scanlan

No abstract provided.

New Orleans, The Chesapeake, And The Future Of Environmental Assessment: Overcoming The Natural Resources Law Of Unintended Consequences, Erin Ryan

Erin Ryan

This piece tells the tale of two disappearing wetlands—those surrounding Louisiana's Gulf Coast and those fringing the Chesapeake Bay—each providing new insight into the old quandary of unintended consequences that lies at the center of natural resource management. Louisiana's losses follow three hundred years of natural resource engineering to accomplish effective flood control along the Mississippi River, while the Chesapeake losses follow implementation of among the most meticulous wetlands-protection programs of its time. And yet, New Orleans suffered a catastrophic flood, and Chesapeake wetlands continue to disappear. How could this happen? Call it the “Natural Resources Law of Unintended Consequences.” …

Vantage Point & Issue Editor, Transboundary Conflicts Issue, David R. Hodas

David R. Hodas

No abstract provided.

A Boundary Dispute’S Effect On Siting An Lng Terminal, Kenneth T. Kristl

Kenneth T Kristl

No abstract provided.

The Human Right To Environment And The Peaceful Use Of Nuclear Energy, Luis E. Rodriguez-Rivera

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Liability And Compensation For Harm Caused By Nuclear Activities, Jon M. Van Dyke

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Human Rights And The Environment: What Specific Environmental Rights Have Been Recognized, Dinah Shelton

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Justice Stevens, Judicial Power, And The Varieties Of Environmental Litigation, Kenneth A. Manaster

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Law, Eleventh Circuit Survey, Travis M. Trimble

Scholarly Works

In 2005 the Eleventh Circuit courts addressed issues of regulatory interpretation of the Clean Air Act (“CAA”); compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) in connection with the development of wetlands; and a conflict between the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (“FEMA”) coastal flood insurance program and the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). First, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated a rule of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management that exempted certain stack emissions that otherwise violated the State Implementation Plan under the CAA. Also, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama heard one of several …

The Intercivilizational Inequities Of Nuclear Power Weighed Against The Intergenerational Inequities Of Carbon Based Energy, Karl S. Coplan

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This essay explains that such encouragement of nuclear energy production as a “solution” to fossil fuel-induced climate change will create environmental problems equally as grave as those posed by a carbon-based energy economy. Both nuclear energy and fossil energy impose enormous environmental externalities that are not captured by the economics of energy production and distribution. While emissions trading schemes seek to harness market-based efficiencies to accomplish pre-determined reductions, they neither seek to nor succeed in capturing the environmental externalities of energy generation. By creating a set of incentives without capturing all of the externalities, these trading schemes will simply distort …

Katrina's Lament: Reconstructing Federalism, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The subject of stormwater management raises threshold questions about the federal system. Is the regulation of stormwater runoff and the environmental pollution it causes within the federal government's legal jurisdiction? Is it a matter reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment? Or is it a joint responsibility and, if so, precisely how is federal and state authority shared? How does the delegation of power by states to local governments to regulate the use of privately owned land affect the federal-state division of power? What limits should there be on local control of land uses that cause “nonpoint source” pollution, …

Sharing Potential And The Potential For Sharing: Open Source Licensing As A Legal And Economic Modality For The Dissemination Of Renewable Energy Technology, Jason Wiener

Jason Wiener

No abstract provided.

Committee On Climate Change And Sustainable Development: 2005 Annual Report, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

Climate Change And Land Use In Africa, David Hodas

David R. Hodas

Sub-Saharan Africa faces a major development crisis due to the global climate crisis and rising prices for fossil fuels. By 2030, the world’s energy needs will be 30 percent greater than they are now. This will frustrate Africa’s plans for rapid economic and technological expansion, which are based on the dominant low-cost fossil fuel model. Climate change is also become pressing policy issues. Although Sub-saharan nations emit very little carbon dioxide, their reliance on livestock and agriculture as commercial resources, results in relatively high level of methane and nitrous oxide emission rate. The IPCC has predicted that climate change will …

Clean Water Act Developments: The Aftermath Of Tmdl Litigation: Consent Decrees And Settlement Agreements, James R. May

James R. May

This article provides the latest developments about TMDL lawsuits nationally. It concludes that the results of TMDL settlements are mixed, least so where it matters most. The glory is that EPA has reviewed anew, or had the states review, readily existing and available water quality related data and information for 40,000 waters, finding 20,000 more ones impaired, bringing the national total to 60,000. EPA has agreed to "backstop" TMDL development for about 20,000 of these, and set or approved TMDLs for 10,000 impaired waters. EPA has for the first time reviewed and evaluated CPPs in six states. It has conducted …

Clean Water Act Npdes Developments In The Courts, James R. May

James R. May

Although the Clean Water Act has been in effect for over thirty-three years, many aspects of the Act remain for the Supreme Court to define. In fact, the Court is still called upon to determine certain threshold questions about the Act’s scope and jurisdiction, permits, water quality standards and enforcement. One central question has been the definition of “navigable waters” as it relates to wetlands. The purpose of the Act is to protect the nation’s waters, and a logical question that the Court must address is “to what extent can wetlands be included as navigable waters?” Two cases have been …

Palazzolo, The Public Trust, And The Property Owner’S Reasonable Expectations: Takings And The South Carolina Marsh Island Bridge Debate, Erin Ryan

Erin Ryan

South Carolina recently promulgated new guidelines regulating the State’s consideration of requests by private marsh island owners to build bridges for vehicular access through publicly owned marsh and tidelands. Many thousands of these islands hug the South Carolina coast, but they are surrounded by tidelands subject to South Carolina’s formidable public trust doctrine, which obligates the State to manage submerged lands and waterways for the benefit of the public. This piece evaluates the relationship between the public trust doctrine and the takings subtext to the debate over the new guidelines – a relationship that has become particularly interesting in the …

Constituting Fundamental Environmental Rights Worldwide, James R. May

James R. May

This article discusses the extent to which nations worldwide have constituted such “fundamental environmental rights” (FERs). Constitutions provide a framework for social order. They also reflect a paradox. While constitutions are usually the product of a convulsive event of majoritarian democracy, most contain antimajoritarian features designed to protect so-called fundamental rights against the tyranny of the majority. Traditional fundamental rights, such as those found in the Bill of Rights to the Constitution of the United States, include protecting for its citizens free speech, religious exercise and voting rights. Does a fundamental, enforceable, individual right to a clean and healthy environment …

Ethical Emissions Trading And The Law, Kirk W. Junker

Kirk W Junker

Markets, Monocultures, And Malnurition: Agricultural Trade Policy Through An Environmental Justice Lens, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

Much of the literature on environmental justice struggles in the United States and in the Global South has highlighted the disproportionate concentration of environmental hazards in poor communities and communities of color. However, it is equally important to evaluate how human societies distribute access to environmental necessities , such as food and water. Food is a quintessential environmental necessity that is critical human survival, and the right to food is recognized under under a vareity of international human rights law instruments. This article examines the complex ways in which the rules governing international trade in agricultural products affect the fundamental …

Deconstructing The Mythology Of Free Trade: Critical Reflections On Comparative Advantage, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

The theory of comparative advantage serves as the theoretical justification for the neoliberal economic reforms promoted by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and multilateral and regional free trade agreements. This article employs insights from both neoclassical and heterodox economics in order to critique the theory of comparative advantage as applied to the agricultural sector. In particular, the article takes aim at the illusory notion that eliminating distortions in international agricultural trade caused by the lavish agricultural subsidies of wealthy nations will be sufficient to “level the playing field” and promote prosperity in both developed and developing countries. The …

“Addition,” “Pollutant,” “Point Source”: Recent Case Developments Affecting The Scope Of Activities Covered By The Cwa, James R. May

James R. May

This article examines recent developments in the interpretation of the words “addition,” “pollutant,” and “point source,” as used in the Clean Water Act. These words have been the subject of much controversy and many interpretations as the CWA leaves them undefined. The Supreme Court has concluded most notably that the transfer of polluted water within the same body of water does not constitute “addition,” however the transfer of pollutants from one body of water into another is addition. Similarly, much controversy has surrounded the possibility of pesticides, lead shot and erosion as additions. Most recently courts have found that pesticides …

Runoff And Reality: Externalities, Economics, And Traceability Issues In Urban Runoff Regulation, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

It has long eluded regulators and private enforcers how to control the imposition of negative externalities. This paper will examine: (1) Whether existing authorities (like the Clean Water Act) are capable of providing regulation of urban runoff; (2) Whether, in light of economic controls, regulation of these activities are necessary; (3) A summary of recent runoff litigation; and (4) What is next; what should be next? Although each of these questions form background, the primary emphasis currently anticipated for this presentation is on traceability, collective action, and free rider problems that motivate regulation in this area. Often runoff is described …