Law Commons^™

Making Sense Of Abatement As A Tort Remedy, Anthony J. Sebok

Faculty Articles

Controversy over public nuisance in recent high profile cases invites the question of whether, and to what extent, it is limited by its roots in tort law. This article, which was prepared for the 2023 Clifford Symposium on “New Torts” focuses on causes of action in which the state seeks to enjoin the defendant by requiring that it abate the consequences of the invasion of a public right. In the most controversial of these public nuisance actions, such as lead paint and opioids, the wrongful conduct that is remedied by the injunctive relief has already ceased, and the state does …

“A Solemn Mockery”: Why Texas’S Senate Bill 8 Cannot Be Legitimized Through Comparisons To Qui Tam And Environmental Protection Statutes, Laura Blockman

University of Miami Law Review

On September 1, 2021, the Texas Legislature enacted the Texas Heartbeat Act, an anti-abortion statute popularly known as Senate Bill 8 (“S.B. 8”). Although many states passed anti-abortion legislation in 2021, S.B. 8 received national attention due to the law’s unusual enforcement mechanism: S.B. 8 empowers private citizens, not state actors, to sue individuals who perform or aid in the performance of an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

Unsurprisingly, the authors of S.B. 8 received extreme back- lash from the public, and many academics and legal scholars viewed the law’s private enforcement mechanism as an effort to evade …

Private Environmental Nudges, Anthony Moffa

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

A few years ago, before the onset of a global pandemic, I noticed that my preferred Portland, ME coffee shop—Tandem Coffee Roasters—implemented a new policy. Upon ordering a beverage, the barista asked if I brought my own mug. They informed me that, if had I not, I could purchase a paper, disposable vessel from the shop for twenty-five cents. Some might (understandably) ask, “Does coffee not come in a cup anymore?” The shop implemented what this paper dubs a “private environmental nudge,” a subset of policies that define private environmental governance (PEG)—the actions taken by nongovernmental entities to achieve traditional …

Hidden In Plain Sight: The Dangers Of Environmental Protections Waivers, Olivia Stevens

Indiana Law Journal

When enacting both statutory and regulatory environmental protections, Congress and various agencies have recognized that emergency situations could arise that would require flexibility in the application and enforcement of those protections. Incorporating waivers into such protections provides that flexibility. However, the current state of waivers leaves them vulnerable to abuse. In this Note, I explore how a lack of procedural and substantive safeguards allows the inappropriate use of waivers to further administrative agendas in a way that poses serious risks to both environmental and human health. I then suggest remedial measures available to Congress that would strengthen environmental protections while …

Promoting Regulatory Prediction, Jonathan S. Masur, Jonathan Remy Nash

Indiana Law Journal

It is essential for environmental protection that private actors be able to anticipate government regulation. If, for instance, the Biden Administration is planning to tighten regulations of greenhouse gas emissions, it is imperative that private companies anticipate this regulatory change now, not a few years from now after they have constructed even more coal- and gas-fired power plants. Those additional power plants will mean more irreversible greenhouse gases, and these plants can be politically challenging to shutter once built. The point is general to private actors making decisions in the shadow of potential government regulation. Better information about future government …

Consumer Electronic Right To Repair Laws: Focusing On An Environmental Foundation, Joshua Turiel

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

A "Directed Trust" Approach To Intergenerational Solidarity In American Environmental Law And Policy: A Modest Proposal, Lucia A. Silecchia

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

A Necessary Negative: Analysis Of The Tidewater Virginia Surry-Skiffes Creek Transmission Tower Litigation, Geoffrey Robert Grau

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Justice Unconceived: How Posterity Has Rights, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl

Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl

No abstract provided.

Natura 2000 - The European Union Mechanism For Nature Conservation. Some Legal Issues., Maria Kenig-Witkowska

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Rock, Paper Scissors…Loot!, Michael A. Mogill

Faculty Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Regulatory Reform After American Trucking, Daniel A. Farber

Daniel A Farber

No abstract provided.

Shaping The Future: The Dialectic Of Law And Environmental Values, Holly Doremus

Holly Doremus

No abstract provided.

Shaping The Future: The Dialectic Of Law And Environmental Values, Holly Doremus

Holly Doremus

No abstract provided.

Shaping The Future: The Dialectic Of Law And Environmental Values, Holly Doremus

Holly Doremus

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Between Shale Gas In China And Unconventional Fuel Development In The United States: Water, Environmental Protection, And Sustainable Development, Paolo D. Farah, Riccardo Tremolada

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

China is believed to have the world's largest exploitable reserves of shale gas, although several legal, regulatory, environmental, and investment-related issues will likely restrain its exploitation. China's capacity to face these hurdles successfully and produce commercial shale gas will have a crucial impact on the regional gas market and on China’s energy mix, as Beijing strives to decrease reliance on imported oil and coal, and, at the same time, tries to meet growing energy demand and maintain a certain level of resource autonomy. The development of the unconventional natural gas extractive industry will also provide China with further negotiating power …

The Shadow Of The Future: Discount Rates, Later Generations, And The Environment, Daniel A. Farber, Paul A. Hemmersbaugh

Daniel A Farber

No abstract provided.

Equitable Discretion, Legal Duties, And Environmental Injunctions, Daniel A. Farber

Daniel A Farber

No abstract provided.

Uncertainty, Daniel A. Farber

Daniel A Farber

The article discusses environmental risks and uncertainties and the current approaches to risk assessment. It is said that conventional risk assessment is a powerful methodology, but over-reliance on it can lead to a failure to acknowledge any risks that do not lend themselves to the technique. Uncertainties can be associated with fat-tailed distributions.

From Plastic Trees To Arrow's Theorem, Daniel A. Farber

Daniel A Farber

No abstract provided.

Exploring Regulatory Options For Controlling The Introduction Of Non-Indigenous Species To The United States, Eric Biber

Eric Biber

No abstract provided.

House With A View, A, Eric Biber

Eric Biber

No abstract provided.

The Rhetoric And Reality Of Nature Protection: Toward A New Discourse, Holly Doremus

Holly Doremus

No abstract provided.

The Coming Water Crisis: A Common Concern Of Mankind, Edith Brown Weiss

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This essay argues that fresh water, its availability and use, should now be recognized as ‘a common concern of humankind’, much as climate change was recognized as a ‘common concern of humankind’ in the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and conservation of biodiversity was recognized as a ‘common concern of humankind’ in the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity. This would respond to the many linkages between what happens in one area with the demand for and the supply of fresh water in other areas. It would take into account the scientific characteristics of the hydrological cycle, address …

Globalizing The Environment, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

Fourth Generation Environmental Law: Integrationist And Multimodal, Craig Anthony Arnold

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Institutional arrangements to protect the environment, manage natural resources, or regulate other aspects of society and the environment are not merely matters of optimal institutional design or choice. These arrangements result, at least in substantial part, from the evolution of interconnected social, legal, and ecological systems that are complex, dynamic, and adaptive. This Article makes the case that environmental law is evolving to become more integrationist and multimodal: using multiple modes and methods of environmental protection, often across multiple scales, but in integrated ways. Integrated multimodality is a feature of much of social life. Building on generational analyses of environmental …

Hold On To Tribal Sovereignty: Establishing Tribal Pesticide Programs That Recognize Inherent Tribal Authority And Promote Federal/Tribal Partnerships, Jane Kloeckner

Jane Kloeckner

The partnership between the United States and Indian Nations (tribes) in regulating pesticide pollution in Indian country that is governed by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA or Pesticide Law) has become dysfunctional due to weak provisions in FIFRA and pesticide regulations and guidance from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal agency authorized to implement FIFIA. The tribal/federal partnership under FIFRA is overwhelmingly federal, while the role for tribal governments is limited. EPA conducts all FIFRA enforcement actions and allows tribes a limited role to cooperate in outreach and enforcement.

Federal laws and regulations should …

Environmental Protection In Regional Trade Agreements: Realizing The Potential, Sanford E. Gaines

Saint Louis University Public Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Little Engine That Could - The Success Of The Stewardship Contracting Authority, Kimberly Hausbeck

Kimberly Hausbeck

For decades, environmentalists have resented the manner in which United States Forest Service personnel have managed the national forests. Similarly, local forest communities have often found themselves in conflict with the Forest Service. A temporary and experimental measure, enacted by Congress in the FY 1999 Omnibus Appropriations Act, exhibits significant potential to resolve these conflicts by improving the Forest Service’s ecological administration of the forests and repairing its tattered relationship with local forest communities. This legislative action, which merely changed the manner in which the Forest Service is permitted to contract for goods and services with the public, has quietly …

A New Direction For Shareholder Environmental Activism: The Aftermath Of Caremark, Geoffrey C. Rapp

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.