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Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Law

Cleaning Up Superfund, W. Kip Viscusi Jul 1996

Cleaning Up Superfund, W. Kip Viscusi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The cleanup of hazardous wastes is the number one environmental concern of the American people. The government's response: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched its Superfund program, which was established by Congress in 1980 and reformed in 1986. But, though not even two decades old, the Superfund effort is now a major target of Congress in its regulatory reform efforts. There are two main sources of dissatisfaction: First, cleanups of hazardous wastes are expensive, averaging $25.7 million per site. Superfund expenditures increased from under $400 million in 1985 to over $1.4 billion in 1995 and continue to be above the …


What Should Be The Leading Principles Of Land Use Planning? A German Perspective, Clifford Larsen Jan 1996

What Should Be The Leading Principles Of Land Use Planning? A German Perspective, Clifford Larsen

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Article discussing German land use planning, the author begins by tracing the historical emergence of land use planning in Germany. The author then evaluates the influence of Germany's constitution on the fundamental principles of land use planning. The author reviews German land use planning's historical and constitutional foundations, then examines the goals guiding federal and state planning and the system constructed to achieve these goals. The author proceeds to analyze the challenges presented to German land use planning by reunification, the environment, and European interdependence. In conclusion, the author reviews the relative merits of German land use planning …


Malpractice And Environmental Law: Should Environmental Law "Specialists" Be Worried?, J.B. Ruhl Jan 1996

Malpractice And Environmental Law: Should Environmental Law "Specialists" Be Worried?, J.B. Ruhl

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This article examines the field of environmental law as a potential minefield for malpractice claims given its complex and dynamic nature. The article outlines principles for malpractice law applied to environmental law, based on malpractice principles applied in the tax and patent fields.


Regulating The Regulators, W. Kip Viscusi Jan 1996

Regulating The Regulators, W. Kip Viscusi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Since the 1970s, there has been a tremendous growth in government regulation pertaining to risk and the environment. These efforts have emerged quite legitimately because market processes alone cannot fully address risk-related concerns.' Without some kind of regulation or liability, for example, firms lack appropriate incentives to restrict their pollution. Similarly, when products or activities are extremely risky, if people are not cognizant of the risks they face, the firms generating the hazards may not have adequate incentives to issue warnings. To solve these problems, regulatory agencies have mounted a wide variety of efforts to improve the quality of the …


The Fitness Of Law: Using Complexity Theory To Describe The Evolution Of Law And Society And Its Practical Meaning For Democracy, J.B. Ruhl Jan 1996

The Fitness Of Law: Using Complexity Theory To Describe The Evolution Of Law And Society And Its Practical Meaning For Democracy, J.B. Ruhl

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This article is the second in my series of articles exploring the application of complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory to legal systems. Building on the model outlined in the first installment (in the Duke Law Journal), this work develops an evolutionary theory of legal systems as CAS. It suggests that long-term fitness of the legal system will require use of innovative, adaptive legal institutions and instruments.