Law Commons^™

Legislation And Implementation Of International Environmental Law By African Countries: A Case Study Of Ghana, Brigitte L. Okley

LLM Theses and Essays

The purpose of my thesis is to bring to the light the efforts of African countries, in this case Ghana, in implementing their environmental commitments under international law and some of the problems they face in this regard. African countries played a tremendous role in the emergence of international environmental law, after which environmental institutions and legislations have been set up for the conservation and management of natural resources. The thesis will discuss environmental issues particularly in Ghana, its obligation under various multilateral environmental conventions. The thesis will also focus on some of Ghana’s policies on the environment and its …

A Culturally Correct Proposal To Privatize The British Columbia Salmon Fishery, D. Bruce Johnsen

George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series

Canada now faces two looming policy crises that have come to a head in British Columbia. The first is long-term depletion of the Pacific salmon fishery by mobile commercial ocean fishermen racing to intercept salmon under the rule of capture. The second results from Canadian Supreme Court case law recognizing and affirming “the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada” under Section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. This essay shows that the economics of property rights provides a joint solution to these crises that would promote the Canadian commonwealth by way of a privatization auction …

Soft Negligence And Cause In Fact: A Comment On Ganuza And Gomez, Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci

George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series

Lowering the standard of negligence below the first-best socially optimal level has been shown by Ganuza and Gomez (2004) to increase the level of care taken by judgment proof injurers. In this paper, I consider a more complex model of negligence in which cause in fact is taken into account, and I show that this conclusion holds when the injurer’s care reduces the magnitude of the accidental harm but not when the injurer’s care reduces the probability of the accident. Thus, such soft negligence strategies aimed at tackling the adverse effects of judgment proofness need to be conditioned to the …

“Ua Koe Ke Kuleana O Na Kanaka” (Reserving The Rights Of Native Tenants): Integrating Kuleana Rights And Land Trust Priorities In Hawai`I, Jocelyn B. Garovoy

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Responsible Corporate Officers And Section 113(C)(6) Of The Clean Air Act: The Dormant Provision With A Useful Function, Peter C. White

ExpressO

The flurry of criticism over the addition of the responsible corporate officer provision to the Clean Air Act has focused on its application of strict liability and the mens rea requirement. Dotterweich and Park both applied what appeared to be strict liability for violations of the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act. The fear was that non-culpable corporate officers would be held strictly liable, face not misdemeanor sanctions but the most severe felony penalties.

This fear was unfounded. No corporate officer was held strictly liable; public welfare offenses evolved as the courts conscientiously applied the “knowing” requirement to environmental statutes and …

Wireless Telecommunications, Infrastructure Security, And The Nimby Problem, Steven J. Eagle

ExpressO

This article explores the clash between federal policies encouraging wireless communications services and the application of local land use regulations to the siting of telecommunications towers. It concludes that Congress’s effort to strike a balance in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 between local concerns on one hand and national commerce and homeland security on the other has proved vague in content and susceptible to procedural thickets that might make local parochialism impervious to challenge. The article suggests statutory changes, including time limitations and the creation of presumptions and safe harbor rules, that might better balance infrastructure development needs with local …

Suburban Sprawl, Jewish Law, And Jewish Values, Michael E. Lewyn

ExpressO

The article explains how automobile-dependent suburban sprawl is in conflict with Jewish law and Jewish values. This is so in three ways. First, Jewish law requires Jews to make the poor self-supporting- but suburban sprawl creates welfare dependency by making it impossible for poor people without cars to reach jobs in auto-dependent suburbs. Second, Jewish law requires Jews to walk rather than ride to services on holy days- but in most low-density suburbs, very few people can live within walking distance of a synagogue (or anything else for that matter). Third, Jewish law has traditionally discouraged development of rural land …

Cap And Trade: How The Sulfur Dioxide Allowance Market Works, And How It Could Work Better, Jacob R. Kreutzer

ExpressO

This Article provides an overview of the sulfur dioxide allowances market, and identifies ways in which could be improved. This information can be used to improve the performance of the sulfur dioxide allowances market, and incorporated into new emissions allowance markets to improve their operation. Part I of this Article provides background information on the creation and operation of the sulfur dioxide allowances market. Part II reports and analyzes data regarding the actual behavior of the market from 1995 to 2003. Part III engages in an economic analysis of the interaction between the allowances market and the power industry. Part …

Fuel Efficiency: The Disconnect Between Environmental Policy And Tax Policy, John J. Marciano

ExpressO

The recent high gas prices in America have intensified the debate over oil and gas efficiency, use, and reserves. As the national average for a gallon tops $2.10, Congress and the President strive to find a common position to foster energy independence, protect the environment, and bolster the struggling economy.

President Bush’s energy policy and recent Senate and House bills have not contemplated their effects on the environmental state of our nation or its impact on the internal revenue code. In this time of uncertainty, energy independence and measured use of resources may be at odds, but must we stray …

Federal Permitting Issues Related To Offshore Wind Energy, Using The Cape Wind Project In Massachusetts As An Illustration, Thomas A. Utzinger

ExpressO

Cape Wind Associates, LLC in Massachusetts intends to build a 130-turbine wind park off of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in federal waters. The wind park would generate an average output great enough to power about three-quarters of the Cape’s energy needs.

Construction of this project required two permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: one for a single data tower, and one for the overall wind park. To date, the Corps has granted the data tower permit. This has been the subject of litigation in Massachusetts state and federal courts. The Corps is also conducting a lengthy environmental review of …

Caught Between Action And Inaction: Public Participation In Voluntary Approaches To Environmental Policy Under The Administrative Procedure Act, Janice D. Gorin

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Options For Designing A Mandatory U.S. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Program, Robert R. Nordhaus, Kyle W. Danish

ExpressO

The United States faces growing pressure – both from domestic and international sources – to adopt a mandatory greenhouse gas reduction program to address the risk of global climate change. If policy-makers decide to establish such a program, they could end up creating an environmental regulatory regime of potentially unprecedented scope and impacts. A domestic greenhouse gas program could break ground in other ways too. Many policy-makers are considering innovative market-based approaches to regulation, including a multi-billion dollar economy-wide “cap-and-trade” program. In this paper, we: (1) set forth criteria for evaluating program options; (2) analyze the leading design options and …

Securing Truth For Power: Informational Strategy And Regulatory Policy Making, Cary Coglianese

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Analysis Of The Stockholm Convention On Persistent Organic Pollutants, Dru Stevenson

ExpressO

First book review of Marco Olsen's treatise, "Analysis of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants"

Innovation, Regulation And The Selection Environment, Timothy F. Malloy, Peter Sinsheimer

ExpressO

This article focuses on the question of how regulation can be best designed to encourage technological innovation. Most scholarship in this area applies standard economic analysis to evaluate the impact of various forms of regulation on technological innovation. We reject that approach as too narrow, drawing instead upon principles of evolutionary economics. The basic premise of the article is that a firm’s technology choices—and its response to regulation intended to shape those choices—are influenced by other actors (such as suppliers and competitors), by external social and legal institutions (e.g., industry standards and norms) and by the firms' internal structure (such …

Shifting Sands: The Limits Of Science In Setting Risk Standards, Cary Coglianese, Gary E. Marchant

All Faculty Scholarship

Regulators need to rely on science to understand problems and predict the consequences of regulatory actions, but over reliance on science can actually contribute to, or at least deflect attention from, incoherent policymaking. In this article, we explore the problems with using science to justify policy decisions by analyzing the Environmental Protection Agency's recently revised air quality standards for ground-level ozone and particulate matter, some of the most significant regulations ever issued. In revising these standards, EPA mistakenly invoked science as the exclusive basis for its decisions and deflected attention from a remarkable series of inconsistencies. For example, even though …

In Search Of Themis: Toward The Meaning Of The Ideal Legislator-Senator Edmond S. Muskie And The Early Development Of Modern American Environmental Law, 1965-1968, Robert F. Blomquist

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Fourth Circuit Summary

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

The Fourth Circuit Summary, published at least once each year, provides synopses of important recent environmental decisions decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The summary does not cover every environmental decision of the Fourth Circuit, but only those cases that the editors believe to be of the most interest to subscribers.

A Brief Examination Of The History Of The Persistent Debate About Limits To Western Growth, A. Dan Tarlock

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Will The Wto Turn Green? The Implications Of Extending Observer Status To Multilateral Environmental Agreements, Richard L. Skeen

ExpressO

This article addresses whether the WTO should extend permanent observer status to multilateral environmental agreements and analyzes the impact of injecting environmental issues into the multilateral trading system. The paper begins with a chronological analysis of the transition from the GATT governance of international trade to the formation of the WTO and will also examine influences upon the formation and the agenda of the Committee on Trade and the Environment. The discussion continues with a look at the Committee on Trade and the Environment’s first year of progress and discussion of the critical report entitled Special Studies 4: Trade and …

Invasion Of The Clones: Animal Cloning And The Potential Implications On The Future Of Human Cloning And Cloning Legislation In The United States, The United Kingdom, And Internationally, Adrienne N. Calhoun

ExpressO

Cloning is an area of science that changes daily; with advances being made constantly. This technology has caused great controversy in the United States and across the world. The issue has raised religious, ethical, technical and legal concerns. This paper is broken into four parts in order to best address the complex area of cloning technology. Part one will be a review of the history of the science of cloning and the history of animal cloning. Part two will be a discussion of the risks and benefits of cloning. Part three will address ethical and religious concerns surrounding human cloning. …

The Rise And Repose Of Tmdls On The Load To Perdition: Part I: Litigation, James R. May

James R. May

No abstract provided.

The Right To Trial By Jury In Environmental Cost-Recovery And Contribution Actions: United States V. England, Jonathan L. Mayes

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Development Scenarios For The Richard B. Russell Parkway, Jesse Fountain, Judith R. Wasserman, Jamie Baker Roskie

Land Use Clinic

For many years local elected officials, the state legislative delegation, and community leaders worked diligently to get Richard Russell Parkway extended to Interstate 75 and provide the Warner Robins area with a second interchange to serve the City and Robins AFB. The project became a reality in the spring of 2002 when the Georgia Department of Transportation awarded a construction contract for the Parkway's extension. During the spring of 2003, with construction work progressing toward an October 31, 2004, completion date, the Mayor and City Council decided to explore alternative development concepts for the Parkway.

The goal of this document …

Ecological Science For Lawyers: A Book Review, Fred P. Bosselman

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Dozen Biodiversity Puzzles, Fred P. Bosselman

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Los Angeles' Cornfield: An Old Blueprint For New Greenspace, Paul Stanton Kibel

Paul Stanton Kibel

No abstract provided.

Vantage Point & Issue Editor, Examining The Clean Air Act Issue, David R. Hodas

David R. Hodas

No abstract provided.

Are Anti-Retaliation Regulations In Title Vi Or Title Ix Enforceable In A Private Right Of Action: Does Sandoval Or Sullivan Control This Question?, Bradford Mank

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Recently, the federal circuit courts of appeal have divided in addressing to what extent either Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects those who complain about racial or gender discrimination from retaliation by their employers or schools. Neither Title VI nor Title IX explicitly prohibits retaliation by recipients. However, various federal agencies have issued specific Title VI or IX regulations that explicitly prohibit retaliation by recipients. Title IX "was modeled after Title VI . . ., which is parallel to Title IX except that it prohibits race discrimination, …

Theme And Variations In Statutory Preclusions Against Successive Environmental Enforcement Actions By Epa And Citizens, Part One: Statutory Bars In Citizen Suit Provisions, Jeffrey G. Miller

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This two-part Article examines the preclusion device, its legislative history, and the decisions interpreting it. Part One examines the device in citizen suit provisions. Part Two, to be published subsequently, will examine the device in EPA enforcement provisions. The two parts develop a unified interpretation of the device in both sets of enforcement provisions to resolve the tension between achieving compliance and protecting prosecutorial discretion. The Article concludes that Congress meant exactly what it wrote and enacted: the device solely precludes the successive enforcement it actually addresses. Several of the most common canons of statutory interpretation lead inexorably to this …