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Full-Text Articles in Law
Wetlands Protection: Regulators Need To Give Credit To Mitigation Banking, Lisa M. Schenck
Wetlands Protection: Regulators Need To Give Credit To Mitigation Banking, Lisa M. Schenck
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
Since wetlands provide a myriad of ecology benefits, programs to protect them, as well as strategies to compensate affected parties for their loss, have evolved over the past two decades. Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, a market-based management strategy called wetland mitigation banking requires developers to compensate for wetland loss or degradation resulting from their projects prior to developing the area. The federal government has endorsed this mitigation banking as an appropriate method to restore, create, enhance, and even preserve wetlands and thus compensate for unavoidable wetland losses. Under the compensation program, instead of requiring land developers …
Unexploded Ordnance (Uxo): An Explosive Issue?, Lisa M. Schenck
Unexploded Ordnance (Uxo): An Explosive Issue?, Lisa M. Schenck
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
The recent increase in transition of military ranges to nonmilitary uses has increased public and environmental regulatory agency concern regarding ranges. Much of this concern stems from the identification of Unexploded Ordnance and its constituents as possible contributing sources of contamination of groundwater and soils. Making the situation potentially more explosive are EPA Region 1 actions at one of those installations, Massachusetts Military Reservation, where groundwater contamination has halted live-firing on ranges. This article highlights recent developments in the areas of munitions and ranges that influence the ability of installations to use their ranges.
Let's Clear The Air: Enforcing Civil Penalties Against Federal Violators Of The Clean Air Act, Lisa M. Schenck
Let's Clear The Air: Enforcing Civil Penalties Against Federal Violators Of The Clean Air Act, Lisa M. Schenck
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
The Clean Air Act (CAA) includes enforcement provisions by which violators of the Act can be held civilly liable for penalties. When federal agencies violate the CAA, however, the Constitution and the sovereign immunity doctrine serve as obstacles to civil enforcement. Federal agencies contend that the Constitution's separation of powers doctrine, unitary executive theory, and "case or controversy" justiciability requirement bar the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from proceeding against them in civil enforcement actions. This Article addresses these arguments and examines the executive branch's approach to enforcing the Act against federal agencies. Federal agencies also have asserted the …