Law Commons^™

Virginia's Expanded Nutrient Trading Law: Will It Help Restore The Chesapeake Bay While Allowing For Growth, Margaret L. Sanner

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

On April 18, 2012, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell boosted the Commonwealth's pollution-reduction toolbox with an expanded nutrient trading program when he signed H.B. 176/S.B. 77 into law.' Sparked by the issuance of the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (the "Bay TMDL"), which updated pollution limits for the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries, and the Virginia Chesapeake Bay TMDL Phase I Watershed Implementation Plan (the "Phase I WIP"),2 the expanded nutrient trading program allows myriad new market participants to generate and sell certified "nutrient credits"3 to others to meet existing limits or to offset new pollution from expansion.4 If the program …

Can We Regulate Our Way To Energy Efficiency? Product Standards As Climate Policy, Noah M. Sachs

Law Faculty Publications

In this Article, I demonstrate that the regulatory strategy for energy efficiency is working. Although information disclosure, financial incentives, and other softer alternatives to regulation play a vital role in reducing energy demand, these should be viewed as complements to efficiency regulation, rather than replacements. The regulatory approach has led to substantial cost and energy savings in the past, it has enjoyed bipartisan political support, and it targets products and behaviors that are difficult to address through other policy tools. Given the politics of climate change in the United States, which make federal carbon taxes or a cap-and-trade system infeasible, …

Reclaiming Global Environmental Leadership: Why The United States Should Ratify Ten Pending Environmental Treaties, Noah M. Sachs

Law Faculty Publications

For more than a century, the United States has taken the lead in organizing international responses to international environmental problems. The long list of environmental agreements spearheaded by the United States extends from early treaties with Canada and Mexico on boundary waters and migratory birds to global agreements restricting trade in endangered species and protecting against ozone depletion.

In the last two decades, however, U.S. environmental leadership has faltered. The best known example is the lack of an effective response to climate change, underscored by the U.S. decision not to join the Kyoto Protocol. But that is not the only …

Protecting The Public From Bpa: An Action Plan For Federal Agencies, Noah M. Sachs

Law Faculty Publications

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a ubiquitous industrial chemical found in everything from baby bottles to cash register receipts. From its inauspicious creation in the laboratory by a group of scientists trying to synthesize an estrogenic compound for the pharmaceutical industry, it has become a fundamental building block of the multi-billion dollar plastics industry. Unfortunately, ever since anomalous results appeared in two research labs using BPA containing plastic equipment in the 1980s, evidence of the chemical’s toxicological risks has continued to mount. The chemical is an endocrine disruptor, meaning that it interferes with the body’s hormone system, and BPA’s health risks include, …

Distributed Energy Resources, "Virtual Power Plants," And The Smart Grid, Joel B. Eisen

Law Faculty Publications

The specific focus of this Article is on the "virtual power plant" (VPP) concept, an intriguing idea that involves an aggregation of DERs to provide a "fleet" of resources that can serve as the functional equivalent of a traditional power plant. As the name suggests, this fleet of DERs can add up in the aggregate to the equivalent of a significant resource. Under certain conditions, this resource can be used on the grid (i.e., dispatched) much as a conventional power plant would be. This could reduce demand for fossil fuel-fired plants by enabling a utility to avoid generating electricity or …

Finality In Brownfields Remediation And Reuse, Joel B. Eisen

Law Faculty Publications

The intersection of brownfields redevelopment and these broader concerns presents a host of issues. Does redevelopment of brownfields connect to a larger vision for the city that links with "smart growth" and climate action goals? Retooling the original developer-centered vision of VCPs to promote broader goals is an ongoing challenge. Has the affected community been involved in planning for brownfields remediation, or has the developer controlled the process? The latter narrows the ability to view the project as part of a community-wide plan, and undermines its legitimacy. Finally, if brownfields redevelopment yields benefits, how can we measure success over the …

Reading The Standing Tea Leaves In American Electric Power Co. V. Connecticut, Bradford C. Mank

University of Richmond Law Review

The U.S. Supreme Court by an equally divided vote offour to four affirmed the Second Circuit's decision finding standing and jurisdiction in the case in American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut. While not binding as precedent beyond the Second Circuit,the case offers clues to how the Court is likely to rule in future standing cases. This article discusses the likely identities of the four Justices on each side of the standing issue in the case, as well as how Justice Sotomayor might have voted if she had not recused herself. Furthermore, the article examines how the decision expand- ed on …

Virginia's Expanded Nutrient Trading Law: Will It Help Restore The Chesapeake Bay While Allowing For Growth, Margaret L. Sanner

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

On April 18, 2012, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell boosted the Commonwealth's pollution-reduction toolbox with an expanded nutrient trading program when he signed H.B. 176/S.B. 77 into law.' Sparked by the issuance of the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (the "Bay TMDL"), which updated pollution limits for the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries, and the Virginia Chesapeake Bay TMDL Phase I Watershed Implementation Plan (the "Phase I WIP"),2 the expanded nutrient trading program allows myriad new market participants to generate and sell certified "nutrient credits"3 to others to meet existing limits or to offset new pollution from expansion.4 If the program …