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Full-Text Articles in Law
Beyond Bake Sales: Environmental Justice Through Superfund Removal Actions, Clifford Villa
Beyond Bake Sales: Environmental Justice Through Superfund Removal Actions, Clifford Villa
Faculty Scholarship
Few people outside of EPA seem to be aware of the existence of the Superfund removal program, a program through which millions of dollars are allocated through EPA’s ten regional offices each year for cleaning up contaminated sites that are not designated 'Superfund' sites. This essay will provide a basic introduction to the Superfund removal program and particularly encourage consideration of Superfund removals to address growing concerns for environmental justice. Part II examines the legal authorities and limitations of the Superfund removal program. Part III provides examples of removal actions in environmental justice communities across the country. Part IV considers …
Don't Blame The Flint River, Clifford Villa
Don't Blame The Flint River, Clifford Villa
Faculty Scholarship
Since appearing in modern form fifty years ago, the Clean Water Act has proven a powerful force for environmental justice, helping to clean up urban waterways across the country. Through establishment of water quality standards and enforcement of regulatory requirements, the Clean Water Act has compelled public authorities and private companies to upgrade infrastructure and curtail
discharge of sewage and other industrial effluent. At the same time, urban communities have continued to struggle with water pollution beyond the reaches of the Clean Water Act. This Article briefly examines three such communities: the Anacostia area of Washington, D.C.; the neighborhoods along …
A Primer: Air And Water Environmental Quality Standards In The United State, Jason J. Czarnezki, Siu Tip Lam, Nadia B. Ahmad
A Primer: Air And Water Environmental Quality Standards In The United State, Jason J. Czarnezki, Siu Tip Lam, Nadia B. Ahmad
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Manure In The Bay: A Report On Industrial Animal Agriculture In Maryland And Pennsylvania, Rena I. Steinzor, Yee Huang
Manure In The Bay: A Report On Industrial Animal Agriculture In Maryland And Pennsylvania, Rena I. Steinzor, Yee Huang
Faculty Scholarship
This report provides a substantive and detailed look at the concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) and other animal feeding operations (AFO) programs in Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as a general overview of the federal CAFO program. The information in this report was gathered through publicly available resources as well as a series of interviews with agency officials and other individuals who work with the animal agricultural sector. This report identifies concrete and practical recommendations for improving how the waste generated by animal industrial agriculture is managed and controlled by EPA, the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE), and the Pennsylvania …
Water Quality Trading In The Chesapeake Bay, Rena I. Steinzor, Nicholas W. Vidargas, Shana Campbell Jones, Yee Huang
Water Quality Trading In The Chesapeake Bay, Rena I. Steinzor, Nicholas W. Vidargas, Shana Campbell Jones, Yee Huang
Faculty Scholarship
In May 2009, President Obama issued an Executive Order on Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration, declaring the Bay a national treasure and signaling that EPA will play a strong role in leading Bay cleanup. The order marked a dramatic departure, offering the promise of federal leadership on Bay cleanup. The following year, EPA issued a Chesapeake Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), a pollution budget for Bay states. Faced with a federal commitment, the states have begun work on complying with the TMDL. One Bay-wide approach under consideration is a market-based initiative, water quality trading, that would allow polluters to trade …
Back To Basics: An Agenda For The Maryland General Assembly To Protect The Environment, Rena I. Steinzor, Lee Huang
Back To Basics: An Agenda For The Maryland General Assembly To Protect The Environment, Rena I. Steinzor, Lee Huang
Faculty Scholarship
Maryland has a long-held reputation as a regional and national leader in environmental protection. But in some areas, especially enforcement, that reputation warrants scrutiny. For example, Maryland charges less than Pennsylvania and Virginia for some pollutant discharge permits, and the state does not assess permit fees for municipalities despite the resources required to administer those permits. The penalties for violating the Clean Water Act have remained chronically below the level allowed under federal law. Maryland law does not require MDE to penalize polluters for the full amount of the economic gain they achieved by flouting the law, unlike laws in …
In Re Annandale And The Disconnections Between Minnesota And Federal Agency Deference Doctrine, Mehmet K. Konar-Steenberg
In Re Annandale And The Disconnections Between Minnesota And Federal Agency Deference Doctrine, Mehmet K. Konar-Steenberg
Faculty Scholarship
This article explores each of these differences between Annandale’s view of deference and comparable federal authority. Part II begins the discussion with an explanation of the somewhat complicated legal and factual background that gave rise to Annandale’s unusually thorny agency deference issues. This section includes an extended discussion of the Annandale administrative record and the reasoning of the Minnesota Court of Appeals and Minnesota Supreme Court. Part III then critically analyzes the Annandale court’s claims to have acted consistently with federal agency deference case law in each of the three areas discussed above. Part IV concludes with some post-Annandale developments …
The Birth, Death, And Rebirth Of The World Trade Center And The Fate Of New York, Michael B. Gerrard
The Birth, Death, And Rebirth Of The World Trade Center And The Fate Of New York, Michael B. Gerrard
Faculty Scholarship
The year in the title has finally arrived, and in Stanley Kubrick's classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the appearance of large monoliths marks important transitions in human civilization. In New York City, the construction, destruction and possible reconstruction of the twin monoliths of the World Trade Center also mark historical transitions. Among the things transformed with each event is our relationship to the physical environment.
Territoriality, Risk Perception, And Counterproductive Legal Structures: The Case Of Waste Facility Siting, Michael B. Gerrard
Territoriality, Risk Perception, And Counterproductive Legal Structures: The Case Of Waste Facility Siting, Michael B. Gerrard
Faculty Scholarship
The siting of hazardous and nuclear waste facilities has proven to be a task of enormous difficulty in our federal system. In this Article, the Author argues that one of the major causal factors for this difficulty is that the legal regime surrounding waste facility siting decisions is not structured in a manner sensitive to the human factors involved. The siting of a hazardous waste facility is likely to generate a negative community response where the imposition of externally made decisions and externally generated wastes fails to take into account the innate human trait of territoriality. Territoriality is a powerful …