Law Commons^™

General Deterrence And Corporate Environmental Behavior, Dorothy Thornton, Neil Gunningham, Robert Kagan

Robert Kagan

This research addresses the assumption that“general deterrence” is an important key to enhanced compliance with regulatory laws. Through a survey of 233 firms in several industries in the United States, we sought to answer the following questions: (1) When severe legal penalties are imposed against a violator of environmental laws, do other companies in the same industry actually learn about such“signal cases”? (2) Does knowing about“signal cases” change firms’ compliance-related behavior? It was found that only 42 percent of respondents could identify the“signal case,” but 89 percent could identify some enforcement actions against other firms, and 63 percent of firms …

In Defense Of, Or Offensive To Farms? Hog Farming And The Changing American Agricultural Industry, Shi-Ling Hsu

Shi-Ling Hsu

American agriculture is inexorably concentrating into the hands of a small number of large conglomerates. Expanding farms pursuing scale economies would also normally have to abide by a system of environmental and other laws that would, in theory, require farms to account for negative externalities. If those laws were observed and enforced, they would help strike a balance between the greater profitability and the larger externalities of larger farms. But these laws are not widely observed and not rigorously enforced, upsetting this balance and giving large-scale farms a cost advantage while insulating them from corresponding responsibilities.

Perhaps nowhere in agriculture …

Market Failures And Protecting The Environment, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Controlling An Invasive Plant At The Edge Of Its Range: Towards A Broader Understanding Of Management Feasibility, Zdravka Tzankova

Zdravka Tzankova

Invasion biologists often think about feasibility of weed control in purely ecological terms, while land managers’ feasibility definitions are further informed by social, policy, and institutional considerations. We use the case of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) in the Eastern Sierra Nevada in California to examine the origins and practical significance of differences between scientific and managerial definitions of feasibility. A serious invasive weed and a major ecological threat to the region, cheatgrass in the Eastern Sierra still exists in the kinds of low-density patches that are technically amenable to containment through active management. Yet land managers in this region dominated by …

Against The Neighborhood Veto, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

American zoning often gives neighborhoods elective veto power over nearby real estate development. This “neighborhood veto” sometimes artificially reduces housing supply and urban density, thus making housing more expensive and making American cities more dependent on automobiles. This article criticizes the common arguments that neighborhood activists use to restrict development.

No Parking Anytime: The Legality And Wisdom Of Maximum Parking And Minimum Density Requirements, Michael Lewyn, Judd Schechtman

Michael E Lewyn

This article focuses on two aspects of smart growth policy that have thus far received little attention: maximum parking and minimum density requirements. To ascertain the frequency of such regulations, we examine the zoning regulations of twenty-four mid-sized cities, defined as those with populations between 500,000 and one million residents. The article concludes that the first type of regulation is somewhat common, but is usually restricted to certain types of land uses or sections of a city. Minimum density requirements, by contrast, are quite rare and quite lenient. Because these types of regulations have received little scholarly attention and are …

The (Somewhat) False Hope Of Comprehensive Planning, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Some commentators equate municipal comprehensive plans with "smart" growth (that is, development that considers the needs of nondrivers as well as the needs of automobiles). However, comprehensive planning. although desirable, is neither necessary nor sufficient for smart growth. Plans are not necessary because zoning reforms can achieve the same smart growth objectives as plans, and are not sufficient because many comprehensive plans support sprawl rather than smart growth.

Valuing Ecosystem Services In Coastal Management Policy: Looking Beyond The Here And Now, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Winning Safer Workplaces: A Manual For State And Local Policy Reform, Rena I. Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

We set out to compile a list of rules and policies that could be implemented by state and local governments to provide better protections for U.S. workers. This manual includes more than two dozen such ideas, organized into thematic chapters: Chapter 1: Empowering Workers, with proposals designed to strengthen workers' individual and collective power to demand changes in their workplaces; Chapter 2: Making Sure Crime Doesn't Pay, with ideas for strong enforcement of workplace health and safety rules that will punish bad actors and deter similar behavior;Chapter 3: Strengthening Institutions, with recommendations intended to bolster government agencies' efforts to protect …

Interfaces Between Csr, Corporate Law And The Problem Of Social Costs, Benedict Sheehy

Benedict Sheehy

Abstract: CSR is an increasingly seen as the preferred approach to addressing the social impacts of industrial production. These social impacts, however, come in the first instance from production and not the corporation. The legal corporation facilitates social costs secondarily. Much of the thinking about CSR fails to adequately take account of the systemic nature of social costs, the legal nature of the corporation and social costs and the so the systemic failure of law to deal with them. This article addresses the interface between the three concepts and related issues of CSR, social costs and corporate law.

Risk Tradeoff Analysis, Public Opinion And Nuclear Safety: A Spanish Case Study, Xiao Recio-Blanco

Xiao Recio-Blanco

The 2011 nuclear accident at Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant opened a heated worldwide debate over nuclear energy. Unfortunately, neither the previous nor current Spanish governments have publicized the evidence used to evaluate the merits of extending the lifespan of Spain’s own Garoña plant. This article uses the Garoña case for a twofold purpose. First, the article analyzes the accountability of Spain’s executive power decisions on potentially catastrophic industrial activities. The paper finds that the lack of appropriate information disclosure duties in Spain may allow the government to abuse its discretion on actions potentially damaging to human health and the environment. …

The False Hope Of Comprehensive Planning, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Some commentators on sprawl and smart growth speak of municipal comprehensive plans and sprawl as polar opposites: but in fact, a comprehensive plan can be used to further auto-oriented sprawl just as easily as it can be used to encourage more pedestrian-friendly development. This speech uses parts of Jacksonville, Florida's plan as examples of pro-sprawl planning.

Why Leave It To The Liberals? Conservative Views On Smart Growth, Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Part of panel discussion on "Why Leave It To The Liberals? Conservative Views on Smart Growth"

The Difficult Problem Of Nonpoint Nutrient Pollution: Could The Endangered Species Act Offer Some Relief?, Zdravka Tzankova

Zdravka Tzankova

Nutrient pollution of rivers, streams, lakes, and estuaries is one of the preeminent water quality issues in the United States today, and poses a significant threat to the health of aquatic ecosystems. Agricultural nonpoint discharges, the runoff of nitrogen and phosphorous from animal manure and chemical fertilizers, are the primary sources of such nutrient pollution.

A pervasive and long-standing problem, nonpoint pollution, nutri- ent and otherwise, has proven to be one of the toughest challenges in contemporary environmental regulation. This situation is significantly attributable to the political and administrative dynamics of fragmented regulatory authority. The power to control such nonpoint …

Plans Are Not Enough, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Some commentators see comprehensive municipal plans as a remedy for suburban sprawl. But in fact, a plan can be used to promote sprawl as well as to prevent sprawl.

The Unfinished Story Of The Rio Plus 20 Conference, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

Reporting on the 2012 U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development (or Rio+20 conference) has generally followed two lines: the conference was essentially a failure because of its tepid official response to the enormous and related problems of global environmental degradation and global poverty; and the conference successfully managed to mobilize hundreds of voluntary commitments and at least $513 billion for specific sustainability goals. A third story line has received little attention, however, and may redeem the account of official failure. This article addresses that story line, reviewing a series of processes set in motion by the parties to the conference that …

Regulatory Takings Claims And Coastal Management Of Sea Level Rise: Remembering Governments Are More Than Regulators, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Systems Thinking Applied To U.S. Federal Fisheries Management, Chad J. Mcguire, Bradley P. Harris

Chad J McGuire

Coastal Planning, Federal Consistency, And Climate Change: A Recent Divergence Of Federal And State Interests, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Climate Adaptation And The Fifth Amendment Of The U.S. Constitution: A Regulatory Takings Analysis Of Adaptation Strategies In Coastal Development With Application To Connecticut’S Coastal Management Regime, Chad J. Mcguire, Jason Hill

Chad J McGuire

Globalization And The Environment: Why All The Fuss?, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

The relationship between globalization and environmental policies presents more nuances than the popular paradigm of free trader versus self-serving protectionists, the familiar model of environmentalist battling greedy polluters, or the outmoded view of a progressive multilateral agenda juxtaposed against a parochial, inward-looking domestic one. This piece sets out a structural and analytical framework for addressing the major issues in the field -- including (1) unilateral trade-based measures to protect the environment; (2) science-based tests applied through trade agreements; (3) disciplines on foreign investment that may have a "chilling effect" on environmental regulation; and (4) the relationship between free trade agreements …

At War With The Environment, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

In this Article, Professor Wirth reviews the book National Defense and the Environment by Stephen Dycus, a recognized expert in both environmental and national security law. The emphasis of the book is on containing and remediating the environmental excesses of the American defense-industrial complex, with a domestic policy focus. While Professor Wirth considers Dycus’ work an intellectually rewarding and refreshing new entry into the ongoing environment-as-security colloquy, he does not consider the book to be accessible to a general audience given the book’s fundamentally legalistic nature.

Global Law And The Environment, Robert V. Percival

Robert Percival

This article explores three areas in which globalization is profoundly affecting the development of a global environmental law. First, countries increasingly are borrowing law and regulatory innovations from one another to respond to common environmental problems. Although this is not an entirely new phenomenon, it is occurring at an unprecedented pace. Second, lawsuits seeking to hold companies liable for environmental harm they have caused outside their home countries are raising new questions concerning the appropriate venue for such transnational liability litigation and the standards courts should apply for enforcement of foreign judgments. Third, nongovernmental organizations are playing an increasingly important …

China's "Green Leap Forward" Toward Global Environmental Leadership, Robert V. Percival

Robert Percival

This article argues that China may be on the verge of a “Green Leap Forward” that could make it a global environmental leader. This article argues that two principal forces have contributed to this development. First, Chinese officials now realize that a global shift away from fossil fuels will create enormous business opportunities on a global scale. Chinese companies are now making enormous strides in the development of green technology, such as solar power, wind energy, and electric cars, with the active assistance of the Chinese government. Second, realizing that climate change severely threatens China, and stung by the criticism …

Law, Media, & Environmental Policy: A Fundamental Linkage In Sustainable Democratic Governance, Zygmunt J.B. Plater

Zygmunt J.B. Plater

The functional linkages between law and media have long been signficant in shaping American democratic governance. Over the past thirty-five years, environmental analysis has similarly become essential to shaping international and domestic governmental policy. Environmentalism—focusing as it does on realistic interconnected accounting of the full potential negative consequences as well as benefits of proposed actions, policies, and programs, over the long term as well as the short term, with careful consideration of all realistic alternatives— provides a legal perspective important for societal sustainability. Because environmental values and norms are often in tension with established industrial interests that resist public interest …

A Review Of Amendment 16 To The Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan, Jonathon N. Feinberg, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Who Owns The Fish? Moving From The Commons To Federal Ownership Of Our National Fisheries, John B. Walden, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Sprawl In Canada And The United States (Powerpoint), Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

PowerPoints for a speech explaining that sprawl in Canada is (1) less extensive than in the USA and (2) caused partially by government regulation.

Marine Mammals And International Trade: Balancing Social Conscience With Trade Obligations – A Summary And Update On The World Trade Organization Seal Products Dispute, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Can The Esa Address The Threats Of Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition? Insights From The Case Of The Bay Checkerspot Butterfly, Zdravka Tzankova, Dena Vallano, Erika Zavaleta

Zdravka Tzankova

The Bay Checkerspot Butterfly reached its threatened status largely as a result of habitat loss through development. The species now benefits from the habitat pro- tection powers of the Endangered Species Act, yet the biggest new hazard to the survival of remaining Bay Checkerspot Butterfly populations may come from atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Driven by combustion and agricultural emissions, such deposition is an important cause of change in ecosystem structure and function, including potentially critical changes in the remaining Bay Checkerspot Butterfly habitat. We use the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly case to examine whether the Endan- gered Species Act, as it currently …