Environmental Law Commons^™

Enhancing Biodiversity On Working Agricultural Lands Through Environmental Mitigation And Offsets: Opportunities In Australia And The United States, Matthew Roach

Matthew Roach

Australia has extensive experience in managing working agricultural lands to enhance biodiversity. State and Commonwealth agencies are increasingly using environmental offsets as a tool to manage the impacts of development. However, working agricultural lands are generally not considered a source of potential environmental offsets, as agencies prefer that land used for offsets be wholly set aside for environmental management purposes with limited or no agricultural activities. This contrasts with the United States, where efforts are underway to use working agricultural lands for mitigation. This paper proposes that working agricultural lands can be used for environmental offsets under the Environment Protection …

Building Codes To Minimize Cover Collapses In Sinkhole-Prone Areas, George Veni, Connie Campbell Brashear, Andrew Glasbrenner

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Cover- collapse sinkholes are forming with increasing frequency under buildings. Analyses of sinkhole distribution in Beacon Woods, Florida, preliminarily indicate their occurrence is an order of magnitude greater in urban versus undeveloped areas, suggesting the structures themselves are enhancing the collapse process. The most likely causes are induced recharge via at least one of two sources. First, runoff and drainage from roads, structures, and impoundments that is not adequately dispersed will promote sinkhole development. Second, leaking water, sewer, and septic systems beneath or adjacent to a structure will also promote collapse. The process of cover-collapse from induced recharge is well …

California's Redd Rubberstamp: Avoiding Constitutional Concerns, But At What Cost?, Ryan Mock

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

The purpose of this note is to examine the issues surrounding California's carbon market, the challenges of effectively regulating such a market that allows domestic companies to purchase carbon credits generated abroad, and the need for federal intervention if carbon trading is to become an effective and ethical reality in the United States. This note also provides background on the United Nation's REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) programs, as well as covers the history of California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. In addition, this note explains the problems California has with negotiating with foreign governments since those …

Submerging Islands: Tuvalu And Kiribati As Case Studies Illustrating The Need For A Climate Refugee Treaty, Rana Balesh

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Climate change will significantly impact vulnerable populations. Included in those populations are island indigenous peoples. Small island developing states are particularly vulnerable to the rise in seal level. Loss of territory due to rising sea levels is not the only problem however, infrastructure and food supplies are also at risk. As such, this article addresses the need for a comprehensive climate change refugee treaty using Tuvalu and Kiribati's circumstances to illustrate the situation.

Earthonomics: Balancing Between Earth And Business, Yazen Abdin

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Economists consistently fail to account that Earth has a finite amount of resources. This article analyzes the behavior of corporate America and the effect it has on the world form an Earth jurisprudence standpoint. It will explore twp specific industries, oil and food, and what role they have played in the environment's health. It also explores potential solutions.

Bombs And Babies: The Unfortunate Results Of Conversion Of A Military Defense Site To A Residential Neighborhood, Karen Zagrodny Consalo

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

There are over 9,000 Formerly Used Defense Sites in the United States. One of these sites, the Pine Castle Jeep Range, was located in what is now east Orlando. As a defense site during World War II, the area was intentionally bombarded with among other things, explosive and chemical bombs. Fifty years later, a population boom drew many to purchase their homes in the same area. This article examines the history of the Pine Castle Jeep Range and the issues resulting from subsequent increase in population. The author hopes this article will provide practical legal and technological advice for other …

Responding To The Great Work: The Role Of Earth Jurisprudence And Wild Law In The 21st Century, Dr. Michelle Maloney, Sister Pat Siemen Op, Jd

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

In this lead article, the authors build on the idea that we do not need more environmental law in response to the deteriorating health of the natural world. Rather, they argue that what is needed are different approaches to managing human relationships with the earth. They argue that the burgeoning Earth jurisprudence movement offers a deep philosophical anchor and a range of practical and multi-disciplinary approaches necessary to create law reform and societal change that will better support the natural world and human societies than our current system. The authors will outline the origins and key elements of the Earth …

Barriers To Neighborhood Wildlife Habitats: Is Lawn Uniformity Worth Biodiversity Loss?, Sonya Cunningham

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Local ordinances and covenants, conditions or restrictions (CCRs) usually create barriers to wildlife habitats in neighborhoods. Fortunately, it is possible under limited circumstances for a homeowner to have a wildlife habitat in their lawn. This comment will provide and overview of those limited circumstances, as well as provide steps to challenge the enforcement of ordinances and CCRs. In addition, this define and examine the concept of biodiversity and biodiversity loss.

Texas Colonias: Injustice By Definition, Caitlin Lewis

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Colonias are usually characterized as rural or semi-rural slums inhabited by Mexican-origin immigrants and Mexican Americans. This Comment examines the socioeconomic and environmental burdens faced by Texas colonias and the public and private attempts to address these hardships.

Protecting Vulnerable Environments In International Humanitarian Law, Michaela Halpern

Michaela S. Halpern

Utility Air Regulatory Group V. Environmental Protection Agency: The Apotheosis Of Implicit Bias In The Supreme Court Of The United States Of America Against Environmental Interests And Their Advocates, Jason W. Jutz

Jason W Jutz

No abstract provided.

Law's Slow Violence Workshop, Rob Nixon, Dayna Nadine Scott

Dayna N. Scott

Osgoode Hall Law School hosts "Law's Slow Violence Workshop" with Rob Nixon, Rachel Carson Professor of English from the University of Wisconsin. With a response from Professor Dayna Scott of Osgoode Hall Law School.

Confronting Chronic Pollution: A Socio-Legal Analysis Of Risk And Precaution, Dayna Nadine Scott

Dayna N. Scott

The central aim of this article is to demonstrate a socio-legal approach to risk and precaution using the example of chronic pollution. Drawing on ongoing empirical work with the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, which is tucked into Sarnia's "Chemical Valley," a secondary aim is to influence and shape how we understand the problem and confront the risks of chronic pollution. This article forwards the argument that the prevailing regulatory approach is incapable of capturing the essence of contemporary pollution harms, because those harms are increasingly linked to continuous, routine, low-dose exposures to contaminants that are within legally sanctioned limits. Community residents …

Fossil Capitalism & The Implications Of The New Pipeline Proposals For Environmental Justice In Canada, Dayna Nadine Scott

Dayna N. Scott

Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Dayna Scott employs the concept of "networked infrastructures" drawn from the literature in critical geography to reveal the environmental justice implications of the coast-to-coast crude oil network that is currently being contemplated in Canada. Her talk was delivered on January 30, 2013 as part of the Osgoode Faculty Research Seminar Series.

Gender-Benders': Sex And Law In The Constitution Of Polluted Bodies, Dayna Nadine Scott

Dayna N. Scott

This paper explores how law might conceive of the injury or harm of endocrine disruption as it applies to an aboriginal community experiencing chronic chemical pollution. The effect of the pollution in this case is not only gendered, but gendering: it seems to be causing the ‘production’ of two girl babies for every boy born on the reserve. This presents an opening to interrogate how law is implicated in the constitution of not just gender but sex. The analysis takes an embodied turn, attempting to validate the real and material consequences of synthetic chemicals acting on bodies — but uncovers …

(Under)Mining The Seabed? Between The International Seabed Authority Mining Code And Sustainable Bioprospecting Of Hydrothermal Vent Ecosystems In The Seabed Area: Taking Precaution Seriously, Ikechi Mgbeoji

Ikechi Mgbeoji

Rapid developments in marine biotechnology and the prospect of sea-bed mining have exposed the inadequacy of legal frameworks to regulation the exploration exploitation, and sharing of the benefits that arise from such marine endeavors. The fact of the matter is that despite the giant strides made in and the huge financial stakes involved in bioprospecting of hydro-thermal vent ecosystems, legal issues raised by profitable biotechnology development through marine scientific research (MSR) are still at an infant and underdeveloped stage. This article evaluates the extent to which the present legal order for the mining of seabed polymetallic nodules with its tangential …

Interpreting "Enhancement Of Survival" In Granting Section 10 Endangered Species Act Exemptions To Animal Exhibitors, Anne Haas

Pace Environmental Law Review

Managing endangered species in captivity presents a unique set of problems. Despite their enormous potential to preserve species in the wild - through captive breeding programs, conservation initiatives, and environmental advocacy - many facilities are lagging behind. Part II of this note discusses the evolution of zoos from ancient Egyptian displays of wealth to modern day conservation and education centers. Focusing on the Endangered Species Act, Part III introduces various laws protecting captive animals. Part IV discusses the great potential of zoos to preserve species and the ecosystems on which they rely, while acknowledging the diverse nature of animal exhibitors …

A Sitting Duck: Local Government Regulation Of Hunting And Weapons Discharge In The State Of New York, Gary E. Kalbaugh

Pace Environmental Law Review

On March 31, 2014, the New York State Legislature significantly modified New York's Environmental Conservation Law. The Environmental Conservation Law imposes limitations on the discharge of longbows. A longbow is defined by New York's Department of Environmental Conservation as “a longbow, recurve bow or compound bow which is designed to be used by holding the bow at arm's length, with arrow on the string, and which is drawn, pulled and released by hand or with the aid of a hand-held trigger device attached to the bowstring.”

Before the 2014 amendment, longbows could not be discharged in such a way that …

A Comparative Legal Approach For The Risks Of Offshore Methane Hydrates: Existing Laws And Conventions, Roy Andrew Partain

Pace Environmental Law Review

This article provides a review of the existing laws and conventions that might be applied to the development of offshore methane hydrates. Offshore methane hydrates are an exciting emerging new energy resource; one with great potential to provide vast energy supplies, and also one with substantially novel risks and hazards to the environment, marine flora and fauna, and adjacent human communities. Some of these new risks include cataclysmic levels of greenhouse gas emissions, subsea landslides, and tsunamis. As such, it is important to take a survey of the existing laws and conventions that could be applied to such risks, examine …

The Curious Untidiness Of Property & Ecosystem Services: A Hybrid Method Of Measuring Place, John Page, Ann Brower, Johannes Welsch

Pace Environmental Law Review

Theoretically, this paper builds on ideas of ecosystem services (ES) in landscapes, property theories of plurality and marginality, and the legal geography of localized place. Methodologically, we will explore three divergent ways of measuring ES in a propertied landscape. Substantively, combining property theory and spatial methods in this way will allow for future consideration of property arrangements that might be more optimal and representative of contextualized place.

Part II presents the qualitative method--a narrative description of the flow of resources and services across a transect from the mountains to the sea. Narrative is effective in describing the aesthetics and indelibly …