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Full-Text Articles in Law
Balance In The Basin, Casey Lee Mcclellan
Balance In The Basin, Casey Lee Mcclellan
BYU Law Review
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) changed the way land managers and users interact with public lands. However, its stringent requirements are not responsive to today’s environmental and economic realities. For the future of sustainable mineral extraction, there must be a better way. Adaptive management, a more flexible planning process, should be used on public lands to ensure greater leeway for operators, environmentalists, and local economies. By analyzing rural northeastern Utah’s Uinta Basin’s history and existing public land use plans, this Note applies adaptive management to the area to show how thinking outside the box can solve seemingly unsolvable problems.
Rebuilding Grid Governance, Joel B. Eisen, Heather E. Payne
Rebuilding Grid Governance, Joel B. Eisen, Heather E. Payne
BYU Law Review
As climate change sharpens the focus on our electricity systems, there is widespread agreement that the institutions that govern our electric grid must change to realize a clean energy future in the timescale necessary. Scholars are actively debating how grid governance needs to change, but in this Article we demonstrate that current proposals are insufficient because they do not contemplate “rebuilding.” This Article defines “rebuilding” as ending entities tasked with grid governance and creating new ones to take their place. We propose what no one else has: an overarching framework for rebuilding any grid governance institutions.
This Article discusses when …
Public Lands In Public Hands: Analysis Of The Underpinnings Of Utah’S Public Trust Doctrine, Brittany Bunker Thorley
Public Lands In Public Hands: Analysis Of The Underpinnings Of Utah’S Public Trust Doctrine, Brittany Bunker Thorley
BYU Law Review
Utah Lake, the largest freshwater lake in the third driest state, is a vital, yet underappreciated natural resource. In 2018, the Utah State Legislature passed the Utah Lake Restoration Act in an attempt to restore and enhance the lake’s ecological and recreational value. Yet the new law has been met with strong public resistance because it leaves the lake vulnerable to exploitation and further ecological degradation, a concern made real by a proposed development plan that would build a city of islands on top of the lake. Community members cite specific concerns about threats to native species, disruption of water …
Congress, Let Bicycles Back In, Andrew Applegate
Congress, Let Bicycles Back In, Andrew Applegate
BYU Law Review
The Wilderness Act of 1964 protects certain federal lands in the United States, called “wilderness areas,” from human habitation and development. When the Wilderness Act was first passed, nonmotorized bicycle travel was allowed in wilderness areas. However, in 1984, the United States Forest Service altered its interpretation of the statutory text of the Wilderness Act and banned nonmotorized bicycle travel in wilderness areas. Seeking to reverse the Forest Service’s blanket-ban on bicycles in wilderness areas, bicycle activists sought a legislative remedy. In March of 2017, House Federal Lands Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock introduced House Bill 1349 to the United States …
Our Global Commons, Brigham Daniels, James Salzman
Our Global Commons, Brigham Daniels, James Salzman
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
The Tragicomedy Of The Commons, Brigham Daniels
The Tragicomedy Of The Commons, Brigham Daniels
BYU Law Review
Scholarship on the commons focuses on a diverse set of problems, ranging from crashing fisheries to crowded court dockets. Because we find commons resources throughout our natural and cultural environments, understanding old lessons and learning new ones about the commons gives us leverage to address a wide range of problems. Because the list of resources identified as commons resources continues to grow, the importance of gleaning lessons about the commons will also continue to grow.
That being said, while the resources that make up the commons are certainly diverse, so too are the ways scholars depict it and the challenges …
Isolated Wetland Commons And The Constitution, Blake Hudson, Mike Hardig
Isolated Wetland Commons And The Constitution, Blake Hudson, Mike Hardig
BYU Law Review
Isolated wetlands provide great ecological and economic value to the United States. While some states provide protection for isolated wetlands, a great many do not. These wetlands are also left outside the ambit of federal wetland regulatory protections under the Clean Water Act, with its murky jurisdictional reach. Notwithstanding jurisdictional questions under current federal statutes, the U.S. Supreme Court has gone so far as to call into question the constitutionality of federal isolated wetland regulation. This Article makes a normative argument that, in the absence of state or local programs providing holistic isolated wetland protection, federal action is needed. The …
Local Governments And Global Commons, Jonathan Rosenbloom
Local Governments And Global Commons, Jonathan Rosenbloom
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
Texas Groundwater And Tragically Stable “Crossovers”, Zachary Bray
Texas Groundwater And Tragically Stable “Crossovers”, Zachary Bray
BYU Law Review
One recurring question in the academic literature on common-pool resources relates to the persistence of “tragic” commons regimes—systems that encourage, or at least tolerate, the inefficient, wasteful, hazardous, or unfair exploitation of a resource that is easily accessed for and diminished by individual use and consumption. Of course, not all commons are tragic: some common-pool resources invite individual access in efficient, fair, and durable ways. Yet many commonly held resources do lie under systems of governance that are not just tragic but persistently and stubbornly so. Often the tragic aspects of such commons regimes are well known; indeed, for some …
Naming The Tragedy, Eric T. Freyfogle
Surprising Commons, Carol M. Rose
Protecting The Environment By Addressing Market Failure In Intellectual Property Law: Why Compulsory Licensing Of Green Technologies Might Make Sense In The United States Institutional Religious Exemptions: A Balancing Approach, Adam Gunderson
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
Is The Clean Water Act's Diligent Prosecution Bar Jurisdictional? A Journey Into Discovering Congressional Intent, Szonja Ludvig
Is The Clean Water Act's Diligent Prosecution Bar Jurisdictional? A Journey Into Discovering Congressional Intent, Szonja Ludvig
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
Nepa And Indirect Effects Of Foreign Activity: Limiting Principles From The Presumption Against Extraterritoriality And Transnational Lawmaking, David Heywood
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
Addressing Global Climate Change In An Age Of Political Climate Change, Brigham Daniels
Addressing Global Climate Change In An Age Of Political Climate Change, Brigham Daniels
BYU Law Review
For a number of years, many within the environmental legal community have advocated an all-out attack strategy of forcing the United States to address climate change by bringing novel lawsuits under existing environmental laws. In 2007, with the seminal case of Massachusetts v. EPA, it appeared that those advocating this strategy had a winning game plan. That sense grew and solidified when the Obama Administration came to power. However, over the past several years, we have seen a countervailing movement embodied in a growing resentment towards EPA and climate change policy in general. This movement has mobilized into a powerful …
Environmental Crisis And The Paradox Of Organizing, Gregg P. Macey
Environmental Crisis And The Paradox Of Organizing, Gregg P. Macey
BYU Law Review
Public organizations, including those involved in contingency planning, have tremendous influence over the ultimate scale and scope of an environmental crisis. Yet our understanding of how organizational behavior can either rein in or exacerbate crises continues to lag behind advances in technology. This Article considers the role of public organizations in the blowout of the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. Its theoretical lens is the “paradox of organizing,” a frame that I suggest should be applied to interorganizational responses to low-probability, high-consequence events. The struggle to differentiate tasks and subunits and then piece them together during moments of …
Adaptive Mitigation In The Electric Power Sector, Lesley K. Mcallister
Adaptive Mitigation In The Electric Power Sector, Lesley K. Mcallister
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
Navigating The Intersection Of Environmental Law And Disaster Law, Daniel Farber
Navigating The Intersection Of Environmental Law And Disaster Law, Daniel Farber
BYU Law Review
In an environmental disaster, a disaster causes environmental harm, or an environmental change causes an acute risk to humans, or a combination of both takes place. Examples include the BP oil spill, the London killer fog of 1952, the 2003 European heat wave, and the 2011 Japanese tsunami. Climate change will intensify the connection between disaster issues and the environment. Given the interwoven nature of disasters and the environment, we should consider what environmental law and disaster law can learn from each other. Environmental law has the most to teach disaster law about risk management and prevention. Disaster law, in …
Legal Remedies For Deep Marine Oil Spills And Long-Term Ecological Resilience: A Match Made In Hell, Robin Kundis Craig
Legal Remedies For Deep Marine Oil Spills And Long-Term Ecological Resilience: A Match Made In Hell, Robin Kundis Craig
BYU Law Review
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill that lasted from April to September 2010 was not only the worst oil spill disaster in United States history, but also the first to occur at great depth. Drilling at great depth multiplies the risks and complications of offshore oil extraction. It also, as this Article explores, makes natural resource damages a decisively inadequate remedy for the injuries done to the Gulf of Mexico’s (the “Gulf”) ecosystems, especially the poorly understood but highly productive ecosystems that exist almost a mile below the surface. This Article argues that our current natural resource damages regimes for oil …
A Learning Collaboratory: Improving Federal Climate Change Adaptation Planning, Alejandro E. Camacho
A Learning Collaboratory: Improving Federal Climate Change Adaptation Planning, Alejandro E. Camacho
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
A Game Of Old Maid: The Ninth Circuit Establishes When The Owner-Operator Is Determined For Cercla Liability In California V. Hearthside Residential Corp., Dustin M. Glazier
A Game Of Old Maid: The Ninth Circuit Establishes When The Owner-Operator Is Determined For Cercla Liability In California V. Hearthside Residential Corp., Dustin M. Glazier
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
When The “Hard Look” Is Soft: Reconciling Center For Biological Diversity V. Department Of The Interior Within Ninth Circuit Environmental Precedent, Dustin M. Glazier
When The “Hard Look” Is Soft: Reconciling Center For Biological Diversity V. Department Of The Interior Within Ninth Circuit Environmental Precedent, Dustin M. Glazier
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
Beautifying The Ugly Step-Sister: Desiging An Effective Cap-And-Trade Program To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Miles Young
Beautifying The Ugly Step-Sister: Desiging An Effective Cap-And-Trade Program To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Miles Young
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
Virtual Consumption: A Second Life For Earth?, Albert C. Lin
Virtual Consumption: A Second Life For Earth?, Albert C. Lin
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
Standing Up For The Environment: The Ability Of Plaintiffs To Establish Legal Standing To Redress Injuries Caused By Global Warming, Blake R. Bertagna
Standing Up For The Environment: The Ability Of Plaintiffs To Establish Legal Standing To Redress Injuries Caused By Global Warming, Blake R. Bertagna
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
Federal Wetland Jurisdiction And The Power To Regulate Commerce: Searching For The Nexus In Gerke Excavating, Joshua L. Lee
Federal Wetland Jurisdiction And The Power To Regulate Commerce: Searching For The Nexus In Gerke Excavating, Joshua L. Lee
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
Emergency Response And Planning Requirements Applicable To Unpermitted Air Pollution Releases, Arnold W. Reitze Jr.
Emergency Response And Planning Requirements Applicable To Unpermitted Air Pollution Releases, Arnold W. Reitze Jr.
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
Battle Over Control Of Low-Level Radioactive Waste: Some States Are Overstepping Their Bounds, Melissa Beutler Orien
Battle Over Control Of Low-Level Radioactive Waste: Some States Are Overstepping Their Bounds, Melissa Beutler Orien
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
Throwing Canis Lupus To The Wolves: United States V. Mckittrick And The Existence Of The Yellowstone And Central Idaho Experimental Wolf Populations Under A Flawed Provision Of The Endangered Species Act, Daniel R. Dinger
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.
Splitting The Baby: Apportioning Environmental Liability Among Triggered Insurance Policies, Rebecca M. Bratspies
Splitting The Baby: Apportioning Environmental Liability Among Triggered Insurance Policies, Rebecca M. Bratspies
BYU Law Review
No abstract provided.