Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law Commons^™

The Third Age Of Oil And Gas Law, James W. Coleman

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

History’s biggest oil boom is happening right now, in the United States, ushering in the third age of oil and gas law. The first age of oil and gas law also began in the United States a century ago when landowners and oil companies developed the oil and gas lease. The lease made the modern oil and gas industry possible and soon spread as the model for development around the world. In the second age of oil and gas law, landowners and nations across the globe developed new legal agreements that improved upon the lease and won these resource owners …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Whither The Regulatory “War On Coal”? Scapegoats, Saviors, And Stock Market Reactions, Cary Coglianese, Daniel E. Walters

All Faculty Scholarship

Complaints about excessive economic burdens associated with regulation abound in contemporary political and legal rhetoric. In recent years, perhaps nowhere have these complaints been heard as loudly as in the context of U.S. regulations targeting the use of coal to supply power to the nation’s electricity system, as production levels in the coal industry dropped by nearly half between 2008 and 2016. The coal industry and its political supporters, including the president of the United States, have argued that a suite of air pollution regulations imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration seriously undermined coal companies’ …

Front Matter, Natural Resources Journal

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

The Long View Of The Water/Energy Nexus: Hydropower’S First Century In The U.S.A., Carl J. Bauer

Natural Resources Journal

This paper offers a historical overview of the first century of hydropower in the US from today’s perspective of the water/energy nexus. Hydropower emerged as a technology in the 1880s and its development expanded until large dam building ended in the US in the 1970s-1980s. I summarize the century from the two different angles of the water sector and the electric power sector, as the roles and strategic importance of hydropower changed dramatically in the two sectors, in the parallel histories of water development and electric power development. The paper emphasizes the electricity side of the hydropower story because the …

The Hns Convention: Will It Be A Game Changer For China’S Marine Pollution Law?, Ruixuan Zhuo

Natural Resources Journal

This article analyzes the international convention governing marine pollution caused by the shipment of hazardous and noxious substances (“HNS”). It also discusses China’s domestic laws and regulations of HNS marine pollution liability comparing the Chinese approach with norms under the HNS Convention. The author argues that China faces severe HNS pollution issues and proposes solutions to HNS liability and compensation problems.

Legal Rights For Rivers: Competition, Collaboration And Water Governance By Erin O’Donnell (Routledge, 202 Pages; 2019), Ariel Macmillan-Sanchez

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Symposium Letter, Ariel Macmillan-Sanchez

Natural Resources Journal

Acknowledgement

Acknowledgement, Melanie Mcnett, Julia Shaver

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Climate Perspectives Across The Generations, Dan Farber

Natural Resources Journal

Climate change is a multi-generational problem, but it does not impact all generations in the same way. Correspondingly, older Americans and younger ones differ greatly in how they perceive the issue and how they respond. The wave of youth activism epitomized by Greta Thunburg is on one side of this generation gap. Donald Trump’s climate skepticism is on the other. We’re talking about large groups of people, so there is a range of attitudes on both sides, but these two individuals represent the generational differences in dramatic form. My goal today is to explore these generational differences. I want to …

A Road Map To Restoring Rivers: How The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement Might Influence Future Dam Removal And River Restoration Projects, James C. Ish

Natural Resources Journal

Throughout the United States dams are approaching the terminus of their original licensing periods and are undergoing re-licensing by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This period of review has prompted extensive studies in these basins to determine the cost-benefits associated with keeping these dams, versus removing and restoring the natural ecosystems that are currently inundated. In situations where a dam is deemed to be no longer economically relevant, and/or a detriment to endangered species or their critical habitat, an agreement for removal and restoration is often proposed as the next step in the management of that basin’s water resources. However, …

Creating Social Change Through Art: The Greater Chaco Art Zines, Jeanette Hart-Mann, Asha Canalos

Natural Resources Journal

This interview with Jeanette Hart-Mann and Asha Canalos took place on March 6, 2020 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This interview was conducted in person and edited by Ariel MacMillan-Sanchez.4 Hart-Mann and Canalos explained the importance of the Greater Chaco Art Zines project, how it came to fruition, the issues of censorship that surround it, and their perspectives on generating meaningful change. Some of the art pieces discussed in this interview are published in this article. If you would like to get involved or wish to see more of the art pieces discussed in this interview please visit https://greaterchacoartzines.org/.

Down Step By Step—Ratification Of Oil And Gas Leases By Royalty Interests In Texas, Christopher S. Kulander

SMU Law Review

A sporadic series of opinions dating back seven decades has incrementally established that, in Texas, the executive has no authority to pool the royalty or nonexecutive mineral interest covered by an oil and gas lease. Conversely, the owners of nonexecutive interests do have a choice whether or not to ratify leases that purport to cover their interest. This state of the law arose first from cases involving royalty apportionment and community leases, then drawing in nonexecutive interests, before finally establishing the privileged position of freestanding royalty and nonexecutive mineral interests. Texas should instead follow the lead of Louisiana and West …

The New Oil And Gas Governance, Tara K. Righetti, Hannah Jacobs Wiseman, James W. Coleman

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

As technologies change and the scale of human activity grows, so too does the law. The surge of oil and gas production in the United States, spurred by hydraulic fracturing in shale formations, has fomented a sea change in oil and gas law, substantially infusing this area with more complex environmental and property principles. Widespread demands for legal and policy-based solutions to the environmental and social impacts of oil production and fracking have transformed the field from one focused on maximizing fossil fuel production into one of environmental conservation. This is dramatically demonstrated by sweeping Colorado legislation in 2019, changes …

Does The National Forest Service Have Authority To Grant Rights-Of-Way Under The Mineral Leasing Act Through National Forest Lands Traversed By The Appalachian Trails, Robert Abrams

Journal Publications

Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC, proposed construction of a natural gas pipeline stretching from West Virginia to North Carolina. The route approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission included a section running across National Forest System land, including the point at which the pipeline would cross the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (ANST). After initial objections, the U.S. Forest Service reversed course and issued the needed right-of-way across National Forest System lands. Environmental groups objected and a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit unanimously held that the Forest Service had acted arbitrarily and capriciously thereby violating …

Getting Past Possession: Subsurface Property Disputes As Nuisances, Joseph A. Schremmer

Faculty Scholarship

Property rights in the subsurface of land are adapting to accommodate modern activities like massive hydraulic fracturing (fracing). Property rights will need to continue adapting if they are to accommodate other developing activities like large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS). Courts and commentators rarely approach the nature of subsurface property directly. They tend instead to discuss appropriate standards for tort liability when disputes arise—for example when artificial fissures from a frac treatment extend into and drain oil or gas from a neighbor’s land. The case law and literature generally approach unauthorized subterranean invasions as trespasses. Because the tort of trespass …

Creating Contracts In A Vacuum: Space Mining And The Creation Of Future Contract Law, Kris Turner

Natural Resources Journal

Asteroid mining is set to be one of the most lucrative industries of the near future. With mineral value that dwarfs resources found on Earth, the race to locate and mine these precious minerals will soon begin in earnest. However, asteroid mining raises numerous legal questions, including how to create contracts for private mining companies to exploit the asteroids. Standard mining contracts provide a foundation for earthbound contracts, while mining in extreme environments such as Antarctica and the seabed provides further structure upon which parties interested in asteroid mining can begin building new contracts. These earthbound contracts also serve as …

River Of Lost Souls: The Science, Politics, And Greed Behind The Gold King Mine Disaster By Jonathan P. Thompson (Torrey House Press, 296 Pages; 2018), Sarah Mclain

Natural Resources Journal

“Oh. Shit.” These were the first words spoken when mine sludge carrying heavy metals began spewing out of the side of Level 7 portal of the Gold King Mine. On August 5, 2015, EPA staffers and contractors were working to start clearing out debris from the mine, and instead opened a hole on the side of an old mine tunnel which released three million gallons of water and sludge into the Animas River below. The sludge would travel downstream, passing the old mining community of Silverton, CO, continuing past Durango, CO, and eventually crossing state lines into New Mexico where …

Creative Legal Approaches To Protect Youth’S Constitutional Rights In The Face Of Climate Change, Andrea Rodgers

Natural Resources Journal

This interview with Andrea Rodgers was produced through written responses to prompts from Ariel MacMillan-Sanchez in April 2020.

The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary: An Exploration Of Changing The Discourse On Conservation, Arielle Ben-Hur

Pitzer Senior Theses

In 2015, the Northern Chumash Tribal Council submitted a National Marine Sanctuary Nomination to establish the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary– a means by which to ensure the protection of one of the most culturally and biologically diverse coastlines in the world. On October 5, 2015, John Armor of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) responded to the nomination, adding it to the inventory of areas NOAA may consider in the future for national marine sanctuary designation.

In my thesis, I explore how the nomination of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary acts as a platform from which Traditional …