Law Commons^™

Finding The Adequate Legal Framework For The Deployment Of Ocean Renewable Energy Through Area-Based Management, Xiao Recio-Blanco

Xiao Recio-Blanco

The world runs on electricity, but its global distribution is uneven and incomplete. The lack of access to electricity denies some people the most basic benefits, from healthcare and sanitation to security and economic development.

To increase access to electricity, most developing nations have relied on traditional sources of energy, namely fossil fuels, and the extension of a central electrical grid. Scholars and specialized International Organizations suggest that the implementation of renewable energy technologies through small-to-mid scale grid projects could be a reliable alternative. However, renewable energy technologies must overcome three formidable hurdles: low reliability, uneven availability, and the high …

Regulation Of Chemical Risks: Lessons For Tsca Reform From Canada And The European Union, Adam Abelkop, John D. Graham

Adam Abelkop

The United States Congress is considering reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. This Article compares recent reforms in Europe and Canada in order to draw lessons for TSCA reform. In 2006, the European Union enacted the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation while Canada used existing authority under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) of 1999 to initiate the 2006 Chemicals Management Plan (CMP). Focusing on the tens of thousands of industrial chemicals now in use in the US, we offer several suggestions for TSCA reform based on the European and Canadian experiences. …

Facts Can Be Stubborn: The Importance Of The Fact Section In Environmental Law, L.A. County Flood Control Dist. V. Natural Res. Def. Council, 133 S. Ct. 710 (2013), Aaron Schaer

Aaron Schaer

L.A. County is a perfect example of a difficulty that underlies many environmental cases. The facts are often incredibly complex, and based on science that even the PhDs among us struggle to comprehend. And if this were not enough, the environmental laws that these facts are siphoned through are no walk in the park themselves. Quite the opposite, as should be expected from political compromises over intricate, ever-evolving science. Environmental laws are rife with jargon and compound terms that are best left to acronyms like NAAQS and NPDES. This itself has become food for fodder, as these laws have been …

Preventing Cold War: Militarization In The Southernmost Continent And The Antarctic Treaty System's Fading Effectiveness, Dillon A. Redding

Dillon A Redding

This note argues that the preservation of Antarctica for peaceful research and internationally cooperative activity as envisioned originally by the Antarctic Treaty in 1961 has gone unrealized amid growing international interest in the strategic advantages offered by Antarctica, including the possibility of large swathes of mineral deposits and optimal locations for satellite stations. Part 1 describes the motivations behind the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) and outlines the relevant provisions of the Antarctic Treaty. Part 2 examines the military advantages to a state presence in Antarctica and the ways in which the ATS allows for such a presence to be carried …

Will More, Better, Cheaper, And Faster Monitoring Improve Environmental Management?, Ryan P. Kelly

Ryan P Kelly

Two critical problems in environmental management are a lack of primary data and the difficulty of assessing the environmental impacts of human activities. Producing the information necessary to address these twin challenges is often difficult and expensive, which impedes decisionmaking in environmental management. I focus here on the possibility of making data collection more powerful and more cost-effective with a suite of analyses made tractable by emerging technology for genetic analysis. More, better, cheaper, and faster information about the planet’s living resources promises to influence a wide range of legal and policy processes—from Clean Water Act compliance and related public …

Science And Compliance In The Arctic: A Constructivist Approach To The Un Commission On The Limits Of The Continental Shelf, Sari M. Graben, Peter Harrison

Sari M Graben

The United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is expected to play an essential role in delineating the rights of the Arctic states to sea bed resources in the Arctic Ocean. Positivist theories of international law generally source Arctic state compliance to the binding effect of Article 76 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. However, positivist explanations fail to answer why the Arctic states, which are authorized to establish their own limits, would accept the sovereignty costs associated with the Commission’s legal and scientific interpretations. In order to better understand how the Commission …

Policy Tailors And The Rookie Regulator, Sarah Tran

Sarah Tran

Commentators have long lamented the lack of policy tailoring in the patent system. But unlike other administrative agencies, who regularly tailor regulatory policies to the needs of specific industries, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) was widely believed to lack the authority and institutional competence for such policymaking. This Article provides the first comprehensive analysis of recent legislative reforms to the PTO’s policymaking authority. It shows the reforms empower the PTO to have a larger say in patent policy than ever before. The big question is thus: to what extent is it good policy for a rookie regulator to …

An Environmental Legal Practitioner’S Guide To Epa’S Website, Taryn L. Rucinski

Taryn L. Rucinski

Amidst the birth of the United States (U.S.) environmental movement of the twentieth century, one of the most important and far reaching developments in terms of the federal government was the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an agency whose sole purpose was to ensure the protection, development, and enhancement of the natural environment. Since its birth in 1970, the EPA has grown from a relatively small, underfunded department to one of the largest independent agencies within the federal government, with regulatory responsibilities running the gamut from household cleaners to drinking water, to waste disposal and beyond. However, …