Law Commons^™

The Eastern Lowland Gorilla: Saving The Victims Of Coltan, Amy Costanzo

ExpressO

This article addresses the demand for coltan and the effects of this demand on the Eastern Lowland Gorilla, a species of great ape residing largely in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, home to greatest coltan reserves in the world. The growing demand for coltan has had a devastating effect on this animal, which includes habitat destruction, gorillas being killed for bushmeat, and baby gorillas being orphaned or sold as pets.

It addresses the international agreements, including CITES and the Convention on Biological Diversity, that have already been passed in an effort to help save the Eastern Lowland Gorilla, among …

British National Parks For North Americans: What We Can Learn From A More Crowded Nation Proud Of Its Countryside, Federico Cheever

ExpressO

England and Wales contain twelve national parks coverings more than 10 percent of their landscape. Although these parks are managed as national resources, the vast majority of the land within their borders is privately owned. Although they are managed to preserve their natural qualities, they contain farms, towns and roughly 300,000 people. They contain nothing North Americans would consider wilderness. Although recognized national assets, nationally funded, they are administered by boards made up largely of local representatives. Since passage of the National Parks and Access to Countryside Act of 1949, the British have managed to develop a national park system …

Making Regulation Evolve: A Case Study In Maladaptive Management, Alejandro E. Camacho

ExpressO

This Article is the first cross-disciplinary, comprehensive assessment of one of the earliest regulatory reinvention programs developed to foster more participation and adaptation in decision-making—the Endangered Species Act’s Habitat Conservation Plan Program. Drawing not only from legal sources but also integrating data from recent scientific studies, interviews, surveys of government officials, newspaper investigations, and unpublished databases, this Article delves into the pioneering but defective HCP program as an example of regulatory innovation gone awry.

In the active literature on regulatory reinvention, many have pointed to the HCP program as a prototype for collaborative, experimentalist innovations in governance. Though a few …

Modern Public Trust Principles: Recognizing Rights And Integrating Standards, Alexandra B. Klass

ExpressO

The public trust doctrine has a long history from its beginnings as an obligation on states to hold lands submerged under navigable waters in trust for the public, to its resurgence in the 1970s as a protector of natural resources, to its influence on state statutory and constitutional law as the public embraced environmental protection principles. However, many have argued that the public trust doctrine has not lived up to its potential as a major player in environmental and natural resources law. This article proposes a new framework for the public trust doctrine as a state tool for environmental protection …

Waters Of The United States: Theory, Practice And Integrity At The Supreme Court, Jamison E. Colburn

ExpressO

In the Supreme Court's two wetlands cases this Term, a question of statutory interpretation divided the justices sharply, in part because so much rides on the particular statutory provision at issue. The provision, a cryptic definition within the Clean Water Act (CWA), has now provided three separate occasions at the Court where the justices have confronted (1) the Chevron doctrine and the Court’s own ambivalence toward it, and (2) the CWA's enormous project of restoring the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters. In this essay, I argue that the way the Court went about resolving its differences …

Tough Love: The Dramatic Birth And Looming Demise Of Unclos Property Law (And What Is To Be Done About It), Peter S. Prows

ExpressO

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”) represents the culmination of thousands of years of international relations, conflict, and now nearly universal adherence to an enduring order for ocean space that is the most significant achievement for international law since the UN Charter. UNCLOS establishes international property law erga omnes that, by legal and political necessity, required a bargained consensus to be effective. This bargain, in essence, provided coastal States with extended but limited jurisdictions, while ensuring that the seabed and its mineral resources beyond were the “common heritage of mankind” that would peaceably and …

Bond Repudiation, Tax Codes, The Appropriations Process And Restitution Post-Eminent Domain Reform, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

This brief comment suggests where the anti-eminent domain movement might be heading next.

Statutes Of Repose And The Equal Protection Clause Of The 14th Amendment Of The U.S. Constitution, Garris G. Ference

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

A Modern Disaster: Agricultural Land, Urban Growth, And The Need For A Federally Organized Comprehensive Land Use Planning Model, Jess M. Krannich

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

When Is Two A Crowd? The Impact Of Federal Action On State Environmental Regulation, Jonathan H. Adler

ExpressO

This article seeks to identify the ways in which federal actions can influence state regulatory choices in the context of environmental policy. The federal government may directly influence state policy choices by preempting state policies or by inducing state cooperation through the use of various incentives and penalties for state action. The federal government may indirectly, and perhaps unintentionally, influence state policy choices as well. Federal policies may encourage greater state regulation by reducing the costs of initiating regulatory action or by placing issues on state policy agendas. Federal regulation may also discourage or even “crowd-out” state-level regulatory action by …

Finding New Constitutional Rights Through The Supreme Court’S Evolving “Government Purpose” Test Under Minimum Scrutiny, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

By now we all are familiar with the litany of cases which refused to find elevated scrutiny for so-called “affirmative” or “social” rights such as education, welfare or housing: Lindsey v. Normet, San Antonio School District v. Rodriguez, Dandridge v. Williams, DeShaney v. Winnebago County. There didn’t seem to be anything in minimum scrutiny which could protect such facts as education or housing, from government action. However, unobtrusively and over the years, the Supreme Court has clarified and articulated one aspect of minimum scrutiny which holds promise for vindicating facts. You will recall that under minimum scrutiny government’s action is …

Using Capture Theory And Chronology In Eminent Domain Proceedings, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

Capture theory--in which private purpose is substituted for government purpose--sheds light on a technique which is coming into greater use post-Kelo v. New London. That case affirmed that eminent domain use need only be rationally related to a legitimate government purpose. Capture theory focuses litigators' attention on "government purpose." That is a question of fact for the trier of fact. This article shows how to use civil discovery in order to show the Court that private purpose has been substituted for government purpose. If it has, the eminent domain use fails, because the use does not meet minimum scrutiny. This …

Gayanashogowa And Guardianship: Expanding And Clarifying The Federal-Tribal Trust Relationship, Kavitha Janardhan

ExpressO

The Onondaga Nation of New York seeks to nullify a series of treaties executed by the State of New York, and thereby assert title to over 3100 square miles of land in Central New York State. The goal of the suit is to enforce an environmental restoration of culturally and historically significant aboriginal lands. In order to bring a claim against the State, the Nation must first compel the federal gov-ernment to act on its behalf. By emphasizing distinctive features of Iroquois self-government, the following Note suggests ways to expand the federal government’s trust responsibility to protect cultural inter-ests in …

The United States' Experience With Energy-Based Tax Incentives: The Evidence Supporting Tax Incentives For Renewable Energy, Mona L. Hymel

ExpressO

Developing sustainable markets for renewable energy technologies presents complex challenges. Financial, institutional and informational obstacles impede advancement of these technologies. Tax incentives are often utilized to assist policy makers in dealing with these challenges. Because tax incentives and subsidies generally decrease governmental revenues, understanding their costs and benefits is critical in determining policy choices. For almost 90 years the United States has granted tax incentives, direct subsidies and other support to the energy industry in an effort to enhance U.S. energy supplies. Historically, those incentives targeted only the petroleum industry. Since the late 1970s, however, Congress has enacted incentives to …

The Law Of Sprawl: A Road Map, Michael Lewyn

ExpressO

In the fall of 2004, I taught a seminar on “The Law of Sprawl” at Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Law. This essay seeks to guide would-be teachers of a course on sprawl by showing how I taught the course.

Specifically, the article asserts that a seminar on sprawl belongs in law school curricula as well as planning school curricula, because a wide variety of legal rules contribute to sprawl. The article then goes on to discuss those legal rules and how I addressed them in my course. For example, the article discusses land use regulations that encourage automobile-dependent …

Congress' Pet: Why The Clean Air Act’S Favoritism Of California Is Unconstitutional Under The Equal Footing Doctrine , Valerie Jm Brader

ExpressO

The Clean Air Act gives two regulatory powers to one state – California – that it forbids to all others: the power to regulate fuels, and the power to regulate motor vehicle construction. This paper makes the novel argument that by creating a differential in power between the states, these provisions violate the equal footing doctrine, and are therefore unconstitutional. In doing so, it is the first law review article to provide a complete history of the doctrine, a foundational principle that pre-dates the Constitution and remains the law of the land today. Though the doctrine has been relegated to …

Getting Into The Act: Enticing The Consumer To Become “Green” Through Tax Incentives, Roberta F. Mann, Mona L. Hymel

ExpressO

Energy tax incentives have historically focused on the supply of energy sources. The U.S. government spends billions of dollars each year propping up the petroleum industry through tax incentives. For example, oil and gas incentives encourage production and enhanced oil recovery strategies. Furthermore, most of the tax incentives directed towards “environmentally friendly” technologies focus on creating new technology or increasing alternative fuel supplies. Meanwhile, federal policy makers have largely neglected the demand side of the energy equation. Properly designed tax incentives can effectively encourage energy consumers to conserve energy and use different energy sources. On the federal level, the clean …

Localism's Ecology: Protecting And Restoring Habitat In The Suburban Nation, Jamison E. Colburn

ExpressO

There is wide agreement among conservation activists and scientists alike that loss and alteration of habitat are the leading threats to biodiversity in America. Suburbs and exurbs, though, are only beginning to acknowledge that they are the problem in the struggle to stem the tide of “sprawl” and other economic processes producing ecosystem-wide habitat degradation today. A recent resurgence in academic and activist attention to local governments in America is reconsidering them as viable solutions to this problem. But most of this dialogue is being based upon a mistaken conception of local governance. Much of the legal scholarship on local …

Regulatory Reform: The New Lochnerism?, David M. Driesen

ExpressO

This article explores the question of whether contemporary regulatory reformers’ attitudes toward government regulation have anything in common with those of the Lochner-era Court. It finds that both groups tend to favor value neutral law guided by cost-benefit analysis over legislative value choices. Their skepticism toward redistributive legislation reflects shared beliefs that regulation often proves counterproductive in terms of its own objectives, fails demanding tests for rationality, and violates the natural order. This parallelism raises fresh questions about claims of neutrality and heightened rationality that serve as important justifications modern regulatory reform.

Wind Energy And Its Impact On Future Environmental Policy Planning: Powering Renewable Energy In Canada And Abroad, Kamaal Zaidi

ExpressO

With the rising demand for energy from finite conventional sources such as coal and natural gas, the emphasis on modern environmental policy planning for renewable energy is rapidly gaining attention. In particular, wind energy projects that include wind turbine technology is helping drive this trend towards cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable forms of energy that provide electricity to consumers. This paper provides an introductory review of wind energy, outlining its history, technology, and current legislative frameworks adopted by various nations in harnessing renewable energy. This analysis includes a thorough discussion of Canada’s approach, but continues with renewable wind programs in …

Making Main Street Legal Again: The Smartcode Solution To Sprawl, Chad Emerson

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Analysis Between The Standards Used In The Dneiper River Basin Clean-Up And European Union Legislation, Hannah H. Naumoff-Dulski

ExpressO

A recent case study involved the clean-up efforts of the Dnieper River Basin by three countries, Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. The objective of the study was to provide a method for the identification, assessment, and prioritization of the most significant sources of pollution based on their impacts and characteristics. Herein, the standards employed in the Dnieper case study are comparatively analyzed against the relevant EU directives. The purpose in doing so was to determine if the standards employed in this project could serve as a benchmark for the necessary environmental regulations that would be required if these three countries were …

Recent Developments In The Law Of The "Taking Issue", John C. Keene

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Up Against A Wall: Europe’S Options For Regulating Biotechnology Through Regulatory Anarchy, Aaron A. Ostrovsky

ExpressO

Based on the current state of EU law and the political sentiment surrounding Genetically Modified Organisms, this paper argues that the best approach to regulating the import and export of GMOs into the Community and between Member States is by what I will call for the purposes of this Paper “regulatory anarchy.” This system sits in opposition to a hierarchical regulatory approach which may be associated with traditional neo-functionalist theories of Community integration. Applied in the context of GMOs, regulatory anarchy envisions integration not coming solely from Community rules conceived by the Commission, but by Member State negotiated rules accomplished …

Sovereignty, Self-Determination, And Environment-Based Cultures: The Emerging Voice Of Indigenous Peoples In International Law, Peter Manus

ExpressO

This article presents a survey of both the rhetoric and applications of international law addressing indigenous peoples' environmental rights. Part I assesses three terms that are widely used in international instruments - sovereignty, human rights, and self-determination - for their applicability to the environment-related interests of indigenous peoples. Part II presents a sixty year litany of international instruments as a means of tracing the evolution of global awareness of the uniquely vulnerable position that indigenous people occupy in the world community in connection with their environmental interests. Part III offers a comparative analysis of the cases Kitok v. Sweden and …

Can Business Learn To Love The Environment? The Case For A U.S. Corporate Carbon Fund, Sophie E. Smyth

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Getting Around The Gatt: Passing Gatt-Legal Legislation To Protect Marine Living Resources, Brad L. Milkwick

ExpressO

The WTO has been called, among other things, anti-environment. This is due in large part to the position that GATT dispute settlement panels have taken on environment-friendly legislation—such legislation is often struck down as being unduly restrictive of trade and therefore unenforceable under the GATT/WTO agreement. For example, in three seminal disputes that were brought before the GATT (often referred to as the Tuna/Dolphin I, Tuna/Dolphin II, and Shrimp/Turtle disputes), GATT dispute settlement bodies “recommended” against the United States and in favor of the countries which were allegedly engaging in environmentally-destructive practices. This article looks at those recommendations in some …

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Hypoxia In The Gulf Of Mexico: A Legal And Practical Analysis, Bradford T. Mclane

ExpressO

Each year, a large area of the Gulf of Mexico is seasonally depleted of life-giving oxygen. Called hypoxia, the phenomenon threatens to bring about a collapse of the Gulf’s marine ecosystem. A voluntary regime is working to address this threat, and has set a year 2015 goal of considerably reducing the size of the Gulf hypoxic area to less than 5,000 square kilometers by 2015. Implementation of this goal will entail an estimated reduction in nitrogen loading to the Gulf of at least thirty percent.

This note analyzes the conceptual transformation of this voluntary regime into a regulatory one. Because …

Embracing Uncertainty, Complexity And Change: An Eco-Pragmatic Reinvention Of A First Generation Environmental Law, Mary Jane Angelo

ExpressO

ABSTRACT Embracing Uncertainty, Complexity and Change: An Eco-Pragmatic Reinvention of a First Generation Environmental Law Mary Jane Angelo, University of Florida Levin College of Law Recent scientific reports demonstrate that despite more than thirty years of environmental regulation, we are experiencing unprecedented declines in bird and wildlife species, as well as ecosystem services. Pesticides are at least in part to blame for these profound declines. U.S. pesticide law has failed to carryout its mission. Moreover, a number of lawsuits have been filed recently asserting that the registration of certain pesticides is in violation of the federal endangered species act. One …