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Full-Text Articles in Law
Keeping Track Of Conservation, Jessica Owley
Keeping Track Of Conservation, Jessica Owley
Journal Articles
Throughout the world, governments require land protection in exchange for development permits. Unfortunately, oftentimes scant attention has been paid to these land protection programs after development. Agencies and permit applicants agree on mitigation rules, but there appears to be little follow-up. When we do not know where conservation is occurring and cannot determine the rules of mitigation projects, the likelihood that they will be successful or enforced diminishes. I journeyed to California in search of answers by tracing four mitigation plans associated with the Federal Endangered Species Act. While I anticipated some difficulties, the tale is more alarming than expected. …
Preservation Is A Flawed Mitigation Strategy, Jessica Owley
Preservation Is A Flawed Mitigation Strategy, Jessica Owley
Journal Articles
The objective of the Clean Water Act is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. To help achieve that objective, the Clean Water Act limits the ability to dredge or fill a wetland. To do so, one must first obtain a section 404 permit. These permits, which are issued by the Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) with coordination and oversight from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), require project proponents to avoid, minimize, and compensate the harms of any wetland destruction or modification. Compensatory mitigation is a troubling concept in wetlands regulation because it …
Mitigating The Impacts Of The Renewable Energy Gold Rush, Amy Wilson Morris, Jessica Owley
Mitigating The Impacts Of The Renewable Energy Gold Rush, Amy Wilson Morris, Jessica Owley
Journal Articles
Solar energy developers have turned their sights on California’s deserts. Since 2010, local, state, and federal agencies have approved nearly 9,000 megawatts (MW) of solar energy projects in the California desert, including more than 3,000 MW on public lands. The 9,000 MW of approved projects (if all are developed) would require approximately 63,000 acres of total desert land with 21,000 federal acres. The scale of proposed landscape change is unprecedented. Solar energy facilities can be more land-intensive than other forms of energy generation. Because of concern about the potentially devastating impacts of climate change, most major environmental groups have expressed …