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Fears, Faith, And Facts In Environmental Law, William W. Buzbee

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Environmental law has long been shaped by both the particular nature of environmental harms and by the actors and institutions that cause such harms or can address them. This nation’s environmental statutes remain far from perfect, and a comprehensive law tailored to the challenges of climate change is still elusive. Nonetheless, America’s environmental laws provide lofty, express protective purposes and findings about reasons for their enactment. They also clearly state health and environmental goals, provide tailored criteria for action, and utilize procedures and diverse regulatory tools that reflect nuanced choices.

But the news is far from good. Despite the ambitious …

The Lawlessness Of Sackett V. Epa, William W. Buzbee

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

When the Supreme Court speaks on a disputed statutory interpretation question, its words and edicts undoubtedly are the final judicial word, binding lower courts and the executive branch. Its majority opinions are the law. But the Court’s opinions can nonetheless be assessed for how well they hew to fundamental elements of respect for the rule of law. In particular, law-respecting versus law-neglecting or lawless judicial work by the Court can be assessed in the statutory interpretation, regulatory, and separation of power realms against the following key criteria, which in turn are based on some basic rule of law tenets: analysis …

Slides: The Columbia River Basin, Barbara Cosens

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Barbara Cosens, Professor and Associate Dean of Faculty, University of Idaho College of Law, Waters of the West Interdisciplinary Program

16 slides

Slides: The São Francisco Water Basin - Brazil, Vanessa Empinotti

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Vanessa Empinotti, Federal University of ABC – UFABC, Brazil

20 slides

Slides: Perspectives On Water Management In Arizona, Kathy Jacobs

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Kathy Jacobs, Director, Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions (CCASS), Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona

25 slides

Slides: Details Of The Regulatory Framework: Air Quality Regulation Of Oil And Gas Development, Olivia D. Lucas

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

Presenter: Olivia D. Lucas, Esq., Counsel, Faegre Baker Daniels

22 slides

A New Regulatory Framework For Low-Impact/High-Value Aquaculture In Nova Scotia, Meinhard Doelle, William Lahey

Reports & Public Policy Documents

The report is the result of a detailed assessment of aquaculture regulations in Nova Scotia. It proposes a new regulatory framework for the Nova Scotia aquaculture industry based on the principles of effectiveness, openness, transparency, accountability, proportionality, integration, and precaution. The report is based on a 18 months independent review of the industry and how it is regulated, as well as various forms of engagement with the public and key stakeholders. The report draws on regulatory practice in key jurisdictions around the world, including Scotland, Chile, the US, and other provinces in Canada.

Agenda: Water, Oil And Gas: Nuts And Bolts Of Oil And Gas Leases, Surface Use Agreements, And Water Rights For Non-Oil And Gas Attorneys, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment, Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute (Denver, Colo.), Colorado Bar Association. Natural Resources & Energy Section

Water, Oil and Gas: Nuts and Bolts of Oil and Gas Leases, Surface Use Agreements, and Water Rights for Non-Oil and Gas Attorneys (September 26)

This third program in the Water, Oil, and Gas 101 series was designed to provide those who don’t practice in the area with essential information regarding leases, surface use agreements, siting considerations for oil and gas facilities, the resolution of disputes before the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC), the ins and outs of nontributary and produced nontributary ground water, and water rights as an asset.

Program topics include:

• Oil and Gas Leases
• Surface Use Agreements (SUAs)
• Government’s Role in Authorizing Locations for Oil and Gas Development
• Technical Aspects of Nontributary and Produced Nontributary Ground Water
• Produced Nontributary Ground …

Slides: Collaborative Planning And Lessons Learned, Matt Sura

Best Management Practices (BMPs): What? How? And Why? (May 26)

Presenter: Matt Sura, University of Colorado Law School

48 slides

Agenda: Opportunities And Obstacles To Reducing The Environmental Footprint Of Natural Gas Development In The Uintah Basin, Utah State University. Bingham Entrepreneurship And Energy Research Center, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center. Intermountain Oil And Gas Bmp Project, Houston Advanced Research Center. Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program

Opportunities and Obstacles to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development in Uintah Basin (October 14)

A public workshop to discuss “Opportunities and Constraints to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development” was held in Vernal, Utah on October 14, 2010 at the Vernal campus of Utah State University. The workshop was sponsored by Utah State University, The Bingham Energy Research Center; The University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center; and the Houston Advanced Research Center, Environmentally Friendly Drilling Program.

The meeting included presentations and panel discussions on:

• Trends and environmental issues related to natural gas development
• Examples of environmental innovations being used in the Uintah Basin
• Examples of innovation & tools from outside the …

Slides: The Big Questions, Doug Kenney

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Doug Kenney, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado Law School

7 slides

Slides: Linking Growth, Land Use And Water, Jim Holway

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Jim Holway, Global Institute of Sustainability, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Arizona Water Institute, Arizona State University

29 slides

Slides: The Roadless Rules And The Roles Of States And Communities, Sharon Friedman

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

Presenter: Sharon Friedman, Director of Planning, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region

13 slides

Agenda: The Future Of Federal Wetlands Regulation After Rapanos, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

The Future of Federal Wetlands Regulation After Rapanos (May 10)

Hot-Topic Discussion held at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck in Denver, Colorado on May 10, 2007 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.

Speaker: Mark Squillace, Director of the Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado School of Law.

Commentators: Wayne Forman and Michelle Kales, attorneys, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

"Rapanos v. United States, 547 U.S. 715 (2006), was a United States Supreme Court case challenging federal jurisdiction to regulate isolated wetlands under the Clean Water Act. It was the first major environmental case heard by the newly appointed Chief Justice, John Roberts and Associate Justice, Samuel Alito. The Supreme Court …

Slides: The Future Of Federal Wetlands Regulation, Mark Squillace

The Future of Federal Wetlands Regulation After Rapanos (May 10)

Presenter: Professor Mark Squillace, Director, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado School of Law

35 slides

Equitable Management And Allocation Of Trans-Boundary Waters In India [Abstract], Mohan V. Katarki

Allocating and Managing Water for a Sustainable Future: Lessons from Around the World (Summer Conference, June 11-14)

1 page.

Collaborative Approaches To Conservation: A Critical Look, Larry Macdonnell

Strategies in Western Water Law and Policy: Courts, Coercion and Collaboration (Summer Conference, June 8-11)

7 pages.

The Role Of Riparian Water Law In Protecting Biodiversity: An Indiana (Usa) Case Study, Robert L. Fischman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article discusses how the rules affecting the use of surface water ground water in a typical riparian state, Indiana, can promote the conservation biological diversity. The article first surveys the basic water laws that apply to surface water, diffused surface water, underground streams, and ground water. The rules governing the uses of these waters originate in common law property doctrines and substantially clarified by state legislation. Next the article considers state administration of water. The article examines regulatory tools and administrative opportunities control uses of water in a manner that protects biodiversity. Programs requiring permits for construction in floodplains, …

Innovative Approaches To Irrigation Conservation, Larry D. Simpson

Water Organizations in a Changing West (Summer Conference, June 14-16)

3 pages.

Wild Dunes And Serbonian Bogs: The Impact Of The Lucas Decision On Shoreline Protection Programs, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, the United Supreme Court was forced once again to delve into the law of regulatory takings. This experience is seldom a pleasant one. Echoing the poet John Milton, an exasperated state court judge once described takings law as a “Serbonian Bog.” Unfortunately, the takings doctrine is only slightly more comprehensible after the Lucas decision than it was before. Nevertheless, progress in this area, however modest, deserves praise, and the Court is to be commended for clarifying one aspect of takings jurisprudence. As a result of Lucas a “categorical rule” has been announced …

Agenda: Innovation In Western Water Law And Management, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Innovation in Western Water Law and Management (Summer Conference, June 5-7)

Conference organizers and/or faculty included University of Colorado School of Law professors Lawrence J. MacDonnell, David H. Getches, Charles F. Wilkinson and Richard B. Collins.

Pressures of population, drought, and changing water use have provided the impetus for numerous innovations in water law and management in recent years. The Center's annual conference June 5-7, 1991, will look at innovation and change in five areas--water planning, special water management areas, negotiated settlements of tribal water rights, conjunctive use of ground and surface water, and public values in water decision making. Each session will begin with talks by experts from several western …

Livestock Grazing On Public Lands: Procedures And Issues, E. T. Bartlett

The Public Lands During the Remainder of the 20th Century: Planning, Law, and Policy in the Federal Land Agencies (Summer Conference, June 8-10)

17 pages.

Contains references.

Siting Industrial Facilities In The Western United States, Joseph Browder

External Development Affecting the National Parks: Preserving "The Best Idea We Ever Had" (September 14-16)

24 pages.

Contains references.

Legal Issues Associated With Protecting Park Resources: Air Quality And Related Values, Molly N. Ross

External Development Affecting the National Parks: Preserving "The Best Idea We Ever Had" (September 14-16)

109 pages.

Contains references.

Contains 5 attachments:

1) United States Department of the Interior Memorandum, September 20, 1985: Protection of National Park System Units from the Adverse Effects of Air Pollution.

2) Library of Congress Congressional Research Service Memorandum, November 19, 1985: Comments on Department of the Interior Memorandum of September 20, 1985 Entitled "Protection of National Park System Units from the Adverse Effects of Air Pollution."

3) United States Department of the Interior Memorandum, May 15, 1986: Legal Authority of the Secretary to Protect the Air Quality and Related Values of NPS Units from Adverse Impacts of Surface Coal …

Water Rights, The Public Trust Doctrine, And The Protection Of Instream Uses, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Our society uses water for a variety of productive purposes, including domestic, agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and energy development. Most of these uses require physical removal of water from watercourses or ground water aquifers. Water can also serve useful purposes, however, when it remains a lake or stream. Flowing water helps to maintain water quality and furthers other uses such as recreation, aesthetic values, and ecological interests—referred to as “instream uses.”

Large quantities of water must remain in place to safeguard instream uses. At the same time, the increasing demands of consumptive water users are significantly reducing streamflows and lake levels …

The San Luis Valley Groundwater Dispute, David Harrison, Jeris Danielson

Groundwater: Allocation, Development and Pollution (Summer Conference, June 6-9)

25 pages (includes illustrations and map).

Agenda: Federal Lands, Laws And Policies And The Development Of Natural Resources: A Short Course, University Of Colorado. School Of Law, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Federal Lands, Laws and Policies and the Development of Natural Resources: A Short Course (Summer Conference, July 28-August 1)

Even before the [Natural Resources Law] Center was established [in the fall of 1981], the [University of Colorado] School of Law was organizing annual natural resources law summer short courses. To date four programs have been presented:

- July 1980: "Federal Lands, Laws and Policies and the Development of Natural Resources"

- June 1981: "Water Resources Allocation: Laws and Emerging Issues"

- June 1982: "New Sources of Water for Energy Development and Growth: lnterbasin Transfers"

- June 1983: "Groundwater: Allocation, Development and Pollution"

(Reprinted from Resource Law Notes, no. 1, Jan. 1984, at 1.)

Instructors for this conference included University …

Drinking Water Regulation, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

As 1974 drew to a close, President Ford signed legislation extending federal jurisdiction into a new realm: the quality of public drinking water supplies. This Safe Drinking Water Act is an interesting piece of legislation. It probably will become one more bit of data for the MOLDS System, and the Act, fortunately, has provisions which meet some of the criteria which Luther Avery set forth. Before describing the Act, I want to present a few statistics and background facts about this innocent bit of H2O.

A Modern Proposal For State Regulation Of Consumptive Uses Of Water, Richard C. Ausness, Frank E. Maloney

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

As a nation, the United States is in the early stages of a developing water crisis. With an exploding population accompanied by great technological advances in industry and agriculture, America is using progressively more water each day; the increasing use threatens to exceed available supplies in the future unless available resources are properly managed.

As the demand for water grows, problems related to the equitable allocation of this important resource will likewise increase. The need that presently exists for an integrated and balanced approach to the problems of water consumption, pollution, navigation and recreation will become even more acute in …

Water Quality Control: A Modern Approach To State Regulation, Richard C. Ausness, Frank E. Maloney

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The American public of late has shown increasing concern over the quality of the environment. Water pollution has long been recognized as a major threat to a better environment. Municipal, industrial, and agricultural operations all contribute to the pollution problem. Municipalities empty millions of gallons of inadequately-treated sewage into the nation's rivers and streams. Municipal wastes are almost exclusively organic in nature. Currently municipal wastes are estimated to average about ten million tons annually while industrial pollution averages approximately fifteen million tons. Treatment in general is technologically feasible; the primary impediment is financial inability on the part of municipalities to …