Law Commons^™

The Increasing Privatization Of Environmental Permitting, Jessica Owley

Journal Articles

This article examines the increasing privatization of environmental law by taking a close look at mitigation measures in permitting programs. As mitigation has become an increasingly important element of permitting programs, permitting agencies have looked for outside organizations to help design, monitor, and enforce the mitigation projects. Thus, compensatory mitigation projects provide a good lens for examining the role of private organizations in environmental law. There are good reasons for drawing on the power of private organizations. They can provide flexibility and expertise as well as increased capacity. However, concerns regarding democracy and accountability arise when government agencies hand off …

What Exactly Are Exactions?, Jessica Owley, Stephen J. Tulowiecki

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Multipolar Governance Across Environmental Treaty Regimes: The Ramsar Convention In Its Middle Age, Kim Diana Connolly

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No abstract provided.

Neoliberal Land Conservation And Social Justice, Jessica Owley

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Conservation Easements At The Climate Change Crossroads, Jessica Owley

Journal Articles

The essence of a conservation easement as a static perpetual restriction is coming to a head with the understanding that the world is a changing place. This demonstration is nowhere more dramatic than in the context of global climate change. In response to this conflict, users of conservation easements face the decision of either (1) changing conservation easement agreements to fit the landscape or (2) changing the landscape to fit the conservation easements. Both of these options present benefits and challenges in implementation. Where conservation easement holders’ ultimate goal is to keep a maximum number of acres under protection from …

The Enforceability Of Exacted Conservation Easements, Jessica Owley

Journal Articles

The use of exacted conservation easements is widespread. Yet, the study of the implications of their use has been minimal. Conservation easements are nonpossessory interests in land restricting a landowner’s ability to use her land in an otherwise permissible way, with the goal of yielding a conservation benefit. Exacted conservation easements arise in permitting contexts where, in exchange for a government benefit, landowners either create conservation easements on their own property or arrange for conservation easements on other land.

To explore the concern associated with the enforceability of exacted conservation easements in a concrete way, this article examines exacted conservation …

Changing Property In A Changing World: A Call For The End Of Perpetual Conservation Easements, Jessica Owley

Journal Articles

Increasing environmental problems, including those associated with climate change, highlight the need for land conservation. Dissatisfaction with public methods of environmental protection has spurred conservationists to pursue private options. One of the most common private land conservation tools is the conservation easement. At first blush, this relatively new servitude appears to provide a creative method for achieving widespread conservation. Instead, however, conservation easements often fail to accommodate the reality of our current environmental problems. These perpetual (often private) agreements lack flexibility, making them inappropriate tools for environmental protection in the context of climate change and our evolving understanding of conservation …

Navigating Tricky Ethical Shoals In Environmental Law: Parameters Of Counseling And Managing Clients, Kim Diana Connolly

Journal Articles

This article explores some of the ethical situations that environmental and natural resource lawyers can encounter when counseling clients. It begins by exploring the Model Rule of Professional Conduct (MRPC) 2.1, regarding counsel’s role as “advisor,” which provides that appropriate client counseling refers not only to law, but also to moral, economic, social, and political factors, when making decisions. It also explores the environmental lawyer’s ability to withdraw from representation pursuant to MRPC 1.16. It places the obligations and options under these rules and other mandates in the environmental and natural resource context, and encourages attorneys practicing in the area …

African Wetlands Of International Importance: Assessment Of Benefits Associated With Designations Under The Ramsar Convention, Royal C. Gardner, Kim Diana Connolly, Abou Bamba

Journal Articles

A party to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands must designate at least one site within its territory as a Wetland of International Importance. To assess the benefits associated with these international designations, the authors conducted a survey of 26 Ramsar sites in 18 countries in Africa. After a brief introduction to the Ramsar Convention, the article describes the sites that were surveyed, focusing on the ecosystem services they provide and the challenges they face. The article then examines how the sites are identified with the Ramsar Convention and found that designation provided benefits such as: increased support for protection and …

Governing Certain Things: The Regulation Of Street Trees In Four North American Cities, Irus Braverman

Journal Articles

Most sociolegal studies of the urban street focus on the human element. By focusing on the tree, my Article offers a unique perspective on the interrelations between various actors within the public spaces of modern North American cities. Situated at the intersection of legal geography, anthropology, and Science and Technology Studies, this Article demonstrates how natural artifacts function as technologies of governance, thereby masking crucial political interventions behind a natural facade. The tensions between nature and the city, as embedded in both the construction and the regulation of street trees, provide an unusual perspective on the management of urban populations …

Can Happy Subjects Have An Enlightened Despot? Customer Satisfaction Among Army Corps Permit Applicants, Kim Diana Connolly

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Survey Says: Army Corps No Scalian Despot, Kim Diana Connolly

Journal Articles

Justice Antonin Scalia and others have described the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ('the Corps') administration of the permitting process as burdensome and inefficient. Empirical data gathered from the Corps, however, do not bear out this assessment. In this Article, Kim Diana Connolly evaluates data collected from Corps Customer Service Surveys as well as the apparent disconnect between applicant experiences and the public's negative perception of the permitting process. She begins the Article with an overview of the Corps' regulatory permitting process, then lays out the history of and context for the Corps' Customer Service Surveys. Next, she summarizes available …

The Ramsar Convention On Wetlands: Assessment Of International Designations Within The United States, Royal C. Gardner, Kim Diana Connolly

Journal Articles

Editors' Summary: The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, more commonly knows as the Ramsar Convention, is one international framework used to protect wetlands. At this time, the United States has designated 22 sites as wetlands of international importance. In this Article, Royal C. Gardner and Kim Diana Connolly analyze survey data collected from each of these 22 sites to determine whether and how Ramsar designation benefits these wetland areas. The authors first provide a brief overview of the Ramsar Convention, including its function within the United States. They then break down the survey data, looking …

The Administrative Law Of Global Private-Public Regulation: The Case Of Forestry, Errol E. Meidinger

Journal Articles

An important ensemble of transnational, transgovernmental regulatory institutions has emerged in the forestry sector over the past decade. These forest certification programmes set global standards for proper forest management and apply them through institutionalized licensing and inspection programmes. Similar programmes are appearing in other sectors. Developed largely by environmental NGOs and industry associations rather than governments, forest certification programmes are nominally voluntary, but are becoming increasingly mandatory in practice. They are also gradually linking with government regulatory and management programmes in various ways, while remaining in tension both with each other and with government programmes. The overall regulatory system is …

Bridging The Divide: Examining The Role Of The Public Trust In Protecting Coastal And Wetland Resources, Kim Diana Connolly

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No abstract provided.

The Ecology Of Breastfeeding, Kim Diana Connolly

Journal Articles

This essay reflects on the ecological advantages of breastfeeding, and argues that that laws promoting and supporting breastfeeding should be included among laws labeled as “environmental.”

Keeping Wetlands Wet: Are Existing Protections Enough?, Kim Diana Connolly

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No abstract provided.

Small Town Trash: A Model Comprehensive Solid Waste Ordinance For Rural Areas Of The United States, Kim Diana Connolly

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No abstract provided.

A Retrospective On Lucas V. South Carolina Coastal Council: Public Policy Implications For The 21st Century, Kim Diana Connolly

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No abstract provided.

An Introduction To The Essential Fish Habitat (Efh) Consultation Process For The South Atlantic Region, Kim Diana Connolly

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No abstract provided.

The New Environmental Law: Forest Certification, Errol E. Meidinger

Journal Articles

This paper argues that the rapidly expanding practice of forest certification, together with similar developments in other sectors, is creating a new template for environmental law. Nongovernmental organizations and some industry actors are establishing binding regulatory standards, systems for monitoring compliance, sanctions for non-compliance, and, when things work well, methods for assessment and revision. It locates these developments as a part of “phase 3” of environmental law, which also involves a proliferation of other initiatives beyond traditional regulation. Finally, it offers a preliminary discussion of the efficacy, adaptability, coherence, and legitimacy of the emergent system.

Environmental Certification Systems And U.S. Environmental Law: Closer Than You May Think, Errol E. Meidinger

Journal Articles

Many industrial organizations are committing to achieve improved environmental performance through non-governmentally instituted environmental certification programs. Such programs typically define the environmental standards that firms must meet as well as the organizational mechanisms required to achieve and "certify" compliance. Well known examples include the chemical industry's "Responsible Care" program, the International Organization for Standardization's "ISO 14000" environmental management program, and the Forest Stewardship Council's well-managed forests program.

Because of their ostensibly private and voluntary nature, environmental certification programs are often presumed to be separate and distinct from law. In fact, however, they are deeply intertwined with law, and seem likely …

"Private" Environmental Regulation, Human Rights, And Community, Errol E. Meidinger

Journal Articles

Private organizations have recently established numerous programs aimed at improving the environmental performance of industry. Many of the new programs seek to define and enforce standards for environmental management, and to make it difficult for producers not to participate in them. They claim, explicitly and implicitly, to promote the public interest. They take on functions generally performed by government regulatory programs, and may change or even displace government programs. Private programs thus have the potential to significantly reshape domestic and international policy institutions.

This paper describes three major private environmental regulatory programs applicable to forestry and discusses their implications for …

Look Who's Making The Rules: International Environmental Standard Setting By Non-Governmental Organizations, Errol E. Meidinger

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No abstract provided.

Liberal Environmental Jurisprudence, David A. Westbrook

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No abstract provided.

Environmental Policy In The European Community: Observations On The European Environment Agency, David A. Westbrook

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No abstract provided.

Privatizing Regulatory Enforcement: A Preliminary Assessment Of Citizen Suits Under Federal Environmental Laws, Barry Boyer, Errol Meidinger

Journal Articles

This article provides a preliminary assessment of the potential effects of the privatization of regulatory enforcement and speculates on what such a realignment might portend for the regulatory process. Based primarily on an indepth review of the first wave of citizen suits brought under the federal Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, it identifies four key problems that can undermine the citizen suit as a device for regulatory enforcement: (1) Citizen suits must surmount a series of doctrinal barriers that could make it difficult or impossible to mount an effective private enforcement campaign. Courts have generally been able to control …

A Brief Inquiry Into The Imperatives Of The Coastal Zone And The Processes Of Institutional Change . . . ., Robert I. Reis

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No abstract provided.

Environmental Activism: Thermal Pollution—Aec And State Jurisdictional Considerations, Robert I. Reis

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No abstract provided.

Citizen Suits In The Environmental Field: Peril Or Promise?, Barry B. Boyer, Roger C. Cramton

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No abstract provided.