Law Commons^™

Finding Better Words: Markets, Property, Rights, And Resources, Andrew P. Morriss, Roger Meiners, Bruce Yandle

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

To use or conserve environmental and natural resources effectively is complex. Many economists believe that institutional solutions built around markets and property rights can help improve results. This approach addresses what Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto termed the “missing lessons of U.S. history”— institutions whose designers may not have understood the outcomes that would occur, but the results were generally beneficial. However, technical economic analysis generally fails to persuade many at the policy level. Adding a focus on the practicality of solving issues by voluntary action will enrich the policy discussions. To do so requires economists to provide concrete examples …

Principle Of Cbdr-Rc: Its Interpretation And Implementation Through Ndcs In The Context Of Sustainable Development, Stellina Jolly, Abhishek Trivedi

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

For the international community, 2015 was a momentous year in terms of transformative legal developments. Climate change response culminated in the adoption of the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which heralded a new era in the international community’s pursuit of sustainability. Both of these developments are complementary; the climate change legal framework acknowledges sustainable development, and SDGs explicitly recognize the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement presented to the global community an objective to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, through sustainable development and efforts to …

Front Matter

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Climate Change Has Beef With Federal Cattle Grazing, John David Janicek

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Increased emissions of greenhouse gases are causing the Earth􏰂s climate to change producing extreme temperatures and dangerous conditions for mankind. Livestock is positioned at a unique juncture of the current and future fight against atmospheric temperature rise. These animals produce the very nutrients a growing world population needs to survive, and the meat they yield plays an important role in all world cultures. Unfortunately, the production of livestock is considered one of the most significant emitters of greenhouse gases, of which cattle is the largest contributor. Therefore, a balance must be struck between livestock production and preservation of the Earth. …

Table Of Contents

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Principle Of Cbdr-Rc: Its Interpretation And Implementation Through Ndcs In The Context Of Sustainable Development, Stellina Jolly, Abhishek Trivedi

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

For the international community, 2015 was a momentous year in terms of transformative legal developments. Climate change response culminated in the adoption of the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which heralded a new era in the international community’s pursuit of sustainability. Both of these developments are complementary; the climate change legal framework acknowledges sustainable development, and SDGs explicitly recognize the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement presented to the global community an objective to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, through sustainable development and efforts to …

Finding Better Words: Markets, Property, Rights, And Resources, Andrew P. Morriss, Roger E. Meiners, Bruce Yandle

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

To use or conserve environmental and natural resources effectively is complex. Many economists believe that institutional solutions built around markets and property rights can help improve results. This approach addresses what Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto termed the “missing lessons of U.S. history”— institutions whose designers may not have understood the outcomes that would occur, but the results were generally beneficial. However, technical economic analysis generally fails to persuade many at the policy level. Adding a focus on the practicality of solving issues by voluntary action will enrich the policy discussions. To do so requires economists to provide concrete examples …

Table Of Contents

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Treading Water: How Citizens, States, And The Environmental Protection Agency Can Restore Proper Criminal Enforcement Of The Clean Water Act's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, Marley Kimelman

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Upon the passage of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) in 1972, primary responsibility for protecting the United States' water quality and preventing water pollution shifted from the states to the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”). The program at the heart of the Clean Water Act, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”), requires anyone who discharges pollutants into the waters of the United States to abide by the terms of a permit issued under the program. If a discharge occurs in violation of the permit or without a permit, and prosecutors are able to prove the responsible party acted with ordinary …

From Loon Lake To Chuckanut Creek: The Rise And Fall Of Environmental Values In Washington's Water Resources Act, Rachael Paschal Osborn

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the Water Resources Act of 1971, Washington’s program to protect instream flows in state rivers. Implementation has been controversial and, even a half century later, incomplete. Part 1 introduces the Act. Part 2 examines its legislative history, and administrative development by the Department of Ecology. The Act innovated water allocation, putting instream flows and public uses of rivers on par with out-of-stream water rights. But river protection labors under serious limitations, chief among them the subordination of instream flows to pre-existing water rights. And, although only half of Washington’s watersheds are protected …

Building Back Better: Investing In A Resilient Recovery For Washington State, Kevin Tempest, Jonah Kurman-Faber, Ruby Wincele

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

This article analyzes the potential jobs and community health benefits created by a sample Resilient Recovery Portfolio of investments in Washington State. This type of investment mindset can kick-start job growth, shared economic prosperity, cleaner air, and climate-resilient communities, thereby serving as a template for Building Back Better in Washington and elsewhere. A Resilient Recovery Portfolio supports over ten jobs per million dollars invested in clean transportation, forest conservation and ecosystem restoration, clean energy, water and energy efficiency, low carbon agriculture, and sustainable industry programs. By comparison, the state’s ten largest industries support 4.3 jobs per million dollars invested. This …

Table Of Contents

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Climate Change Action And Adaptation In Tokyo, Yuichiro Tsuji Prof.

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

This paper reviews an adaptation plan for the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. The Japanese Government decided to remain in the Paris Agreement and began trying to reduce CO2 with technology after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. Nuclear power plants were closed, and some are still under safety review. Newly built thermal power plants will increase CO2 emissions, and the battle among the ministries hinders effective adaptation planning.

In 2012, the central government announced three basic approaches: risk management, comprehensive and general planning, and cooperating with local governments. However, the central government’s tactics still fall behind other countries’, and local …

Energy Transitions And The Future Of Nuclear Energy: A Case For Small Modular Reactors, Carl Stenberg

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The world is undergoing a global energy transition that will transform societies from fossil-fuel dependency towards clean energy solutions to meet future energy demand. An assumption is that nuclear energy, as a low-emissions energy source, could play a vital role in a clean, low-carbon future. Most reactors operating in the United States today are large custom-made reactors (LRs). Because of unfair risk- perceptions and the forced internalization of negative externalities, LRs and nuclear energy industry have long-struggled to compete with other energy sources.

The deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) make up for many of the inherent problems that exist …

Reflection On Shale Gas Fracking Risk Assessment And Management In The United States, Yosra Abid

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the current technology of choice for developing most shale gas reserves. This technology allows increased production of natural gas from formerly inaccessible shale formations. One of the primary environmental impacts of concern for fracking is its potential to contaminate water.

This paper focuses on the potential risks affecting the drinking-water resources throughout the complete lifecycle of a drilled and fractured well. Given the significant environmental concerns, fracking risk assessment (what we know about the risk), and fracking risk management (what we wish to do about the risk) appear to be indispensable steps for the enactment …

A Big Fracking Deal: Pennsylvania's Departure From Traditional Rule Of Capture Interpretation Paves Way For Fracking Trespass Claims, Andrew Belack

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

This Comment explores the Pennsylvania Superior Court's rejection of the traditional rule of capture as it applies to oil extraction from adjacent land parcels using the hydraulic-fracturing method. At the time of writing, the Pennsylvania Superior Court's departure from the rule of capture has opened the door for trespass claims filed by an adjacent land owner, when oil under her property is extracted by a neighboring frack well. This Comment also examines the various health and environmental concerns that are consequent of the hydraulic-fracturing method of oil extraction.

Of Hatcheries And Habitat: Old And New Conservation Assumptions In The Pacific Salmon Treaty, Paul Stanton Kibel

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The 1985 Pacific Salmon Treaty between Canada and the United States was negotiated to deal with evidence that Pacific salmon stocks originating in Canada and the United States were in decline. The Pacific Salmon Treaty sought to establish total annual fishing limits for Canada and the United States that were consistent with the sustainable conservation of Pacific salmon stocks, and to base the total allowable catch for Canadian fishermen on forecasts of the total abundance of salmon. As the Pacific Salmon Treaty has been implemented, however, there has been a re-occurring pattern of annual abundance forecasts overestimating the actual abundance …

Table Of Contents

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Nepa, Sepa, And The Evergreen-House Gas State: How Washington's State Environmental Policy Act And The Absence Of Greenhouse Gas Calculation Guidance Negatively Impacts Future Project Proposals, Macee Utecht

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires all federal agencies to consider the environmental effects of a proposed action that may significantly affect the environment. In addition to outlining the important pieces of NEPA, this article explores the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), Washington’s state-equivalent to NEPA. Established in 1971 and modeled after NEPA, SEPA requires that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) be prepared for any governmental project proposal that significantly affects the environment. Currently under both state and federal law, there is no rule or guidance that instructs project applicants on how to calculate greenhouse gas emissions in a …

Hatching A Plan For Local Communities: Environmental Justice In Poultry Siting Decisions, Diana Stanley

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

One of the implementation problems for environmental justice is reconciling the need to protect public health with the economic realities of struggling communities. This article explores that tension through the lens of siting decisions for large scale poultry operations in rural communities. Poultry siting decisions have major economic and environmental impacts and have been underdiscussed in the environmental justice literature. This article focuses on the role of law and policy in concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) siting— from community benefit agreements to Right to Farm legislation. It uses a Kansas CAFO siting and the wider Kansas experience as a case …

The Fight Over Columbia River Basin Salmon Spills And The Future Of The Lower Snake River Dams, Michael C. Blumm, Doug Deroy

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

One of the nation’s most longstanding environmental-energy conflicts concerns the plight of numerous Columbia Basin salmon species which must navigate the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS), a series of hydroelectric dams that make the basin one of the most highly developed in the world. Although the FCRPS dams produce a wealth of hydropower, the mortalities they cause due to the construction and operation of FCRPS dams led to Endangered Species Act listings for the basin’s salmon. Since those listings a quarter-century ago, the federal government has repeatedly failed to produce biological opinions that can survive judicial scrutiny. The latest …

Corn, Cows, And Climate Change: How Federal Agricultural Subsidies Enable Factory Farming And Exacerbate U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Trevor J. Smith

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

As people around the globe grapple with the realities of an ever-warming planet, Americans, too, are coping with some of the attendant consequences of climate change: severe droughts, storms, and wildfires to name just a few. In response, Americans are evaluating their personal and collective contributions to the climate crisis. Notwithstanding President Trump’s unilateral move in June 2017 to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the international community is pressing forward with comprehensive strategies to mitigate anthropogenic sources of atmospheric carbon. Despite their best efforts, however, most of these actions focus on the energy and transportation sectors while …

Environmental Justice In The United States: The Human Right To Water, Tamar Meshel

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Many low-income communities, communities of color, and indigenous communities in the United States are suffering from unequal access to safe and affordable water. This is partially the result of an ineffective and fragmented legal framework governing water issues in the country. In addition, the notion of a human right to water and sanitation, accepted internationally to reinforce and protect human needs related to water, has yet to be meaningfully recognized in the United States. This article sets out, first, to examine the legal framework governing access to freshwater in the United States and the concerns underlying the reluctance of the …

Through The Looking Glass: How Review Of Natural Gas Exports Hides Environmental Effects In Plain Sight, Julia Michel

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Often called the “Magna Carta” of environmental laws, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has made informed decision-making about the environment a pre-requisite for every major federal permit approval. By requiring federal agencies to systematically consider and disclose the environmental and health consequences of a course of action, NEPA also made federal decision-making public—”we know best” no longer suffices to allow agencies to make a decision without considering its environmental consequences. Yet NEPA’s mandate has been thwarted when it comes to natural gas exports. Without meaningful review of the consequences, federal agencies have already approved proposals to export an amount …

Trapped In The Goddess's Mousetrap: Equitable Solutions For Poverty Poaching Of Venus Flytraps, Katrina Outland

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Most discussions of poaching—the intentional, unlawful taking or killing of a living organism—focus on animals. However, poaching is also the primary threat for many prized collectible plants. The bizarre Venus flytrap has particularly drawn media attention as North Carolina struggles to save its endemic State Carnivorous Plant from extinction. Existing federal plant protection laws are sparse and either ineffective (in the case of the Endangered Species Act) or underutilized (in the case of the Lacey Act). Traditional poaching enforcement methods, which target individual poachers with small fines, are designed for animal poaching, and fail to adequately protect plants. Not only …

Intergenerational Justice, Environmental Law, And Restorative Justice, Chaitanya Motupalli

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Global climate change is well underway and its impacts are reaching far into the future. As these impacts progress, they present core questions of intergenerational justice. What does justice require of the current generation in tackling climate change to safeguard the wellbeing of future generations? How is the current generation to achieve a just relationship with those to come in light of the atrocious violations represented by global climate change? Taking the Juliana v. United States lawsuit as an example, I argue that we are not equipped to address the current climate crisis using existing environmental law, and therefore our …

The Gorge Commission: An Adequate Forum For States, Counties, Tribes, And The Railroads Operating In The Columbia River Gorge, Dayna Jones

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The Columbia River Gorge is host to some of the most biodiverse landscape on the planet. In addition to harboring unique species, the Gorge is also home to a unique jurisdictional landscape. The collaborative legislation that enacted the Gorge Act endowed governmental authority of the General Management Area of the Gorge within a compact agency: the Gorge Commission. Railroads running through the Gorge have contested the Gorge Commission’s jurisdiction over their operations, claiming preemption from the Commission’s authority. This article discusses the competing jurisdictional interests in the General Management Area of the Gorge and explains why the Gorge Commission is …

Arctic Law & Policy Year In Review: 2017, Arctic Law & Policy Institute, University Of Washington

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2017 Arctic Report Card, while 2017 did not shatter as many records as 2016, the Arctic shows no sign of returning to the reliably frozen region it was decades ago. Arctic temperatures continue to increase at double the global rate. 2017 marked the end of the United States’ chairmanship of the Arctic Council and the beginning of another term for Finland. At the May 11, 2017 Fairbanks Ministerial hosted by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson–the first ministerial in which all eight member states were represented by their Foreign Ministers–the Arctic Council …

Biodiversity Conservation In The National Forests, And The 2012 Planning Rule, Gordon Steinhoff

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The U.S. Forest Service is required to manage the national forests for multiple use, including outdoor recreation, timber production, and more recently, biodiversity conservation. National forest management plans throughout the country are currently being revised under the 2012 Planning Rule. As will be discussed, the 2012 rule provides the Agency with high levels of discretion and management flexibility. The rule does not require maintaining viable populations of all native plant and animal species. The Agency is required to conserve viable populations of “species of conservation concern,” yet the Regional Forester is granted sole discretion in designating these species. The 2012 …

Introductory Essay: Catastrophe Thinking, Fast And Slow, Todd A. Wildermuth

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

We know far more about certain catastrophic risks than we have been willing to do anything serious about. This was not always the case, of course. There was a time when we could have plausibly said we had no real knowledge of a problem and therefore no possible obligation to do anything different. For climate change, the nuances of the date can be endlessly debated; the possible window puts Americans knowing somewhere between 1896, with transatlantic arrival of scientific findings from Sweden, and no later than James Hansen’s testimony before Congress in 1988. For the threats posed by a Cascadia …