Law Commons^™

The Politics Of Cost-Benefit Analysis: A Risky Bet For Environmental Law And Policy In Brazil, Julio Borges

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Seeking to disseminate cost-benefit analysis as part of a global agenda of reforms on regulatory policy, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (“OECD”) has advocated this economic tool to all its member countries. A key partner of that international organization since 2007, Brazil officially sought in 2017 to be a permanent OECD member, which means accepting orientation from that organization on policy reforms, namely regulatory policy. This Article disagrees with OECD’s recommendation because traditional cost-benefit analysis has been technically flawed and politically biased towards a deregulatory agenda. The purpose of this Article, therefore, is to analyze the potential impacts …

How Science Has Influenced, But Should Now Determine, Environmental Policy, Jan G. Laitos

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This is an article about science and environmental law. More specifically, it is an article about two different versions of science, and how each has affected environmental law and the development of environmental policy. The emergence of science-driven environmental law has significantly affected how humans view and respond to the natural world that makes up the biosphere, which is the thin envelope surrounding the Earth that permits the human species to exist. This Article argues that humans, and law-makers, should embrace a different role for science. Instead of science answering “what is” questions, it should also explain the universal laws …

Thinking Under The Box--Public Choice And Constitutional Law Perspectives On City-Level Environmental Policy, Harri Kalimo, Reid Lifset

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Water Quality Conflict Resolution And Agricultural Discharges: Lessons From Waterkeeper V. Hudson, Jennifer M. Egan, Joshua M. Duke

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Article presents a comparative institutional analysis of an increasingly important type of environmental conflict—the agricultural-waste-discharge and water-land-nexus conflict—using the recent citizen suit Waterkeeper v. Hudson as a case study. The objective is to assess the resource allocation efficiency and procedural fairness of the dispute processing in Hudson. The Hudson setting involves substantial scientific complexity, including ecological interdependencies, unobservable and observable land management decisions, pollutant transport, in-stream removal, and the problem of multiple and diverse sources of water quality pollution. Although the Hudson farm does fall under a regulated point source category in a state legislative definition, not all agricultural …

Managing The Risks Of Shale Gas Development Using Innovative Legal And Regulatory Approaches, Sheila Olmstead, Nathan Richardson

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Booming production of oil and gas from shale enabled by hydraulic fracturing technology has led to tension between hoped-for economic benefits and feared environmental and other costs, with great associated controversy. Studies of how policy can best react to these challenges and how it can balance risk and reward have focused on prescriptive regulatory responses and, to a somewhat lesser extent, voluntary industry best practices. While there is undoubtedly room for improved regulation, innovative tools are relatively understudied. The liability system predates environmental regulation yet still plays an important—and in some senses predominant—role. Changes to that system, including burden-shifting rules …

Disagreement And Design: Searching For Consensus In The Climate Policy And Intergenerational Discounting Debate, Michael A. Kane

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Current approaches to discounting in climate policy present a seemingly intractable problem. While it is widely recognized that choice of discount rate in climate models can easily dwarf the effect of other parameter inputs, there is at present a very wide disagreement, both in law and in economics, about the appropriate discount rate to use. This Paper provides a framework for achieving a workable consensus range for acceptable discount rates in climate models. It does so by emphasizing three factors previously ignored in the literature. First, it demonstrates that the choice of discount rate should be tailored to the type …

"Soaring" Gas Prices: Policy Considerations For The European Union Emissions Trading System And Aviation, Kaylin Gaal

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Tidal Turmoil: Environmental Justice And Sea Level Rise In Hampton Roads: Norfolk Case Study, Michael Boyer, Erica Penn

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

Green Building Red-Lighted By Homeowners' Associations, Mark A. Pike

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Law: The Policy Implications Of The Reaction To Climate Change, Federalist Society

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Doing More Or Doing Less For The Environment: Shedding Light On Epa's "Stealth" Method Of Environmental Enforcement, Ronald H. Rosenberg

Faculty Publications

Since the 1970s, environmental protection goals have gone from general statements of political desire to highly articulated systems of environmental regulation implemented by federal, state, and local governments. Environmental statutes have been enacted giving administrative agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the responsibility for translating broad policy goals into specific regulatory requirements. Through its enforcement program, EPA seeks to assure that these general goals are achieved by individual actors. This Article examines a recent trend in EPA's practices, increased reliance on internal agency methods of enforcement. The study analyzes EPA's administrative enforcement system with particular emphasis on …

Brownfields And Brac: A Surprising "Compatibility", Joel B. Eisen

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Bringing Sexy Brac: The Case For Allowing Local Governments To Control Environmental Cleanup In The Military Base Closure And Redevelopment Process, Thomas William "T.W." Bruno

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Seeking A Seat At The Table: Has Law Left Environmental Ethics Behind As It Embraces Bioethics?, Heidi Gorovitz Robertson

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Long before its crystallization as an academic discipline in the 1960s and '70s, bioethics was evolving from isolated ideas and theories into a coherent and practical field. Today, people train in academic bioethics programs and seek careers as bioethicists. Hospitals, universities, government organizations, and corporations hire bioethicists, where they use their training to help make decisions regarding life or death issues in science and medicine. Although there is controversy over the extent and content of the influence they exert there, bioethicists have achieved a seat at the decision-making table.

Environmental ethics also emerged in the 1960s and'70s, beginning most notably …

Responsible Response: Do The Emergency And Major Disaster Exceptions To Federal Environmental Laws Make Sense From A Restoration And Mitigation Perspective?, Julia C. Webb

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

The Precautionary Principle: More Than A Cameo Appearance In United States Environmental Law?, Phillip M. Kannan

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Changing Corporate Behavior Through Environmental Management Systems, David W. Case

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

New Orleans, The Chesapeake, And The Future Of Environmental Assessment: Overcoming The Natural Resources Law Of Unintended Consequences, Erin Ryan

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Synthesizing Criteria And Accounting For Economic Waste In Environmental Laches, Richard G. Collins

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Ethics From The Perspectives Of Nepa And Catholic Social Teaching: Ecological Guidance For The 21st Century, Lucia A. Silecchia

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Urban Biosphere Reserves: Integrating Conservation, Community And Sustainability, Jennifer L. Eastman

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Befogged Vision: International Environmental Governance A Decade After Rio, Nicholas A. Robinson

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

The Jordan Free Trade Agreement: Free Trade And The Environment, Emily Harwood

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Senator Edmund S. Muskie And The Dawn Of Modern American Environmental Law: First Term, 1959-1964, Robert F. Blomquist

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Awareness And The New Republican Party: The Re-Greening Of The Gop?, C. M. Cameron Lynch

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of Eco-Pragmatism: Making Sensible Environmental Decisions In An Uncertain World, Lynda L. Butler

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Markets For Nature, Barton H. Thompson Jr.

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Taxes And Subsidies: What Is The Appropriate Fiscal Policy For Dealing With Modern Environmental Problems?, Charles D. Patterson Iii

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Improving Public Access To Coastal Beaches: The Effect Of Statutory Management And The Public Trust Doctrine, Daniel Summerlin

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

A Landowner's Remedy Laid To Waste: State Preemption Of Private Nuisance Claims Against Regulated Pollution Sources, Kathleen Roth

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.