Law Commons^™

Animal Law, K. Michelle Welch

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Law, Dana C. Nifosi

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Climate Change, Water And Society In The Mena Region: A Legal And Policy Perspective, Foluke Olamiposi Akinmoladun, Christine Eleanor Canderson

Foluke Olamiposi Akinmoladun Mrs

ABSTRACT The MENA Region, having a history of both severe climate change as well as drought, now confronts the challenges of a new period of climate change and drought. Its international water law treaty regimes are underdeveloped and frequently violated, resulting in conflict, increasing the instability and insecurity of the region. The countries of the region also have underdeveloped and frequently violated internal legal regimes. These problematic constructs are now compounded by a crisis in global agricultural trade (virtual water). With the cultural strength of Islamic water and environmental principles, the region has potential for organization and education. The development …

Slides: Oil Shale Water Use: Upsetting The Apple-Cart Of River Habitat, Irrigation And Existing Water Rights?, Bart Miller

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Bart Miller, Western Resource Advocates, Boulder, CO

13 slides

Slides: Integrated Policy, Planning, And Management Of Water Resources, Robert Wilkinson

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Robert Wilkinson, Ph.D., Director of the Water Policy Program, Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California-- Santa Barbara

60 slides

Israel's Transboundary Water Disputes, Philip A. Baumgarten

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Student Publications

As water is necessary to the function of life, it is imperative to understand the role of water in the politically turbulent Middle East. This paper will focus on Israel’s water disputes with her neighbors and how such disputes have either led to military confrontation, have been partially resolved, and otherwise continue to exist. As populations in the region are expected to increase, the need for water, already in short supply, will be magnified. Thus negotiations to settle water disputes and provide for equitable distribution of the water resources will become more contentious. This legal analysis of Israel’s water disputes …

Navajo Nation Water Settlement & Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Acts Of 2009 (Includes Funding Mechanism For 3 Tribal Water Settlements In Nm), United States 111th Congress

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project

Federal Legislation: Omnibus Public Land Management, Title X - Water Settlements, Subtitle B - Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, PL 111-11, 123 Stat. 991. ◊ Parties: Navajo Nation and US. Part II, Section 10501 sets up the Reclamation Water Settlements Fund. For each of the fiscal years 2020 through 2029, the US will deposit 120M dollars into the Fund, if it is available, plus any interest which comes from Reclamation’s appropriation. The funds are to be spent on Indian water rights settlements that involve water supply infrastructure, to rehabilitate water delivery systems for conservation, or …

Water Scarcity, Conflict, And Security In A Climate Change World: Challenges And Opportunities For International Law And Policy, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

Although climate change is expected to have major consequences that affect the global environment in its broadest sense, one of the earliest and most direct impacts will be on Earth’s fresh water systems. While some regions will experience increased precipitation, others will suffer serious scarcity. Among others, consequences are likely to include severe flooding, extreme droughts, and meandering border-rivers. This, in turn, will affect human migration patterns, population growths, agricultural activities, economic development, and the environment. This article explores the impact that climate change will have on regional and global freshwater resources and the resulting legal and policy implications that …

The History Of State Action In The Environmental Realm: A Presumption Against Preemption In Climate Change Law?, Victor B. Flatt

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

As we move toward an almost certain comprehensive federal law to address climate change, increasing attention is being paid to what will happen to state and local climate change and climate change-related programs that have arisen in this country in the law few years. As the symposium demonstrated, California has a particular concern that federal law might block its environmental and climate change policies. ...
... In most areas, almost 40 years of environmental federalism has allowed states to regulate beyond the federal government for the protection of their citizens, and we can examine this history empirically in order to …

National Security And The U.N. Convention On The Law Of The Sea: U.S. Coast Guard Perspectives, Dr. John T. Oliver

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

The world's oceans cover over seventy percent of the globe and contain ninety-seven percent of the world's water.

Water As A Public Good: The Status Of Water Under The General Agreement On Tariffs And Trade, Bryant W. Smith

Faculty Publications

Is water a "product" subject to the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)? I argue that it is not, because the established, widespread, and consistent assertion by states of public ownership over their water resources through both municipal and international law (the "public-ownership consensus") precludes any reading of GATT that would fundamentally alter the unique status of those resources. My reasoning therefore differs from that of others who have addressed this issue in that I first examine the broader legal context in which the WTO exists and then consider how that context compels an interpretation …

Wind Power, National Security, And Sound Energy Policy, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Wind-generated electricity in the United States has grown by more than 400 percent since 2000. According to the Department of Energy, 6 percent of US land could supply more than one and a half times the current electricity consumption of the country. Yet, challenges remain in matching demand for electricity with supply of wind as well as achieving grid parity. Careful wind turbine and transmission line siting can occur through cooperation between federal, state, tribal, and civil society participation in decision-making. Tribal wind initiatives have shown that developing wind power can also benefit rural communities. Congress should pass a national …

Water As A Public Good: The Status Of Water Under The General Agreement On Tariffs And Trade, Bryant Walker Smith

Bryant Walker Smith

Is water a “product” subject to the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)? I argue that it is not, because the established, widespread, and consistent assertion by states of public ownership over their water resources through both municipal and international law (the “public-ownership consensus”) precludes any reading of GATT that would fundamentally alter the unique status of those resources. My reasoning therefore differs from others who have addressed this issue in that I first examine the broader legal context in which the WTO exists and then consider how that context compels an interpretation of “product” …

The Water Excise Tax: Preserving A Necessary Resource, Thomas Lee

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

This Comment will first examine the history and current state of laws regulating water use in the United States, and the commercial uses that are the target of the proposed Water Excise Tax. The next step will be to discuss the tax itself from several perspectives: First, its constitutionality, structure, and application in the framework of existing water law; second, its advantages and disadvantages based on its regulatory nature and scope; and finally, the normative benefits of indirect regulation. The theses underlying all of these sections are that public drinking water will become scarce in the very near future, that …

Public Health Protection And Drinking Water Quality On First Nation Reserves: Considering The New Federal Regulatory Proposal, Constance Macintosh

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In January 2009, the federal government issued a discussion paper that details its preferred regulatory route for enabling a legislative framework. This route is to referentially incorporate provincial legislation regarding operational standards through a framework statute, and then develop the details of the regime through regulations to be developed in consultation with First Nations over the next few years. Importantly, the opening sentence of the discussion paper's executive summary expressly connects water and public health. It reads: "The provision of safe drinking water and the effective treatment of wastewater are critical in ensuring the health and safety of First Nations …

The Philippine Treaty Limits And Territorial Water Claim In International Law, Lowell Bautista

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The fundamental position of the Philippines regarding the extent of its territorial and maritime boundaries is based on two contentious premises: first, that the limits of its national territory are the boundaries laid down in the 1898 Treaty of Paris which ceded the Philippines from Spain to the UnitedStates; and second, that all the waters embraced within these imaginary lines are its territorial waters. The position of the Philippine Government is contested in the international community and runs against rules in the Law of the SeaConvention, which the Philippines signed and ratified. This situation poses two fundamental unresolved issues of …

Modern Lights, Sara C. Bronin

University of Colorado Law Review

This Article functions as a companion to a piece, Solar Rights, concurrently published in the Boston University Law Review.1 In that piece, the author analyzed the absence of a coherent legal framework for the treatment of solar rightsthe rights to access and harness the rays of the sun. The growing popularity of, and need for, solar collector technology and other solar uses calls for reform. Answering the call for reform in Solar Rights, this Article proposes a framework within which a solar rights regime might be developed. First, as a baseline, any regime must recognize the natural characteristics of sunlight. …

Modern Lights, Sara Bronin

Sara C. Bronin

This Article functions as a companion to a piece, Solar Rights, recently published in the Boston University Law Review. In that piece, the author analyzed the absence of a coherent legal framework for the treatment of solar rights - the rights to access and harness the rays of the sun. The growing popularity of, and need for, solar collector technology and other solar uses calls for reform. Answering the call for reform in Solar Rights, this Article proposes a framework within which a solar rights regime might be developed. First, as a baseline, any regime must recognize the natural characteristics …