Digital Commons Network^™

Efficacy Of Oil And Gas Production Site Remediation In U.S. Arid/Semi-Arid Regions, Skye Ontiveros

Architecture and Planning ETDs

Oil and gas production (OGP) is expanding, paralleled by its polluting leaks and spills (LS), and outpaced by its waste. This raises the question: Does remediation of LS occur effectively when needed to protect the environment and public, particularly in major producing regions like arid/semi-arid regions (ASAR), which account for approximately 72% of US oil and 42% of gas production? To answer, a review of the eight largest national remedial laws, sourced from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), identified 14 OGP exemptions for remedial determinants (RDs): factors affecting remedial frequency and efficacy (e.g. LS monitoring and chemical disclosure). An …

The Real Story Of Nepa Litigation In Clean Energy Permitting, Anna Mance

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Talkin' 'Bout My Genderation: The Effect Of Gender Bias On Arbitral Representation, Amy E. Allen

Washington Journal of Social & Environmental Justice

Gender bias is rampant in all industries, and the world of arbitration is no exception. For decades, members of the field of arbitration have debated the suitability of women as arbitrators. This led to a broader discussion regarding different styles of arbitration, how or if these styles are related to the gender of the arbitrator, and whether one arbitration style is more effective than others. This paper begins with a brief assessment of the history of arbitration, as well as a more focused overview of the history of women in arbitration. Next, the paper questions the reasons for gender disparity …

Rights Of Nature, Wrongs For The Commons: Risks Of Assigning Legal Personhood To The Rivers Of Washington State, Srinandan Ramachandran

Washington Journal of Social & Environmental Justice

The Rights of Nature (“RoN”) movement, which seeks to grant legal personhood to natural entities, has recently gained traction in Washington State and globally. While intended to enhance environmental protection and Indigenous sovereignty, RoN burdens commons governance by expanding the right to exclude. This paper advances a critique of proposals to grant legal personhood to rivers in Washington State, highlighting conflicts with standing, liability, and the jurisprudential tenets of legal personhood. RoN undermines equitable usufructuary access to the commons, or lands and waters without exclusionary rights, thereby impeding marginalized peoples’ ability to utilize shared resources. Instead of assigning legal personhood …

De Facto Death Sentences For Misdemeanor Offenses: A Right To Medication For Opioid Use Disorder Induction Under The Washington Law Against Discrimination, Alena R. Sharp

Washington Journal of Social & Environmental Justice

The opioid crisis remains one of the deadliest public health emergencies in the United States, disproportionately impacting marginalized communities, including people in the criminal legal system. Medication for opioid use disorder is the recognized standard of care for treating opioid use disorder. Despite the fact that medications have also been shown to reduce overdose deaths and relapse rates, many prisons and jails continue to impose blanket prohibitions on medications for opioid use disorder for nonpregnant individuals, placing them at an elevated risk for acute withdrawal, suicide, and fatal overdose.

This comment examines the systemic barriers to access medication for opioid …

Front Matter And Table Of Contents

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Pollution Does Not [Sic] Discriminate": Louisiana V. Epa, Disparate Impact, And The Fight For Environmental Justice In A Hostile Climate, Naomi Brim

Minnesota Law Review Vols. 106:2 onward (2021-present)

Human-induced climate change hurts people. Environmental burdens impact a person’s ability to live freely, in good health, and with loved ones. And in the United States, people in positions of political authority and decision-making—who are predominantly white and high-income—use the legal system to push environmental harms disproportionately onto low-income, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities. This has occurred for centuries and continues in the present. A basic sense of justice makes the following conclusion easy to reach: skin color, zip code, and pocketbook should not determine whether someone enjoys a clean and healthful environment.

For plaintiffs seeking relief from …

The Forever Fight Against Forever Chemicals: Analyzing Loopholes In California’S Pfas Ban For Consumer Products, Jake B. Goldman

UC Law Journal

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of synthetic chemicals used for their unique qualities in manufacturing across numerous industries. PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” persist in the environment for long periods of time and cause serious health risks to consumers. Given mounting research on PFAS and their adverse health effects, the California legislature passed four laws banning the chemicals in specific consumer products.

This Note argues that three new California laws requiring manufacturers to replace PFAS with “the least toxic alternative” are inadequate because they are ambiguous. This ambiguity will invite litigation and create business challenges by …

The Disaster Management Complex: Law’S Adaptations In Times Of Climate Disaster, Michael Burger, Jeffrey Schlegelmilch, Lucia Bragg

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

The Anthropocene is marked by constant climate-related disasters and defined by the urgent need to foster and implement adaptations to future climate impacts that reduce disaster risk. The intensity, frequency, and severity of extreme weather events continue to rise even as nations and corporations alike miss their emissions targets, all promising a hotter, wetter, and more extreme future. A number of federal agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), have, at times, sought to adapt their own famously fragmented responses to these changing circumstances. However, federal disaster response is conducted against a backdrop of authorizing legislation that is designed …

Defending Home: Toward A Theory Of Community Equity, Deborah N. Archer, Joseph R. Schottenfeld

University of Chicago Law Review

Predominantly Black communities have long been systematically segregated and sequestered, then intentionally sacrificed, to feed the United States’ growth and expansion. The burdens of development—including roads and highways, sewage, communications, and power infrastructure—and efforts to respond to the challenges of climate change, all fall disproportionately on Black communities that rarely receive the benefits of these investments. For neighbors who have built a sense of community, often across generations and in defiance of racist oppression, sacrificing their homes, and the sense of safety and belonging they offer, is a bitter pill.

A central contention of this Essay is that, across a …

Changing Perspectives In California: A Transformative Culture Exchange For Stockholm University And Sonoma State University Criminology Students, Bryan Burton, Sofie Hellmer, Vida Wåhlmark, Hope Ortiz, Diana Grant

csuglobalaction

From June 13 to 20, 2024, Sonoma State University (SSU) hosted 16 criminology students from Stockholm University (SU) for an educational and cultural exchange. Five SSU undergraduate “student ambassadors” participated, representing California and SSU while assisting the Swedish students. Surveys indicated the exchange was a meaningful academic and cultural experience for all participants. The Swedish students deepened their understanding of the U.S. criminal justice system through presentations by criminologists and discussions with practitioners on issues such as policing and prison reform. They also gained broader perspectives on California and the United States through interactions with SSU ambassadors and visits to …

Between Utterance And Action: The Shaping Of Social Accountability In India’S Coastal Commons, Nayana Udayashankar, Aarthi Sridhar

Journal of Law and Public Policy

Judicial orders, management plans, and zonation maps prepared in relation to environmental laws encode the jurisprudence on accountability. Laws such as India’s Coastal Regulation Zone Notification (CRZ Notification) 2019 serve as sources of discourse on use and access rights. Such laws are crucial in shaping developmental decisions and democratic practice along the coast. As an environmental law that contains detailed articulation on judicially mandated planning, mapping, and public access to regulatory information, the CRZ Notification 2019 offers a good case to understand the relation between legal discourse and citizens’ agency. Citizens of the state of Tamil Nadu representing its small-scale …

Clihhr And Other Institutions Publish Report "Resistance: Mura Struggle Against Canadian Potash Mining In Brazil's Amazon", Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Archive

The Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights (CLIHHR), together with university legal clinics in Brazil, Canada, and the United States, published a report examining the impacts of a proposed Canadian potash mining project in the Brazilian Amazon and its potential risks to Indigenous communities and the environment.

The Next Generation, Jeremiah Chin

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Roots In South Omaha: Navigating Identity, Culture, And Justice, Natalia Lopez

Nebraska Journal on Advancing Justice

No abstract provided.

Appropriations By Any Other Name: The Illegality And Unconstitutionality Of Supplemental Environmental Projects, Andrew Olson

Notre Dame Law Review

This Note fleshes out the history of SEPs and the recent arguments against them. First, Part I traces the history of SEPs, from the early use of third-party payments, through the development of formal policies governing SEPs, to the Trump and Biden administrations’ dueling approaches to them. Then Part II explains what’s wrong with SEPs. Expanding on the arguments made in the various Justice Department memoranda, this Note argues that SEPs contravene both the Miscellaneous Receipts Act (MRA) and the Antideficiency Act (ADA). Next, the Note argues that while their illegality might be remedied by statute, SEPs also present deeper—and …

Technology Transfer In The Implementation Of The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, Christine Nzambi Mulatya

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A New View Of Formal Equality And A Case For Predistribution, Alex Raskolnikov

Faculty Scholarship

A long-held egalitarian view is that formal equality — the absence of formal legal distinctions based on the material resources of individuals — is regressive. If legal rules are the same for the rich and the poor, the rich benefit and the poor suffer. This Essay argues that this view is mistaken. Far from being synonymous with laissez-faire, a commitment to formal equality provides a counterweight to the key neoliberal maxim that regulation of the market economy should focus on efficiency alone. Moreover, a new view of formal equality offered here reveals a key advantage of predistribution over redistribution: Explicit …

Precarity At Sea : Legal Challenges And Protection Of Maritime Workers, Wenjuan Li

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Problem Of Noise Pollution In Chinese Waters : Can The Current National Legal Framework Tackle The Problem?, Zhou Wang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Towards A Reconstructive Politics, K. Sabeel Rahman

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.

Carbon Farming As Current Use: Proposed Amendments To The New York State Agricultural Assessment Program To Mitigate Climate Change, Jack Hornickel

Pace Environmental Law Review

This article proposes a new financial incentive for mitigating climate change by integrating the natural carbon cycle into agricultural production. The proposal is based on existing New York State programs and is consistent with the state’s climate change policy that has developed over the previous decade. While carbon credits may be familiar to many of the readers, treating carbon as a commodity subjects the associated financial models to global market forces governing goods and services. Alternatively, accounting for the carbon sequestering capacity of different soil types, amendments should be made to the agricultural assessment program to better reflect the carbon …

Enumerating Environmental Exemptions In Section 501(C)(3), Samuel D. Brunson

Pace Environmental Law Review

Tens of thousands environmental charities operate with the United States. These charities operate to “preserve, protect, and improve the environment.” Roughly half of the revenue of environmental charities is sourced directly from the public. These public donations depend, at least in part, on the organizations’ tax-exempt status, which allows donors to deduct their donations for tax purposes. Because donors take into account the after-tax cost of their donations, an environmental charity’s tax exemption encourages donors to donate more than they would if the charity lacked a tax exemption. However, an environmental organization’s tax-exempt status is tenuous and contingent on agency …

Environmental Tax Incentives: Lessons From The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (So Far), Genevieve A. Tokić

Pace Environmental Law Review

In 2022, the United States enacted the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”), which President Biden touted as the most significant action the U.S. Congress has ever taken on clean energy and climate change. It is the primary governmental effort taken to date in furtherance of the United States’s commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (“GHGs”) under the Paris Climate Agreement. The primary tools used by the IRA are tax incentives, implemented through changes to the Tax Code that expand existing tax credits and, in some cases, create new ones. An additional important feature of the IRA is the introduction of a …

Air Source And Ground Source Heat Pumps: A Comparison And Analysis Of The Effects Of U.S. Federal And New York Tax Incentives In The Adoption Of Both Systems, Samuel F. De Carvalho

Pace Environmental Law Review

Air-source and ground-source heat pumps have proven to be a valuable mechanism in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from fossil fuel-based heating and cooling systems in residences and buildings. This study offers an analysis of the potential impact of federal and state tax incentives on the adoption of ground-source heat pumps (GSHP) and air-source heat pumps (ASHP) for residential heating and cooling purposes, aiming to determine their effectiveness as climate change policy measures. This paper suggests that despite a considerable reduction in the cost of GSHPs compared to ASHPs after the application of the tax incentives, the installation of …

Seven Ways Of Looking At The Climate Crisis, Bridget J. Crawford

Pace Environmental Law Review

This essay introduces the symposium issue of the Pace Environmental Law Review featuring seven works written in connection with the March 2025 conference on “Taxation, the Environment, and Climate Change.” This essay identifies and explores three common themes in the articles: (1) the role of taxation in environmental protection, (2) the tax law’s impact on human behavior, and (3) the optimal design for tax laws to mitigate climate change. This essay also sketches a few possible directions for future scholarship at the intersection of taxation and environmental law. It concludes by emphasizing the need for lawyers, lawmakers, policymakers, and advocates …

Walking On Sunshine: A Survey Of Oklahoma Concurrent Land Use Law And How Accommodation Can Fill In Gaps Revealed By Emerging Solar Energy, Nick Halbroeder

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Flames: Housing Justice And Rebuilding After The Wildfires, Michala Storms, Awoenam Mauna-Woanya, Christopher Chinn, Kaimipono D. Wenger

Loyola Interdisciplinary Journal of Public Interest Law

The speakers for this symposium explored the intersection of housing justice and the legal and policy obstacles encountered in rebuilding efforts in Los Angeles following the devastating wildfires. The wildfires burned more than 55,000 acres. That's approximately the size of Los Angeles city. Destroyed over 16,251 structures and has claimed at least 29 lives. These fires were the most catastrophic in all of Los Angeles County's history. The speakers discussed the challenges faced by displaced communities amid ongoing housing shortages, as well as the broader implications for housing policy and zoning. The conversation examined how attorneys, policy makers and the …

Corrected Amicus Brief Filed By Amici Curiae Law Professors In 25-11612 & 25-11821, William Snape, Delicianna Winders, Patrick Parenteau, Christopher Courchesne, Hope Babcock, Holly Doremus, Paul Boudreaux, Oliver A. Houck, Zygmunt J.B. Plater, Michelle Benedict Nowlin, Daniel Rohlf

Amicus Briefs & Court Filings

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES: Whether the district court's injunction requiring FDEP to cease Endangered Species Act-violating conduct, obtain an incidental take permit before it continues with the conduct, and implement reasonable protective measures violates principles of cooperative federalism, the Tenth Amendment, or the anti-commandeering doctrine.

Designing Invisibility: How Hostile Architecture Impacts People Living With Disabilities, Priscilla A. Okolie

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

This comment discusses the potentially unethical and unlawful nature of hostile architecture. This comment posits that hostile architecture is inherently illegal by way of implicitly and overtly violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. This comment argues that hostile architecture violates the ADA because it potentially discriminates against people living with disabilities by hindering their ability to utilize both public and private facilities such as bus stops. This comment acknowledges that while hostile architecture is often used as a tool to discourage unhoused people from using such facilities, hostile architecture also potentially discriminates against people living with disabilities. This comment highlights …