Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Keyword
-
- Clean Water Act (5)
- EPA (5)
- Navigable waters (4)
- Water pollution (3)
- Environmental Law (2)
-
- Groundwater (2)
- Natural Resources Law (2)
- Pollutant (2)
- Pollution (2)
- Regulations (2)
- Adaptation (1)
- Addition (1)
- Brazil (1)
- Canons of interpretation (1)
- Cap and trade (1)
- Clean water act (1)
- Deforestation (1)
- Disaster (1)
- Droughts (1)
- Efficient electrical grid (1)
- Environment (1)
- Environmental law (1)
- Fisheries (1)
- Floods (1)
- Guarani acquifer (1)
- Gwaltney (1)
- IPCC (1)
- Indigenous (1)
- Intergenerational equity (1)
- International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) (1)
Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Water Law
Plain Meaning, Precedent, And Metaphysics: Lessons In Statutory Interpretation From Analyzing The Elements Of The Clean Water Act Offense, Jeffrey G. Miller
Plain Meaning, Precedent, And Metaphysics: Lessons In Statutory Interpretation From Analyzing The Elements Of The Clean Water Act Offense, Jeffrey G. Miller
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article, the fifth in a series of five, completes the author’s detailed analysis of how federal courts have interpreted each element of the Clean Water Act (CWA) offense. Compiling statistics across the four prior articles, it draws conclusions about statutory interpretation in general, finding that the depth of legal analysis increases with the level of court; that environmentally positive results decrease with the level of court; that courts use only a small number of canons and other interpretive devices; that their uses of interpretive devices change over time; and that interpretive devices are not all outcome-neutral. The author also …
Plain Meaning, Precedent, And Metaphysics: Interpreting The “Navigable Waters” Element Of The Federal Water Pollution Offense, Jeffrey G. Miller
Plain Meaning, Precedent, And Metaphysics: Interpreting The “Navigable Waters” Element Of The Federal Water Pollution Offense, Jeffrey G. Miller
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article, the third in a series of five, examines the meaning of “navigable waters” under the Clean Water Act. It traces the traditional judicial interpretation of navigable waters and how Congress and EPA attempted to extend its meaning, then examines how the term has been applied in the context of tributaries and wetlands, isolated waters, groundwater, and EPA’s unitary theory of navigable waters. The author then analyzes EPA and the Corps’ 2014 proposed amendments to the definition of “waters of the United States,” and concludes that those amendments may resolve much of the interpretive crisis.
Plain Meaning, Precedent, And Metaphysics: Interpreting The “Point Source” Element Of The Clean Water Act Offense, Jeffrey G. Miller
Plain Meaning, Precedent, And Metaphysics: Interpreting The “Point Source” Element Of The Clean Water Act Offense, Jeffrey G. Miller
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article, the fourth in a series of five, examines the continuing struggles to define “point source” and “nonpoint source” under the Clean Water Act. State regulation of nonpoint sources is neither pervasive nor robust, and most continuing water pollution problems can be traced primarily to nonpoint sources. EPA should define nonpoint sources by regulation and begin to expand the definition of point source by incorporating established case law and Agency practice to bring more nonpoint sources into the point source definition.
Preface To Protecting The Environment Through Land Use Law: Standing Ground, John R. Nolon
Preface To Protecting The Environment Through Land Use Law: Standing Ground, John R. Nolon
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Protecting the Environment Through Land Use Law: Standing Ground takes a close look at the historical struggle of local governments to balance land development with natural resource conservation. This book updates and expands on his four previous books, which established a comprehensive framework for understanding the many ways that local land use authority can be used to preserve natural resources and environmental functions at the community level. Standing Ground describes in detail how localities are responding to new challenges, including the imperative that they adapt to and help mitigate climate change and create sustainable neighborhoods. This body of work emphasizes …
Plain Meaning, Precedent, And Metaphysics: Interpreting The “Addition” Element Of The Clean Water Act Offense, Jeffrey G. Miller
Plain Meaning, Precedent, And Metaphysics: Interpreting The “Addition” Element Of The Clean Water Act Offense, Jeffrey G. Miller
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The Clean Water Act (CWA) prohibits addition of any pollutant to navigable waters from any point source by any person without a permit. Surprisingly, the first element of this prohibition, “addition,” remains undefined. It has been interpreted broadly by regulators and judges to expand the prohibition to such an extent that it threatens to capture innocent people. EPA in particular has confused “addition” with “navigable waters” to such an extent that it threatens to eviscerate half of the CWA’s regulatory strategies and programs: water quality standards and the § 404 program protecting wetlands. This Article examines the interpretation of “addition” …
Plain Meaning, Precedent, And Metaphysics: Interpreting The “Pollutant” Element Of The Federal Water Pollution Offense, Jeffrey G. Miller
Plain Meaning, Precedent, And Metaphysics: Interpreting The “Pollutant” Element Of The Federal Water Pollution Offense, Jeffrey G. Miller
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article, the second in a series of five, examines the meaning of “pollutant” under the Clean Water Act. Congress and EPA have defined “pollutant” to mean a list of specific substances and broad categories of materials and wastes discharged into water, e.g., “biological materials” and “chemical wastes.” The definition is broad enough to encompass virtually all substances associated with human activity that are discharged to water, regardless of whether the substances cause pollution or are produced through human endeavor. Therefore, “pollutant” is rarely a limiting element. Instead, the issues with the definition of “pollutant” primarily address whether it includes …
Hard, Soft & Uncertain: The Guarani Aquifer And The Challenges Of Transboundary Groundwater, David N. Cassuto
Hard, Soft & Uncertain: The Guarani Aquifer And The Challenges Of Transboundary Groundwater, David N. Cassuto
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article begins with an overview of the ecology of the Guarani Aquifer region before turning to the legal and ecological problems it faces. Because the majority of the Guarani Aquifer underlies Brazil (with the rest residing below Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay), the laws and policies of Brazil have a significant managerial impact. Consequently, the Brazilian legal regime forms the focus of the first Part of the Article. The Article then analyzes the international transboundary framework before turning to the recently enacted Agreement on the Guarani Aquifer. This Agreement, signed but not yet ratified by four countries, represents a major …
Water, Climate, And Energy Security, Elizabeth Burleson
Water, Climate, And Energy Security, Elizabeth Burleson
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Civil society participation can facilitate sound energy, climate, and water governance. This article analyzes the dynamics of transnational decision-making. Part II discusses sound energy strategy in light of a shrinking water-resources base due to climate change. Part III considers how public participation in international decision-making can sustain trust in governments and strengthen the legitimacy of legal decisions. Part IV concludes that process and outcome are both integral to addressing water, climate, and energy challenges.
Investment In Water And Wastewater Infrastructure: An Environmental Justice Challenge, A Governance Solution, Alexandra Dapolito Dunn
Investment In Water And Wastewater Infrastructure: An Environmental Justice Challenge, A Governance Solution, Alexandra Dapolito Dunn
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This article evaluates the impact of the growing presence of privatized water and wastewater infrastructure projects in some of the world’s most populous countries: China, India, the United States, Brazil, and Nigeria. Together, these nations account for nearly 50 percent of the world’s population. The article discusses environmental justice issues associated with contaminated drinking water and insufficient sanitation and explores the role that public versus private ownership of water infrastructure plays in ensuring access to clean water for the lower-income echelons of society. It articulates the importance of the rule of law and sound environmental governance in this arena and …
Farming The Ocean, Ann Powers
Farming The Ocean, Ann Powers
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Was that salmon you ate for lunch caught in the wild, chill waters of the North Atlantic? What about the mussels you had last night? Did they arrive on your table through traditional capture techniques, or were they a product of the fish-farming industry? And if so, does it matter? What else in your daily life might be a result of deliberate culture of once wild species? Protein in your pet's food, gel in your toothpaste and cosmetics, thickener in your pasta sauce, the seaweed in your sushi? For the most part we pay little attention to where our foods …
Gwaltney Of Smithfield Revisited, Ann Powers
Gwaltney Of Smithfield Revisited, Ann Powers
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This article returns to the earlier Gwaltney decision, looking both to the text of the Gwaltney opinion, and to internal memoranda demonstrating the debate which occurred among the justices themselves over the nature of the beast with which they were dealing: a confusing mixture of subject matter jurisdiction, substantive cause of action and constitutionally based standing requirements. This review leads to the conclusion that the opinion's lack of analytical clarity, which created substantial confusion for courts and litigants, could have been avoided by a more carefully reasoned work based on the Court's internal discussions. Further, the Court's decision in Steel …