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Full-Text Articles in Law
Recent Developments Under State Environmental Quality Review Act, Michael B. Gerrard
Recent Developments Under State Environmental Quality Review Act, Michael B. Gerrard
Faculty Scholarship
When a litigant brings a lawsuit under New York’s State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), the odds of success have never been high. However, the cases decided in 2011 exhibiteda stark exception to this general rule: Project applicants who were frustrated by governmental delays or obstacles won six of the seven cases they brought under SEQRA.
The volume of SEQRA litigation continues to decline. In 2011 the courts decided 35 cases under SEQRA, the lowest number since this column began its annual survey in 1990. The second lowest was 37 in 2010; the third lowest was 45 in 2009. (Previously …
Reverse Environmental Impact Analysis: Effect Of Climate Change On Projects, Michael B. Gerrard
Reverse Environmental Impact Analysis: Effect Of Climate Change On Projects, Michael B. Gerrard
Faculty Scholarship
Environmental impact statements (EISs) examine the effect of the proposed action – typically a construction project, but sometimes a government policy or other activity – on the environment. However, increasing attention is now devoted to looking in the other direction – at how changes in the environment might affect a project.
Reverse environmental impact analysis, as I will call it, has been with us for some time. For example, if a building is planned downwind of a smokestack or downstream of a contaminated groundwater plume, this effect of the outside world has long been considered. However, the emergence of scientific …
Hurricane Katrina Decision Highlights Liability For Decaying Infrastructure, Michael B. Gerrard
Hurricane Katrina Decision Highlights Liability For Decaying Infrastructure, Michael B. Gerrard
Faculty Scholarship
A March 2, 2012, decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, little noticed outside of New Orleans, has broad implications for the liability of federal agencies for injuries caused by the decay or obsolescence of infrastructure due to erosion, sea level rise, and other ongoing conditions, whether of natural or human origin. Less directly, the decision also affects the liability of state and municipal governments, and even private entities in charge of built structures.
This article describes the underlying facts, the decision, and its implications. It also considers how governments and private parties can, to a …