Digital Commons Network^™

Variable Justice: Environmental Standards, Contaminated Fish, And "Acceptable” Risk To Native Peoples, Catherine O'Neill

Faculty Articles

This article begins with the observation that “[f]ish, especially salmon, are necessary for the survival of the Native peoples of the Pacific Northwest, both as individuals and as a people.” It considers conventional approaches to regulating contamination of the waters that support the fish on which these peoples depend, and finds that the narrow focus on human physical health fails fully to comprehend the multiple dimensions of the harm to these fishing peoples. Importantly, this focus fails to appreciate the cultural dimensions of the harm. The article examines health and environmental agencies’ standard-setting practices and challenges their failure to account …

The Most Creative Moments In The History Of Environmental Law: "The Whats", William H. Rodgers, Jr.

Articles

In preparation for this symposium piece, Professor Rodgers asked a number of his colleagues active in the field of environmental law to identify what they considered to be the most creative moments in the history of environmental law. He gave no specific instructions with his request other than providing a definition of what he considered to be a creative moment: "A legal initiative that advances environmental law with a new level of analysis, new structure, or new institutional bridge. "

This article is a compilation of the numerous responses the author received. The responses formulate a detailed and informative description …

Consultants' And Lawyers' Duties To Report Contamination, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

A recent decision by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) expands the duty of environmental consultants to report contamination on their clients' land. The rationale of the decision might also apply to lawyers and to states beyond New York.

Many federal, state and municipal laws require spills of pollutants to be reported to the government. People have received criminal penalties, including jail time, as well as heavy civil fines, for violating some of these requirements. Almost all of these rules apply only to persons who own, operate, or are otherwise in charge of the polluting facility, or …

Trends In The Supply And Demand For Environmental Lawyers, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

The boom times for environmental lawyers were the late 1980s and the early 1990s. The June 1990 issue of Money magazine called environmental law a "fast-track career." Two or three years of experience with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a state environmental agency, the environmental units of the Justice Department, or a state attorney general's office were a ticket to a high-paying job in the private sector. Law students were clamoring to enter the field and law firms were scrambling to find experienced environmental lawyers, or to recycle newly underemployed antitrust lawyers into this burgeoning field.

Environmental Justice And Natural Areas Protection Trends & Insight, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

There are 3,119,963 square miles in the continental United States. That sounds like plenty of space to put just about anything. However, when the facility seeking a home is environmentally controversial, finding even one square mile can seem almost impossible.

This country is now in its third major era in making siting decisions. The first era – unconstrained siting – lasted until the late 1960s. Then began the second era – protecting natural areas. In the early 1990s, we embarked upon a third era – environmental justice. The growing tensions between protecting natural areas and achieving environmental justice suggest that …

Oct. 29, 1999, Ciel Commentary On The 1999 Draft Cao Operational Guidelines, (On Draft, V.7), D. Hunter & C. Saladin, David Hunter, C. Saladin

CAO General 1999-Present

No abstract provided.

Resource Law Notes Newsletter, No. 47, Fall Issue, 1999, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Resource Law Notes: The Newsletter of the Natural Resources Law Center (1984-2002)

No abstract provided.

Human Rights, Environment & Community: A Workshop: Presentation By Joseph Hill, Joseph Hill

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice: From Partial Victories To Complete Solutions, Valerie P. Mahoney

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Medical Monitoring Awards Under Cercla: Statutory Interpretation Versus Fundamental Fairness, Carmen E. Sessions

Southeastern Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice: The Path To A Remedy That Hits The Mark, Ora Fred Harris Jr.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice: Is Disparate Impact Enough?, Jimmy White

Mercer Law Review

"Not in my backyard!" This simple statement and the vigorous efforts to enforce it have resulted over the last sixteen years in a growing movement in minority communities in search of what has been termed "environmental justice." It is claimed by activists, and proven in numerous studies, that minorities are more likely to be affected by the siting of hazardous waste facilities and the permitting of other hazardous waste producers than are whites. The causes of these inequities are neither uniform nor easily identifiable. Unfortunately, remedies may be equally elusive. Lack of resources, political power, and practical knowledge have proven …

Agenda: Strategies In Western Water Law And Policy: Courts, Coercion And Collaboration, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center Of The American West

Strategies in Western Water Law and Policy: Courts, Coercion and Collaboration (Summer Conference, June 8-11)

1 v. (various pagings) : ill., maps, charts ; 29 cm

Conference organizers, session moderators and/or speakers included University of Colorado School of Law professors Gary C. Bryner, James N. Corbridge, Jr., David H. Getches, Douglas S. Kenney, Lawrence J. MacDonnell, Kathryn M. Mutz and Charles F. Wilkinson

Includes bibliographical references

The event will examine the principal problem-solving strategies in western water law and policy: courts, coercion and collaboration. In addressing this broad range of strategies, the program will focus on national, west-wide and Colorado-specific issues.

Conference activities will commence with a free public program cosponsored by the Center of …

Resource Law Notes Newsletter, No. 46, Spring Issue, 1999, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Resource Law Notes: The Newsletter of the Natural Resources Law Center (1984-2002)

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Elizabeth C. Shaw, Kali N. Murray

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Brownfields Policies For Sustainable Cities, Joel B. Eisen

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

The Co-Evolution Of Sustainable Development And Environmental Justice: Cooperation, Then Competition, Then Conflict, J. B. Ruhl

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Environmental Sustainability And Environmental Justice At The International Level: Traces Of Tension And Traces Of Synergy, Donald T. Hornstein

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Pollution Trading And Environmental Injustice: Los Angeles’ Failed Experiment In Air Quality Policy, Richard Toshiyuki Drury, Michael E. Belliveau, J. Scott Kuhn, Shipra Bansal

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Environmental Risk And The Traditional Sector Approach: Market Efficiency At The Core Of Environmental Law, John Martin Gillroy

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Professor Gillroy provides an in-depth discussion on the evolution of environmental law and the proposition that market efficiency has been, and still is, at its core.

Is There A Private Cause Of Action Under Epa's Title Vi Regulations?: The Need To Empower Environmental Justice Plaintiffs, Bradford Mank

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

This article will apply the Chester three-factor test to find a private right of action implied in the administrative regulations promulgated by various agencies to implement Section 602 of Title VI. This article also proposes that it would be inconsistent to apply today's more stringent standard for inferring congressional intent in deciding whether a private right exists under Section 602. Such inconsistency arises as a result of the Supreme Court's application of a more lenient standard in recognizing a private right of action under Section 601.

Environmental Justice And Title Vi: Making Recipient Agencies Justify Their Siting Decisions, Bradford Mank

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Title VI prohibits federal agencies from providing funds to state or local agencies that discriminate. Environmental justice advocates have filed over fifty Title VI complaints with the EPA alleging that state or local environmental agencies have granted permits that will cause disparate impacts against minority groups. In February 1998, the EPA promulgated an Interim Guidance on Title VI to help the agency resolve these complaints. A wide range of state and local officials has criticized the Guidance because its vague definition of "disparate impact" may give the EPA too much discretion to find discrimination. This Article demonstrates, however, that the …

Growth Management And Western Water Law--From Urban Oases To Archipelagos, A. Dan Tarlock, Sarah B. Van De Wetering

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Saving The Lost Sheep: Bringing Environmental Values Back Into The Fold With A New Epa Decisionmaking Paradigm, Victor B. Flatt

Washington Law Review

Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses benefit-cost analysis in making many of its regulatory and enforcement decisions. This Article argues that, although required in some instances, the EPA's benefit-cost analysis procedure is incomplete, deeply flawed, and may even violate statutes in some respects. Much of the controversy surrounding environmental regulation can be attributed to this flawed benefit-cost analysis. This Article proposes a new paradigm for EPA regulatory decisionmaking. The proposed paradigm is a four-step decisionmaking process that enhances the outcome of the EPA's decisions by highlighting values that are often ignored or outside the traditional benefit-cost analysis but are …

The Current Global Environment Outlook: How Is Industry Doing In Meeting The Rio Declaration Goals, 32 J. Marshall L. Rev. 289 (1999), Helene Genot, Dan Tarlock, Dixie Lee Laswell

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Two Sides Of The Same Coin--Hazardous Waste Siting On Indian Reservations And In Minority Communities, Jeffrey R. Cluett

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

The Good Neighbor Agreement: Environmental Excellence Without Compromise, Marianne F. Adriatico

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Notions Of Equity In (International) Environmental Law: Inter-Generational Equity, Youk-Hyun Sung

LLM Theses and Essays

Equity has a long history. In the first chapter of this thesis, notions of equity in conventional international law will be discussed. It must be more helpful to understand equity based upon the history of the term since the issues relating to equity were raised in quite a few cases in the past. In the second chapter, by discussing environmental equity in the United States, the only remaining superpower and the largest economy in the world, the thesis tries to see the future of equity in international environmental law. Environmental equity issues in the United States are good sources for …

Ecology And The Jewish Spirit: Where Nature And The Sacred Meet, Michael Burger

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

It's a real shame, but all political and social movements, at some point, break up into factions. The factions debate their relative necessity, claim authority over areas of discourse and action, and generally vie for power. They stop coordinating and communicating with each other. There are occasional acts of sabotage. The competition of the market economy (including the grant-funded non-profit sector) and the expanse of human vanity demand this distinction. Everyone needs to find their niche. An ecologist understands this as well as an economist, an activist as well as a lobbyist, a rabbi as well as a lawyer.

One Piece Of The Puzzle: Why State Brownfields Programs Can't Lure Businesses To The Urban Cores Without Finding The Missing Pieces, Heidi Gorovitz Robertson

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

U.S. EPA, state legislatures, and state administrative agencies have invested considerable time and money resources to encouraging urban renewal through the redevelopment of contaminated urban properties, called brownfields. These efforts attempt to induce businesses to clean and redevelop brownfields by reducing the numerous environmental barriers to redevelopment, such as the enormous cost of clean-up and threat of immeasurable liability. In this Article, I argue that environmental barriers to redevelopment, although important, are but one piece of a complicated urban redevelopment puzzle. The other pieces, largely missing from existing efforts to encourage redevelopment of brownfields are non-environmental factors, such as size …