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Full-Text Articles in Law

Major Questions (And Answers): A Call To Quiet The Quartet, Michael Reaves Dec 2023

Major Questions (And Answers): A Call To Quiet The Quartet, Michael Reaves

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

This Comment calls for action to quiet the Quartet—encouraging executive agencies to mitigate the pernicious impact of MQD. In Part I, this Comment discusses the political landscape in the area of climate action. Part II wades through the nearly forty-year doctrinal shift of delegation—from humble beginnings in a law review article from then-Judge Breyer in 1986, to the application of major questions principles at various stages of agency-deference analyses. Part III discusses the Quartet and its role in MQD as a determinative legal canon. Recent scholarship calls into question if there are multiple iterations of MQD, and whether the most …


Higher Altitudes And Higher Standards: Advocating The Fcc Require Environmental Assessments For Mega- Constellations, John Latson Jul 2023

Higher Altitudes And Higher Standards: Advocating The Fcc Require Environmental Assessments For Mega- Constellations, John Latson

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This article will explore why the FCC’s current regime on categorical exclusions is ill-prepared for the developing mega-constellation industry, why the regime should be revised to require that companies launching mega-constellations file an Environmental Assessment (EA) as defined in the National Environmental Policy Act, and how such a change might fiscally impact these companies. Part II of this article will explore the National Environmental Policy Act, discussing the purpose of the Act and the goals Congress sought to accomplish. Part III will consider the FCC’s policy on categorical exclusions and EAs, with a comparison of how some other federal agencies …


To Mulch Or Not To Mulch: Problems With Plastic Mulch And How To Address Them, Rebecca Kim May 2022

To Mulch Or Not To Mulch: Problems With Plastic Mulch And How To Address Them, Rebecca Kim

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

While environmentally conscious consumers may be concerned about single-use plastic packaging their produce comes in, they likely do not think of the excess of plastics farmers use just to grow that produce. The agricultural industry uses an extraordinarily high amount of plastic, notably through agricultural films, which are thin plastic membranes used for mulching. The predominant use of these films has come to be known as “Plasticulture” and, although plastic mulch has many benefits, its ubiquitous use creates substantial waste that, when broken down into micro plastics, eventually enter the human body. This article evaluates the advantages and drawbacks of …


A Twisted Fate: How California's Premier Environmental Law Has Worsened The State's Housing Crisis, And How To Fix It, Noah Dewitt Mar 2022

A Twisted Fate: How California's Premier Environmental Law Has Worsened The State's Housing Crisis, And How To Fix It, Noah Dewitt

Pepperdine Law Review

California, the iconic Golden State, holds the infamous record for the largest population of people experiencing homelessness in the United States. These record-setting numbers have been steadily on the rise for decades and are due in large part to the state’s severe housing shortage, which is currently just under one million housing units. From those directly experiencing homelessness to those living in the country’s most expensive zip codes, the compounding economic and social impacts of the crisis touch every Californian. The extent of the crisis is not lost on California’s leaders, but despite countless initiatives on both the state and …


Whither The Lofty Goals Of The Environmental Laws?: Can Statutory Directives Restore Purposivism When We Are All Textualists Now?, Stephen M. Johnson Mar 2022

Whither The Lofty Goals Of The Environmental Laws?: Can Statutory Directives Restore Purposivism When We Are All Textualists Now?, Stephen M. Johnson

Pepperdine Law Review

Congress set ambitious goals to protect public health and the environment when it enacted the federal environmental laws through bipartisan efforts in the 1970s. For many years, the federal courts interpreted the environmental laws to carry out those enacted purposes. Over time, however, courts greatly reduced their focus on the environmental and public health purposes of the environmental laws when interpreting those statutes due to the rise in textualism, the declining influence of the Chevron doctrine, and the increasing willingness of courts to defer to agency underenforcement of statutory responsibilities across all regulatory statutes. In 2020, the Environmental Protection Network, …


Disunity Among The United States: Navigating Net-Metering Without Getting Electrocuted, Aundene Szmolyan Jan 2020

Disunity Among The United States: Navigating Net-Metering Without Getting Electrocuted, Aundene Szmolyan

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

As it stands, the progress towards fighting climate change at the national level is in disarray, and there is a complete disunity of direction and goals at the state level. This paper highlights the disunity by providing a case study of the different regulations, which affect the solar power industry across all fifty states, with a particular focus paid to net metering regulations. Through an examination of this industry, three startling conclusions will emerge. First, investor-owned utilities apply intense political pressure through lobbying efforts to maintain the current status quo of the utility industry’s economic model, which results in the …


The Oil & Gas Industry: Failing To Properly Regulate Hydraulic Fracturing & Placing Profits Over Safety, Ellery Gordon Mar 2018

The Oil & Gas Industry: Failing To Properly Regulate Hydraulic Fracturing & Placing Profits Over Safety, Ellery Gordon

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This Note will evaluate the regulations and environmental implications surrounding hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” on state, federal, and Indian lands, focusing on the recent and still undecided case of Wyoming v. United States Dep’t of the Interior. Additionally, it will address the regulatory gap in federal regulations governing hydraulic fracturing, the current issues the industry faces, and advocate for a more stringent set of regulations that ought to be applied on a uniform basis throughout the United States. In the aforementioned case, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, Utah, and the Ute Indian Tribe brought suit against the Bureau of Land Management …


Addressing Bias In Administrative Environmental Decisions, Robert R. Kuehn Mar 2018

Addressing Bias In Administrative Environmental Decisions, Robert R. Kuehn

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.


Environmental Restorative Justice, Aiden Stark Oct 2017

Environmental Restorative Justice, Aiden Stark

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Section I briefly introduces this article. Section II discusses the gravity of environmental crimes. Section III highlights the history of environmental criminal prosecution. Section IV explains how environmental crimes are currently prosecuted. Section V demonstrates how restorative justice procedures work. Section VI critiques the only previous analysis applying restorative justice to environmental crimes in the United States. Section Vll walks through Australian Justice Preston's analysis, which provides a proper foundation for applying restorative justice to environmental crimes. Section VIII applies Justice Preston's framework to criminal procedures in the United States. Section IX discusses criticisms that will be raised by bringing …


Lights Out: Decommissioning The American Nuclear Plant, Joseph D. Mcmanus Apr 2017

Lights Out: Decommissioning The American Nuclear Plant, Joseph D. Mcmanus

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

This article seeks to examine the United States commercial nuclear power plant decommissioning process, a look into a subject that begins at the end of a nuclear plant's life. The subject is often overlooked in favor of the more dominant and controversial issue of when and where a federal spent nuclear fuel repository will be established. But to overlook the American nuclear plant decommissioning process would be a missed opportunity to understand what happens after a nuclear plant permanently ceases power operations-a process that has the potential to last decades and affect the plant's local community through economic and environmental …


A Legacy That No One Can Afford To Inherit: The Gold King Disaster And The Threat Of Abandoned Hardrock Legacy Mines, Kelly Roberts Jun 2016

A Legacy That No One Can Afford To Inherit: The Gold King Disaster And The Threat Of Abandoned Hardrock Legacy Mines, Kelly Roberts

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

This article begins with a description of the alarming matter of abandoned mines, mainly due to the issue of acid mine drainage. Then, it provides a detailed account of the Gold King disaster, including the current state of affairs surrounding the question of EPA liability. Next, it provides a simplified overview of some of the federal statutory hurdles that make it difficult to tackle remediation of abandoned hardrock mines. In wake of Gold King, another round of legislation has been proposed that might help, and these proposed bills center on familiar themes of reforming the General Mining Law of 1872 …


How Courts Can Prevent Excess Emitters From Using Bankruptcy As A Forum To Avoid California Ab 32’S Allowance Deductions, Mohammed Tehrani Nov 2014

How Courts Can Prevent Excess Emitters From Using Bankruptcy As A Forum To Avoid California Ab 32’S Allowance Deductions, Mohammed Tehrani

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This paper identifies bankruptcy as a forum in which entities that exceed their emissions limit might be able to avoid the accompanying allowance deduction. Specifically, an entity might be able to sell its assets free and clear of its allowance deduction liabilities through Section 363 to a new company comprised of the same actors. Part II contrasts which liabilities can be discharged through a Chapter 11 plan and which can be avoided through a free and clear sale under Section 363. Part III analyzes whether allowance deductions could be discharged through a Chapter 11 plan or avoided through a free …


Waist-Deep In Nuclear Waste: How The Nrc Can Rebuild Confidence In A Stalled Waste Management Program, Emily Casey May 2014

Waist-Deep In Nuclear Waste: How The Nrc Can Rebuild Confidence In A Stalled Waste Management Program, Emily Casey

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

This comment will explain why the federal nuclear waste management program is at a standstill and will suggest a course of action for the NRC to help revive the program. Part II describes the environmental hazards of spent nuclear fuel and the federal government’s effort to site and build a geologic repository for this nuclear waste. Part III explains the role of the NRC in the nuclear regulatory scheme and how safety and environmental regulations are promulgated and enforced. Part IV narrows in on the NRC rulemakings called the “Waste Confidence Decision” and “Temporary Storage Rule,” and the reasons why …


Climate Change And Water Transfers, Jesse Reiblich, Christine A. Klein Apr 2014

Climate Change And Water Transfers, Jesse Reiblich, Christine A. Klein

Pepperdine Law Review

Climate change adaptation is all about water. Although some governments have begun to plan for severe water disruptions, many have not. The consequences of inaction, however, may be dire. As a report of the U.N. Environment Programme warns, “countries that adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach potentially risk the lives of their people, their ecosystems and their economies.” In the United States, according to one study, nearly 60% of the states are unprepared to deal with the impending crisis. Responding to this void, we offer what we believe is the first comprehensive, state-by-state survey of water allocation law and its …


Federal V. State Effectiveness: An Analysis Of The Endangered Species Act And Current Potential Attempts At Reform, Nicholas Primo Jan 2014

Federal V. State Effectiveness: An Analysis Of The Endangered Species Act And Current Potential Attempts At Reform, Nicholas Primo

Pepperdine Policy Review

In November 2013, several Congressional leaders drafted a new bill to reform the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). While the Endangered Species Management Self-Determination Act (ESMSDA) was the first major attempt at updating the crucial U.S. environmental policy in decades, it also inflamed environmentalist defenders of the original bill. More importantly, it raised several questions as to whether state or federal-oriented approaches to endangered species protection and environmental policy more broadly is ultimately more effective. This article analyzes the original 1973 ESA, followed by an analysis of the ESMSDA currently being considered. It will discuss the various strengths and …


Friends Of Mammoth: Vox Populi Or Judicial Social Engineering , John W. Furness May 2013

Friends Of Mammoth: Vox Populi Or Judicial Social Engineering , John W. Furness

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Looking Back: Consistency In Interpretation Of And Response To The Consistency Requirement, A. B. 1301 , Joseph F. Di Mento May 2013

Looking Back: Consistency In Interpretation Of And Response To The Consistency Requirement, A. B. 1301 , Joseph F. Di Mento

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


The California Coastal Zone Conservation Act Of 1972: An Overview And Recent Developments, Bruce Tester May 2013

The California Coastal Zone Conservation Act Of 1972: An Overview And Recent Developments, Bruce Tester

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Nepa And Ceqa - Euphemistic Environmental Eunuchs?, Sonia Sonju Erickson May 2013

Nepa And Ceqa - Euphemistic Environmental Eunuchs?, Sonia Sonju Erickson

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Subdivision Regulation: Political Armageddon Of Consumer, Property Owner And Environmental Rights , James E. Erickson May 2013

Subdivision Regulation: Political Armageddon Of Consumer, Property Owner And Environmental Rights , James E. Erickson

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Toward An International Standard Of Environment, George P. Smith Ii May 2013

Toward An International Standard Of Environment, George P. Smith Ii

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Future Of Eirs In Land Use Regulation , John M. Winters May 2013

The Future Of Eirs In Land Use Regulation , John M. Winters

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Judicial Independence In Administrative Adjudication: Indiana's Environmental Solution, Lori Kyle Endris, Wayne E. Penrod Apr 2013

Judicial Independence In Administrative Adjudication: Indiana's Environmental Solution, Lori Kyle Endris, Wayne E. Penrod

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.


Challenges In Multiparty Environmental Mediation, Daniel E. Louis Apr 2013

Challenges In Multiparty Environmental Mediation, Daniel E. Louis

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.


Administrative Remedies In The Field Of Toxic Torts, Janet L. Heller Apr 2013

Administrative Remedies In The Field Of Toxic Torts, Janet L. Heller

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.


Environmental Regulation And The Doctrine Of Scientific Uncertainty: A Case Study Of The Epa's Cancellation Of 2, 4, 5-T, Wendy Wagner Apr 2013

Environmental Regulation And The Doctrine Of Scientific Uncertainty: A Case Study Of The Epa's Cancellation Of 2, 4, 5-T, Wendy Wagner

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.


Judicial Review Of Forest Service Decisions Made Pursuant To The National Forest Management Act's Substantive Requirements: Time For A Science Court?, Kristen Potter Apr 2013

Judicial Review Of Forest Service Decisions Made Pursuant To The National Forest Management Act's Substantive Requirements: Time For A Science Court?, Kristen Potter

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

This article is divided into five sections. Section I reviews the legal and historical background of forest law, culminating in NFMA, and establishes why many believe that the NFMA provides a greater role for courts. Section II presents the underpinnings of judicial review and deference to administrative agencies, such as the Forest Service. Section III provides examples of the deference applied in challenges to the Forest Service's attempted compliance with NFMA's diversity requirements. Section IV discusses the benefits and shortcomings of a specialized court in addressing the criticisms of the present system. Section V concludes that a specialized court is …


Comanagement: Merging The Esa With Political Pressure To Create A Viable Alternative To Esa Listing, Stephanie Pacey Apr 2013

Comanagement: Merging The Esa With Political Pressure To Create A Viable Alternative To Esa Listing, Stephanie Pacey

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.


Partial Vs. Complete Removal: The Debate Surrounding California's Implementation Of The Rigs-To-Reef Project, Emily Edwards Apr 2013

Partial Vs. Complete Removal: The Debate Surrounding California's Implementation Of The Rigs-To-Reef Project, Emily Edwards

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.


Errata (Correction Notice), Holly Phillips Apr 2013

Errata (Correction Notice), Holly Phillips

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.