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Full-Text Articles in Law

Did We Miss The Boat? The Clean Water Act And Sustainability, Ryan P. Murphy May 2013

Did We Miss The Boat? The Clean Water Act And Sustainability, Ryan P. Murphy

Law Student Publications

This comment argues for more political accountability and more scientific consideration when addressing water quality. It begins, in Section I, with an overview of the Clean Water Act, its distinction between point and nonpoint sources, and the connection between nonpoint source pollution, water use, and land use. Section II considers the tension between beneficial uses and environmental degradation by taking a look at a dramatic example of hydrologic modification. 5 Section III considers an effluent dominated waterbody-the Los Angeles River-and the difficulties that regulating point sources to the river presents. Finally, Section IV suggests a different approach-one that is modeled …


Rapanos, Carabell, And The Isolated Man, Joel B. Eisen Jan 2006

Rapanos, Carabell, And The Isolated Man, Joel B. Eisen

Law Faculty Publications

We gather yet again this year at the University of Richmond to discuss the deplorable state of the Chesapeake Bay and the concerted effort needed to bring it back from the brink of death. The state of the Bay seems not much better than it did eleven years ago, when a group of wise souls who cared deeply about the Bay assembled at this law school to revisit the Kepone incident and call for more action to stem pollution in the Bay. To no one's surprise, unfortunately, that august group assembled in our Moot Court Room did not solve the …


Environmental Law, Benjamin A. Thorp Iv, William K. Taggart Nov 2004

Environmental Law, Benjamin A. Thorp Iv, William K. Taggart

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.


Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Environmental Law, Kelley A. Kinney, Andrea West Wortzel Jan 1998

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Environmental Law, Kelley A. Kinney, Andrea West Wortzel

University of Richmond Law Review

This article reviews the key environmental developments at the federal and state levels during the period from June 1996 to June 1998. Legislation and judicial decisions are presented topically. Certain issues, such as public participation and environmental justice, are playing an increasing role and will likely impact all media.


Finding The Pearl In The Oyster: Strategies For A More Effective Implementation Of Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, Patrick J. Skelley Ii Jan 1997

Finding The Pearl In The Oyster: Strategies For A More Effective Implementation Of Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, Patrick J. Skelley Ii

University of Richmond Law Review

Since our nation's infancy, the Chesapeake Bay ("Bay") has been one of Virginia's natural treasures. The Bay is America's largest and historically most productive estuary, valued today as an economic resource, a wilderness sanctuary, and an aesthetic asset. Every year, commercial fishermen harvest blue crabs, oysters, and a multitude of fish species in mass quantities to satiate our desire for seafood. Nature aficionados can observe ospreys, laughing gulls, and other shorebirds taking their share of the Bay's bounty. From the -shoreline, quiet vacation homes overlook the waters across coves and inlets. Despite these idyllic images, the Bay has been facing …


Federal Minimums: Insufficient To Save The Bay, Roy A. Hoagland, Jean G. Watts Jan 1995

Federal Minimums: Insufficient To Save The Bay, Roy A. Hoagland, Jean G. Watts

University of Richmond Law Review

In this era of deregulation, streamlining, and government reform, the voices of state government often ring out the philosophy of "no stricter than federal law" when discussing environmental initiatives. The argument that federal minimums can serve as a minimalistic, one-size-fits-all framework for environmental protection not only contradicts the same voices' arguments for flexibility and site-specific solutions, but also ignores the reality that federal minimums alone simply cannot and will not restore our waters, conserve our land, or protect our air.


Toward A Sustainable Urbanism: Lessons From Federal Regulation Of Urban Stormwater Runoff, Joel B. Eisen Jan 1995

Toward A Sustainable Urbanism: Lessons From Federal Regulation Of Urban Stormwater Runoff, Joel B. Eisen

Law Faculty Publications

This Article focuses on the particularly vexing challenge of forging a sustainable urbanism in Edge Cities and analyzes regulatory attempts to control urban stormwater runoff. If our task is to "describe the natural world and to evaluate our actions toward it in ways that presuppose ... [a] community between nature and mankind," we must also characterize and address this source of considerable pollution, which originates from thousands of dispersed locations. Unfortunately, environmental protection efforts have only begun to address the pollution of urban stormwater runoffs. Parts II and III of this Article detail these largely unsuccessful attempts and conclude that …


From Kepone To Exxon Valdez Oil And Beyond: An Overview Of Natural Resource Damage Assessment, Danielle Marie Stager Jan 1995

From Kepone To Exxon Valdez Oil And Beyond: An Overview Of Natural Resource Damage Assessment, Danielle Marie Stager

University of Richmond Law Review

In July 1975, officials from the Virginia State Department of Health learned that employees of the Life Science Product Company ("Life Science"), in Hopewell, Virginia, had been poisoned by a toxic chemical known as Kepone. Life Science had produced Kepone under contract for Allied Chemical Corporation ("Allied Chemical"), the original developer and manufacturer. Shortly thereafter, state officials discovered that both Life Science and Allied Chemical had unlawfully discharged Kepone into freshwater tributaries of the James River. In addition to poisoning their own employees, Life Science and Allied Chemical had also contaminated Virginia's atmosphere, soil, and wa- terways with Kepone.


Federal Minimums: Insufficient To Save The Bay, Roy A. Hoagland, Jean G. Watts Jan 1995

Federal Minimums: Insufficient To Save The Bay, Roy A. Hoagland, Jean G. Watts

University of Richmond Law Review

In this era of deregulation, streamlining, and government reform, the voices of state government often ring out the philosophy of "no stricter than federal law" when discussing environmental initiatives. The argument that federal minimums can serve as a minimalistic, one-size-fits-all framework for environmental protection not only contradicts the same voices' arguments for flexibility and site-specific solutions, but also ignores the reality that federal minimums alone simply cannot and will not restore our waters, conserve our land, or protect our air.


Facing A Time Of Counter-Revolution-- The Kepone Incident And A Review Of First Principles, Zygmunt J.B. Plater Jan 1995

Facing A Time Of Counter-Revolution-- The Kepone Incident And A Review Of First Principles, Zygmunt J.B. Plater

University of Richmond Law Review

The Kepone contamination episode of 1966-75 was a milestone that focused an entire nation's attention on environmental hazards and our need to do better in recognizing and avoiding them. We have learned a great deal from that unfortunate story. The evolution of American environmental law since the Kepone debacle has repeatedly used the incident as a touchstone in identifying environmental pollution's causes, effects, and potential solutions.


Changes In The Clean Water Act Since Kepone: Would They Have Made A Difference?, Wiliam Goldfarb Jan 1995

Changes In The Clean Water Act Since Kepone: Would They Have Made A Difference?, Wiliam Goldfarb

University of Richmond Law Review

In the anti-regulatory climate that currently pervades the American political scene, it is important to emphasize the palpable and significant accomplishments of environmental regulation. One measure of the success of environmental law during the past twenty-five years is that long-term, relatively localized environmental contamination-such as the pollution of the lower James River by Kepone between 1966 and 1975-probably can no longer occur in the United States. Major environmental statutes, enacted during the decade between 1976 and 1986, have precluded continuing environmental abuses of this scope and magnitude. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), enacted in 1976, establishes a compre- …


Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Environmental Law Jan 1988

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Environmental Law

University of Richmond Law Review

In the past two years Virginia has seen significant legislative changes in its laws protecting public health and the environment. This article addresses not only those changes, but also the implementation of these laws by the responsible state agencies and the court cases construing those laws.


Nonpoint Pollution Control In Virginia, John V. Cogbill Iii Jan 1979

Nonpoint Pollution Control In Virginia, John V. Cogbill Iii

University of Richmond Law Review

Congress has established a national goal of "clean water" by 1983 and the elimination of all pollutant discharge into the navigable waterways by 1985. The nation has made great strides toward controlling and eliminating point source pollutants. There has been no corresponding progress in the area of nonpoint pollution control. Such pollution from agriculture, mining, silviculture, and urban runoff is causing lakes to die prematurely and is seriously affecting Virginia's fishing industry. This comment will review the federal requirements for control of nonpoint source pollution, Virginia's role in an implementation program, and, finally, some recom- mendations to aid Virginia in …