Law Commons^™

Cjeu, Can You Hear Me? Access To Justice In Environmental Matters, Sanja Bogojevic

Sanja Bogojević

Over the years, much ink has been spilled in the debate on standing of NGOs before the EU courts. This issue has been the object of particular consideration following the ruling in the Greenpeace case where the General Court denied the NGO in question standing on the basis that it did not ‘adduce any special circumstances to demonstrate the individual interest of their members’. Considering that environmental NGOs tend to represent the interests of society as a whole, or that of the environment in particular, imposing this kind of conditioning seems unreasonable. Indeed, this judgment, coupled with the more general …

What We Can Predict And Affect, Jill Fraley

Jill M. Fraley

No abstract provided.

Transition Policy In Environmental Law, Bruce R. Huber

Bruce R Huber

Embedded within the structure of much American environmental regulation is a distinction between the new and the existing. This distinction reflects a recurrent political challenge for environmental policymakers: whether and how to mitigate regulatory burdens when policy change upsets settled expectations and investment commitments. Environmental law often grandfathers existing products and pollution sources or provides them with other kinds of transition relief. This paper presents a survey of transition policies in environmental regulation, which is followed by a pair of short case studies drawn from the trucking and pesticide industries. These examples demonstrate that the form and extent of transition …

Cercla, Causation, And Responsibility, John C. Nagle

John Copeland Nagle

No abstract provided.

The Missing Chinese Environmental Law Statutory Interpretation Cases, John C. Nagle

John Copeland Nagle

No abstract provided.

An Economic Approach To Collective Rights And Their Means Of Supply: The Case Of Right To "The Enjoyment Of A Healthy Environment" And The Right To "Rational Management And Use Of Natural Resources" [En Español], Daniel A. Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

This paper has two main objectives (i) Demonstrate that the defining characteristic of collective rights related to non-excludable of the benefits derived from the "means" of supply and the material "objects" of rights, is consistent with the microeconomic defining characteristic of so-called "public goods" and "commons " (together we call these as non-excludable resources). On the other hand, (ii) Demonstrate that when we analyze the collective rights as non-excludable resources this aims important omitted challenges by traditional legal doctrine related with the adequate supply of collective rights, this happens because the problems of the -Olsonian- logic of collective action. For …

Agenda: Free, Prior And Informed Consent: Pathways For A New Millennium, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment, University Of Colorado Boulder. School Of Law. American Indian Law Program

Free, Prior and Informed Consent: Pathways for a New Millennium (November 1)

Presented by the University of Colorado's American Indian Law Program and the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy & the Environment.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), along with treaties, instruments, and decisions of international law, recognizes that indigenous peoples have the right to give "free, prior, and informed consent" to legislation and development affecting their lands, natural resources, and other interests, and to receive remedies for losses of property taken without such consent. With approximately 150 nations, including the United States, endorsing the UNDRIP, this requirement gives rise to emerging standards, obligations, and opportunities …

The Viability Of Citizens’ Suits Under The Clean Water Act After Gwaltney Of Smithfield V. Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Bevery Mcqueary Smith

Beverly McQueary Smith

No abstract provided.

The Tropics Exploited: Risk Preparedness And Corporate Social Responsibility In Offshore Energy Development, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Eating Invaders: Managing Biological Invasions With Fork And Knife?, Joshua Ulan Galperin, Sara Kuebbing

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

As the public, academy, government, and private sector all turn increased attention to food systems, new ideas constantly emerge for healthy, sustainable, and just innovations in growing, marketing, and eating food. “Invasivory” — eating invasive species — is one such idea. Biological invasions occur when humans transport an organism from its ecosystem of origin into a new ecosystem and that organism adapts to its new location, spreading widely from the site of introduction. Invasive species can cause significant ecological, economic, and public health damage. Crops, homes, and native species are all at risk. “Invasivores,” as the proponents of invasivory are …

Cultivating A Green Political Landscape: Lessons For Climate Change Policy From The Defeat Of California's Proposition 23, Eric Biber

Eric Biber

The article discusses climate change policy and the political aspects of green technology in America in the wake of the defeat of the global warming-related ballot initiative California Proposition 23 in 2010. The political dynamics of climate change policy are addressed, along with American environmental law, federal climate change legislation, and the California Air Resources Board. The political campaign contributions from the Valero and Tesoro oil companies in Texas are examined.

If You Had A Fundamental Human Right To A Particular Environment, What Would That Look Like?, Carter Dillard

Carter Dillard

Many environmentalists believe that because the earth has in the last several decades become largely a human environment in which pure nature or wild places uninfluenced by humans no longer exist, people ought to abandon the idea of wilderness entirely and do the best they can in a world dominated by humans. That would be a mistake. The idea of nature and wilderness in particular, or of places and things in the world relatively uninfluenced by humans, actually provides the foundation on which to build the international human right to a particular environment that some environmentalists have been looking for. …

Clean Air V. Electric Reliability: The Case Of The Potomac River Generating Station, James W. Moeller

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

Environmental activists considered the shutdown of the Potomac Station a victory for environmental sustainability and a victory for the cause of clean air. Additionally, citizens of Alexandria, Virginia found this to be a victory over the “outdated” polluting coal burning power plant. Looking at the history of the Potomac Station, however, shows that without significant increases in transmission capacity to the mid-Atlantic, the Potomac Station could never have been shut down. This article addresses the case of the Potomac Station and the role of the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and the …

Is It Time To Revoke The Tax-Exempt Status Of Rural Electric Cooperatives?, W. G. Beecher

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

Rural electric cooperatives (RECs) were created with government assistance in the mid-1930s as part of a campaign to bring electricity to rural areas in an effort to improve economic output and quality of living. By the early 1950s, the entirety of America had access to electricity, fulfilling the federal government’s mission. Today, these cooperatives strongly resemble their for-profit counterparts, but remain tax-exempt under § 501(c)(12) of the Internal Revenue Code. This note will argue that, in light of the changes that RECs have undergone and the environment in which they now operate, their tax-exempt status is no longer warranted and …

“To Comply Or Not To Comply?” An Argument In Favor Of Increasing Investigation And Enforcement Of Marpol Annex I Violations, Katriel Statman

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

The 1973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and the Protocol of 1978 Relating to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) seek to protect the world’s oceans from environmental harms. Traditional maritime law, principles of international law, and difficulties in detecting violations of MARPOL 73/78 have made it difficult for nations to enforce the strict requirements regarding oil pollution under Annex I. In light of these difficulties, the United States authorities have used other means under United States law to prosecute these violations. This note argues that while the United States’ …

Dangers Of Trying To Set Earth's Thermostat, Andrew Strauss, William Burns

Andrew L. Strauss

No abstract provided.

The Birth, Death, And Afterlife Of The Wild Lands Policy: The Evolution Of The Bureau Of Land Management’S Authority To Protect Wilderness Values, Olivia Brumfield

Michael Blumm

Since the enactment of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) in 1976, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has had a troubled relationship with wild lands, the nation’s last remaining places with wilderness characteristics. Although for twenty-five years BLM recognized wilderness values as a resource it must balance and could protect consistent with the agency’s multiple use mandate, in 2003 BLM largely disclaimed that interpretation, potentially imperiling future protection of wild lands that were not designated as wilderness or wilderness study areas. Since then, the agency has made incremental – but potentially powerful – steps toward reclaiming a …

Antimonopoly And The Radical Lochean Origins Of Western Water Law, Michael Blumm

Michael Blumm

This review of David Schorr's book, The Colorado Doctrine: Water Rights, Corporations, and Distributive Justice on the American Frontier, maintains that the book is a therapeutic corrective to the standard history of the origins of western water law as celebration of economic efficiency and wealth maximization. Schorr's account convincingly contends that the roots of prior appropriation water law--the "Colorado Doctrine"--lie in distributional justice concerns, not in the supposed efficiency advantages of private property over common property. The goals of the founders of the Colorado doctrine, according to Schorr, were to advance Radical Lochean principles such as widespread distibution of water …

Wetlands Regulation In An Era Of Climate Change: Can Section 404 Meet The Challenge?, Alyson C. Flournoy, Allison Fischman

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article raises the question of how we should assess the potential threat to wetlands posed by the impacts of a changing climate and considers the role that section 404 of the Clean Water Act can play both in assessing and responding to that threat. Our inquiry is two-fold. First, should we be concerned about climate impacts on wetlands? And if so, how can section 404 help us to assess and respond to this threat?

Part I surveys the scientific literature on the projected impacts of climate change of particular relevance to wetlands and the impacts anticipated for particular types …

The Growing Importance Of Sustainability To Lawyers And The Aba, John Dernbach, Lee Dehihns, Ira Feldman

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

Law, The Laws Of Nature And Ecosystem Energy Services: A Case Of Wilful Blindness, David R. Hodas

David R. Hodas

Ecosystems services include the collection, concentration, and storage of solar energy as fossil fuels (e.g., coal, petroleum, and natural gas). These concentrated forms of energy were produced by ancient ecosystem services. However, our legal and economic systems fail to recognise the value of the ecosystem service subsidies embedded in fossil fuels. This ecosystem services price subsidy causes overuse and waste of fossil fuels in the free market: fossil fuels are consumed more quickly than they can be replaced by ecosystem services and in far larger quantities than they would be if the price of fossil fuels included the cost of …

Report On Pacific Islands Judges Symposium On Sustainable Development, G. L. Rose

Professor Gregory Rose

Report on the Pacific Islands Judges Symposium on Environmental Law and Sudstainable DevThe Pacific Islands Judges Symposium on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development was held over three days, 5-7 February 2002. The aim of the Symposium was to bring together judges from the region for information exchange, between themselves and experts in environmental law, and for discussion of potential roles of the judiciary in decision making for sustainable development. It was one in a series of judicial symposia on environmental law organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Other regions where such symposia have been held include Africa (1995), …

Engaging Deliberative Democracy At The Grassroots: Prioritizing The Effects Of The Fiscal Crisis In New York At The Local Government Level, Patricia E. Salkin, Charles Gottlieb

Patricia E. Salkin

Part I of this Article discusses many of the factors contributing to the fiscal crisis at the local level in New York including historic decreases in federal and state revenue sharing, the imposition of a new property tax cap, the failure of New York to address meaningfully the subject of unfunded mandates on local governments, and the dependency of some local jurisdictions on the timely adoption of a state budget. Part II discusses concepts of deliberative democracy and how local residents might be engaged to become partners with local officials in making difficult fiscal decisions that impact all community residents. …

Friends Of Mammoth: Vox Populi Or Judicial Social Engineering , John W. Furness

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Looking Back: Consistency In Interpretation Of And Response To The Consistency Requirement, A. B. 1301 , Joseph F. Di Mento

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

The California Coastal Zone Conservation Act Of 1972: An Overview And Recent Developments, Bruce Tester

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Nepa And Ceqa - Euphemistic Environmental Eunuchs?, Sonia Sonju Erickson

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Subdivision Regulation: Political Armageddon Of Consumer, Property Owner And Environmental Rights , James E. Erickson

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mining, Uranium, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides an overview of uranium mining's role and influence in the American West with comparative information on uranium mining in foreign countries.

Did We Miss The Boat? The Clean Water Act And Sustainability, Ryan P. Murphy

Law Student Publications

This comment argues for more political accountability and more scientific consideration when addressing water quality. It begins, in Section I, with an overview of the Clean Water Act, its distinction between point and nonpoint sources, and the connection between nonpoint source pollution, water use, and land use. Section II considers the tension between beneficial uses and environmental degradation by taking a look at a dramatic example of hydrologic modification. 5 Section III considers an effluent dominated waterbody-the Los Angeles River-and the difficulties that regulating point sources to the river presents. Finally, Section IV suggests a different approach-one that is modeled …