Law Commons^™

Green Crimes In The Empire State: Analyzing The Criminal Enforcement Of Environmental Law In New York, Joshua Ozymy, Melissa Jarrell Ozymy

Pace Environmental Law Review

Ensuring compliance with federal and state environmental laws and deterring future offenses can require the application of criminal enforcement tools. Yet we have a limited understanding of how the criminal enforcement of environmental laws has progressed historically in The Empire State. To explore this phenomenon, we undertake content analysis of federal prosecution summaries for all environmental crime prosecutions stemming from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criminal investigations from 1983 to 2019. We explore which federal environmental laws were violated, determine which charging statutes were used, analyze sentencing patterns, and illustrate the broader themes that emerge in such prosecutions over 37 years. …

Cumulative Impact Analysis In Nepa Climate Assessments, Fred Mauhs

Pace Environmental Law Review

This article argues that CI analysis is a critical tool for addressing global warming. This is because the largest anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions in the U.S. each contributes a vanishingly small portion of global GHG emissions, which alone cannot rise to NEPA’s threshold of “significance” requiring a “detailed statement…on the environmental impact of the proposed action,”i.e., an environmental impact statement (EIS). Yet there is no pollution today in greater need of assessment and understanding than GHG emissions, given the urgency of the impending catastrophe that global warming could mean for our planet.

A Pact For The Future: Improving Animal Protection Legislation For Captive Orcas, Emily Lively

Pace Environmental Law Review

Using SeaWorld as a case study, this Note will argue that existing federal and state legislation fails to protect captive orcas from cruel and harmful treatment while in captivity.

Part I of this Note will address the gaps in federal and state animal welfare and cruelty legislation relevant to captive orcas. Part II will discuss the enactment of the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act of 2019 (“PACT Act”), the first federal animal cruelty statute. Part III will use SeaWorld as a case study to test the effectiveness of the PACT Act in criminalizing animal cruelty at the federal level. …

What Lies Beneath: Usmca Chapter 24 And Sub-National Governance Of Environmental Issues, Alexandra R. Harrington

Pace Environmental Law Review

This article examines the sub-national governance issues existing in the USMCA through the lens of environmental law and regulation in each of the three State Parties. It asserts that the governance gaps created by failing to include the terms of sub-national laws in the express parameters of the USMCA are significant and can pose a challenge to the successful implementation of the Agreement now and into the future. The decision to focus on the USMCA regime was made because of the recent timing of its negotiation, the many efforts made by all sides to incorporate critical non-trade issues into the …

Pre-Merits Vacatur: An Efficient, Equitable, And Environmentally Sound Remedy, Stuart Gillespie

Pace Environmental Law Review

Federal agencies are increasingly requesting voluntary remands of challenged rules, thereby circumventing judicial review, and avoiding ever having to defend the merits of those rules. Courts routinely grant these extraordinary requests, often under the guise of saving judicial resources and giving agencies a second chance to reconsider. But voluntary remands come at a steep cost, particularly in the arena of environmental litigation. There, voluntary remands not only deprive litigants of their day in court, but can also subject them (and the broader public) to unlawful and inadequate rules that are causing serious environmental harm.

Courts have long guarded against the …

Federal Historic Preservation's "Place" In Property Theory, Sam W. Gieryn

Pace Environmental Law Review

Progressive Property Theory scholars often point to historic preservation as an example of how property, itself, imposes an obligatory use. A historic structure’s public benefit justifies restrictions in available uses. To date, however, Progressive Property Theory has considered historic preservation only as it is applied in state and local regimes, forgoing an analysis of the federal structure under the National Historic Preservation Act. This article establishes a synergy between the underlying principles of Progressive Property Theory and federal historic preservation and suggests that federal historic preservation’s identification and incentivization structures model a process that could move Progressive Property Theory toward …

Movement Lawyering In The Time Of The Climate Crisis, Camila Bustos

Pace Environmental Law Review

While climate litigation has emerged as a tool to tackle rising emissions and its devastating consequences, climate litigation as a strategy and movement has yet to be thoroughly analyzed through the lens of movement lawyering. Thus, this paper seeks to draw from existing literature on movement lawyering to explore the relationship between climate litigation and movement lawyering principles, addressing separate yet related questions: What does it mean to be a movement lawyer working on climate change? How do principles of climate justice shape movement lawyering and thus, climate litigation? How do lawyers think about accountability to their clients and the …

Silent Spring Revisited – Is It Time To Ban Lead? An Argument For A Federal Ban Of The Use Of Lead Ammunition For Hunting Game Pursuant To The Endangered Species Act, Jaclyn Mcbain Cohen

Pace Environmental Law Review

This note will explore EPA’s authority under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) to promulgate regulations banning the use of lead ammunition for any purpose. Section II discusses the impact of lead on the environment and wildlife and demonstrates how even small amounts of lead discharged into the environment through hunting practices can have lethal effects on wildlife, especially scavengers, such as the California condor and the grizzly bear. Section III discusses the current regulations that exist to control the discharge of lead into the environment from the use of other common substances, such as paint and gasoline, demonstrating that the …

Confronting State Violence: Lessons From India's Farmer Protests, Smita Narula

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In December 2021, following a year of sustained mass protests, farmers in India forced the repeal of three controversial Farm Laws that attempted to deregulate India’s agricultural sector in service of corporate interests. Farmers feared that the laws would dismantle price supports for key crops, jeopardize their livelihoods, and facilitate a corporate takeover of India’s agrarian economy. This Article situates India’s historic farmer protests in the context of the country’s longstanding agrarian crisis and the corporate capture of agriculture worldwide. I argue that the protests arose in response not only to the Farm Laws, but also to decades of state-sponsored …

Regulation Weakness And Lack Of Public Awareness Has Impeded The Implementation Of Environmental Policies In Saudi Arabia, Nada Gurmalla Algamdy

Dissertations & Theses

This research aimed to substantially illustrate that the weakness of environmental regulations and lack of public participation in urban planning alongside poor public awareness in Saudi Arabia has inhibited the implementation of environmental policies across this region. To study these issues, this research compared the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (“KSA”) to the United States (“US”) building on numerous studies to illustrate how the identified weaknesses correlate with weak or ineffective environmental policies. It is well known that it would be better to use a European country “because it's known that the EU has tough environmental measures" as a model for …

Intellectual Property Rights And Competition Law For Transfer Of Environmentally Sound Technologies, Mahatab Uddin

Pace International Law Review

Battling against climate change, “a common concern of humankind,” is the most prominent global challenge of this century, and Environmentally Sound Technologies (“ESTs”) are the main tools to fight this battle. This article examines the juxtaposed role of Intellectual Property Rights (“IPRs”) and competition laws in facilitating wide-scale innovation and transfer of ESTs in developing and least developed countries. This article covers diverse IPRs, including patents and trade secrets. The discussion and analysis of the IPRs are based on the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (“TRIPS”). And the discussion on competition law mainly focuses on competition related …

Inclusion Of Incentive And Punitive Measures In Multilateral Environmental Agreement: A Suggestion On How The United Nations Framework Convention On Climate Change Can Be Utilized To Influence The Reduction Of Gas Flaring In The Oil And Gas Exploration Fields Of Nigeria, Temiloluwa Elijah Olanrewaju

Dissertations & Theses

Gas flaring is categorized as one of the important contributors to greenhouse gases, which increases the risk of global warming and climate change. The overdependence of the modern economy and most industrial technologies on fossil fuels has created a situation in countries where fossil fuels are exploited. The governments rely majorly on the revenue from exporting oil. The IOCs that are engaged in the mining of oil and gas have been able to influence policy and law enforcement on gas flaring to such an extent that the National laws are not enforced, or the stipulated fines are abysmally low that …

Recommendations For Strengthening The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia's Management Of Non-Hazardous Solid Waste Informed By A Comparative Assessment Of The Management Of Non-Hazardous Solid Waste In The United Arab Emirates, Saud Hani Arab

Dissertations & Theses

Despite significant changes in the category and volume of waste, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) still manages refuse the same way it did decades ago. Before 1975, waste generators were responsible for collecting and disposing of nonhazardous solid waste (NSW). The KSA later set up the Ministry of Municipalities and Rural Affairs (MOMRA) in 1975 as a result of the oil boom. One of the initial tasks of MOMRA was to manage and develop NSW system. In addition to management, MOMRA also distributed waste bins throughout the KSA and hired waste haulers to be responsible for NSW. As I …

Informational Regulation, The Environment, And The Public, Katrina F. Kuh

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Informational Regulation, the Environment, and the Public generates a typology to analyze how public disclosure functions in informational regulation. In the environmental context, informational regulation compels the public disclosure of environmental information without mandating substantive environmental outcomes in the expectation that disclosure itself will prompt beneficial change in the environmental context. Application of the Article's typology reveals that the emperor has no clothes: Communication of environmental information to the public is considered central to policies employing informational regulation, but the information produced pursuant to these measures largely fails to reach or be understood by lay individuals. For example, empirical data …

Pandemics And Housing Insecurity: A Blueprint For Land Use Law Reform, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

COVID-19, racial inequity, housing insecurity, and climate change have come together to create widespread, large-scale crises. This Article introduces these four pandemics and describes in detail what local governments are doing to combat one of them: housing insecurity. It reviews recent progress with traditional inclusionary zoning requirements, discusses the move toward greater density in single-family zoning, lists strategies being used to remediate distressed housing, and notes the importance of affordable housing as a necessary strategy for preventing lower-income household displacement caused by gentrification. The reciprocal impacts of these four pandemics are clear; local land use leaders should examine how mitigating …

Adapting To A 4°C World, Karrigan Börk, Karen Bradshaw, Cinnamon P. Carlarne, Robin Kundis Craig, Sarah Fox, Joshua Ulan Galperin, Shi-Ling Hsu, Katrina F. Kuh, Kevin Lynch, Michele Okoh, Jessica Owley, Melissa Powers, Shannon Roesler, J.B. Ruhl, James Salzman, David Takacs, Clifford J. Villa

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The Paris Agreement's goal to hold warming to 1.5°-2°C above pre-industrial levels now appears unrealistic. Profs. Robin Kundis Craig and J.B. Ruhl have recently argued that because a 4°C world may be likely, we must recognize the disruptive consequences of such a world and respond by reimagining governance structures to meet the challenges of adapting to it. In this latest in a biannual series of essays, they and other members of the Environmental Law Collaborative explore what 4°C might mean for a variety of current legal doctrines, planning policies, governance structures, and institutions.

The Road To Affordable Housing: How To Replace Highways With Homes In New York City, Chad Hughes

Pace Law Review

Urban highways cause significant air, water, and soil pollution that disproportionately harm low-income and nonwhite residents. Many urban highways are reaching the end of their useful life and would be extremely expensive to repair or replace. Cities around the world have removed urban highways to improve environmental outcomes and to avoid wasteful spending.

While these teardowns have improved local and regional environmental quality and local traffic congestion, they have also led to increased land values near the retired rights of way. Without anti-displacement efforts, there is a risk that the very people who have been most harmed by urban highways …

Comparative Analysis Between Saudi Arabia And Norway In Moving Beyond Fossil Fuels Towards A Sustainable Economy: A Special Emphasis On The Renewable Energy Sector, Saad Nasser Alqahtani

Dissertations & Theses

Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Middle East and the 18th largest in the world. The country has the world's second-largest proven petroleum reserves and is the largest exporter of petroleum. In 2016, Saudi Arabia had the third highest estimated value of natural resources at $34.4 trillion (US). However, because of the 2014 oil crash, climate change, and the development of renewable energy technology, the government has decided to transition from its complete reliance on oil revenues and to start investing heavily in other non-oil sectors, such as the renewable energy sector. The Saudi government plans to generate …

The Evolution Of International Environmental Law Amidst Political Gridlock: Environmental Rights As A Common Ground, Maria Antonia Tigre

Dissertations & Theses

In the leadup to the 50th anniversary of the Stockholm Conference and the global Covid- 19 pandemic, nations and people have realized they have not lived up to the obligations of the U.N. Charter and the principles of international environmental law. In 2019, the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Resolution No. A/RES/73/333, which set forth substantive and procedural recommendations for follow-up work for the progressive development of international environmental law, and specifically called for the adoption of a political declaration in 2022 to strengthen the implementation of international environmental law. The resolution derives from the proposed Global Pact for the …

Eaters, Powerless By Design, Margot J. Pollans

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Food law, including traditional food safety regulation, antihunger programs, and food system worker protections, has received increased attention in recent years as a distinct field of study. Bringing together these disparate areas of law under a single lens provides an opportunity to understand the role of law in shaping what we eat (what food is produced and where it is distributed), how much we eat, and how we think about food. The food system is rife with problems--endemic hunger, worker exploitation, massive environmental externalities, and diet-related disease. Looked at in a piecemeal fashion, elements of food law appear responsive to …

Nys Bar Association Annual Meeting Lecture Outline: The New Environmental Rights In Ny’S Constitutional Bill Of Rights, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

It is too easy this winter to miss the signature Human Rights event in New York, the overwhelming vote last November 4^th to recognizing the Human Right to the Environment. Competition for our attention is fierce: the Pandemic, political rivalries playing out in Washington, D.C., and angst about extreme weather events and other climate change impacts. So, I welcome this opportunity to illuminate the hope and promise of Article 1, Section 19 in New York’s Bill of Rights: “Each Person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.” Most New York lawyers have yet …

Coping With E-Waste: Prospects Of E-Waste Circular Economy Within The Gcc: Analyzing The Legal Framework On Recycling Of E-Waste Within The Gcc, Ali Saeed Alrobayee

Dissertations & Theses

The GCC has experienced rapid population growth and urbanization in the last 40 years. The rise in population has caused a surge in e-waste within the GCC countries. Electronic waste poses severe health and environmental risks, calling for the adoption of a circular economy where e-wastes are converted into valuable products through recycling. However, achieving a circular economy requires a robust legal framework, technologies and policies as practiced globally. The Global E-waste Monitor has traced e-waste generation in the GCC countries since 2014. One critical finding is that the e-waste generation has surged with population growth, urbanization and the advancement …

Effectiveness Of The Existing International Humanitarian Law Provisions In Protecting The Natural Environment During Internal Armed Conflicts, Joharah M. Alkahtani

Dissertations & Theses

The environment is inherently at risk in any armed conflict and the natural environment is always a victim of wars. In order to properly protect the environment, the international community must explicitly recognize the civilian nature of the environment and bar all damages to it notwithstanding its extent, longevity and severity. The current study focuses on the environmental protection during armed conflicts. In World War I, parties employed the indiscriminate use of chemical weapons as a way of gaining military advantage over their enemies. The world responded by adopting the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and …

Fda As Food System Stewards, Margot J. Pollans, Matthew F. Watson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) is one of the primary regulators of the U.S. food system, yet it all but ignores the food system's vast environmental footprint. Although the agency is not technically an environmental agency, it could and should view redressing the food system's significant environmental footprint as part of its health and safety mission. In this Article, we review FDA's history of National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) compliance. This history affirms our hypothesis that FDA does not view its own work as environmental. The review, along with assessment of some of FDA's core food programs, reveals that …

Equitable, Affordable And Climate-Cognizant Housing Construction, Shelby D. Green

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The almost universal sentiment by a growing body of physical and social scientists is that climate change--with its floods, drought, heat, and cold-- portend losses of life, communities, property, and the rhythms of living. Some are more vulnerable to these impacts than others: individuals and the poor, who through official government policy and self-interest in the housing markets, have been relegated to live in poorly-constructed and poorly-placed structures--in the wake of ocean surges; in the path of strong winds; near hazardous and noxious facilities; stranded in urban heat islands. Failing to heed climate change omens will lead to a world …

Adaptive Rezoning For Social Equity, Affordability And Resilience, Shelby D. Green

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In this Article, I will show how the legacies of the institutional barriers to housing still persist to deprive many of the predicates for economic thriving and personal flourishing and how existing zoning philosophy cannot be justified by the need to protect health and safety. Righting the inequities of the past and of the present will require dismantling some of the institutions, apparently legitimate and well-meaning, but operating devilishly to create and perpetuate hardship and exclusion. This will require laying bare the institutions to reveal their ignoble essence. We need a radical overhaul of the historic zoning regime from one …