Digital Commons Network^™

Gandhi’S Prophecy: Corporate Violence And A Mindful Law For Bhopal, Nehal A. Patel

Nehal A. Patel

AbstractOver thirty years have passed since the Bhopal chemical disaster began,and in that time scholars of corporate social responsibility (CSR) havediscussed and debated several frameworks for improving corporate responseto social and environmental problems. However, CSR discourse rarelydelves into the fundamental architecture of legal thought that oftenbuttresses corporate dominance in the global economy. Moreover, CSRdiscourse does little to challenge the ontological and epistemologicalassumptions that form the foundation for modern economics and the role ofcorporations in the world.I explore methods of transforming CSR by employing the thought ofMohandas Gandhi. I pay particular attention to Gandhi’s critique ofindustrialization and principle of swadeshi (self-sufficiency) …

Take It To The Limit: The Illegal Regulation Prohibiting The Take Of Any Threatened Species Under The Endangered Species Act, Jonathan Wood

Jonathan Wood

The Endangered Species Act forbids the “take” – any activity that adversely affects – any member of an endangered species, but only endangered species. The statute also provides for the listing of threatened species, i.e. species that may become endangered, but protects them only by requiring agencies to consider the impacts of their projects on them. Shortly after the statute was adopted, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service reversed Congress’ policy choice by adopting a regulation that forbids the take of any threatened species. The regulation is not authorized by the Endangered Species Act, but …

Proposed Implementing Procedures For Restore Act Awards Under Nepa, Sara Mammarella

Sara Mammarella

On April 20, 2010, what has been described as “the worst oil spill in U.S. history,” the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, occurred off the Louisiana coast, affecting a five-state area in the Gulf region (Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas), dumping an estimated 4.9 billion barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In response, Congress enacted the federal RESTORE Act to set up a mechanism for compensating the victims of the oils spill and to Repair the environmental harm caused by the oil spill.

This article will examine the effectiveness of the regulatory scheme in place that was …

The Federal Restore Act And Its Impact On The Gulf States Following The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Sara Mammarella

Sara Mammarella

On April 20, 2010, what has been described as “the worst oil spill in U.S. history,” the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, occurred off the Louisiana coast, affecting a five-state area in the Gulf region (Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas), dumping an estimated 4.9 billion barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The harms that occurred were widespread and devastating: eleven people were killed, 1,000 miles of coastline was degraded, ocean life and beaches were destroyed, and the local economy of the region was adversely impacted, especially fishing and tourism industries. In response, Congress passed the federal RESTORE …

Bubbles (Or, Some Reflections On The Basic Laws Of Human Relations), Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

Regulation Of Chemical Risks: Lessons For Tsca Reform From Canada And The European Union, Adam Abelkop, John D. Graham

Adam Abelkop

The United States Congress is considering reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. This Article compares recent reforms in Europe and Canada in order to draw lessons for TSCA reform. In 2006, the European Union enacted the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation while Canada used existing authority under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) of 1999 to initiate the 2006 Chemicals Management Plan (CMP). Focusing on the tens of thousands of industrial chemicals now in use in the US, we offer several suggestions for TSCA reform based on the European and Canadian experiences. …

Complexity And Simplicity In Law: A Review Essay (Cass R. Sunstein, Simpler: The Future Of Government (2003)), David M. Driesen

David M Driesen

This essay discusses Cass Sunstein’s book, Simpler: The Future of Government, in order to advance our understanding of the concepts of complex and simple law. Many writers identify complexity with uncertainty and high cost. This essay argues that complexity bears no fixed relationship to costs or benefits. It also shows that complexity’s relationship to uncertainty is so ambiguous that it is profitable to treat complexity and uncertainty as separate concepts. It develops useful separate concepts of legal and compliance complexity that will aid efforts to simplify law, like the one Sunstein claims to have embarked upon. It also argues that …

C(R)Ap And Trade: The Brave New World Of Non-Point Source Nutrient Trading And Using Lessons From Greenhouse Gas Markets To Make It Work, Victor B. Flatt

Victor B Flatt

After several decades of improvement, water quality in the United States is getting worse, and the problem is primarily caused by run-off from non-point sources, such as farms and urban development. These non-point sources have never had regulatory mandates in the Clean Water Act, and have proven very difficult to control. With little likelihood of comprehensive statutory changes, the EPA and the states that administer the Clean Water Act have looked to other regulatory means to address this problem. One of the most prominent has been the use of markets in pollution (particularly for nutrient pollution from run-off) to provide …

The Deepwater Horizon Disaster Compensation Process As Corrective Justice: View From The Ground Up, Joan Flocks, James Davies

Joan D. Flocks

No abstract provided.

State Fertilizer Bills: The Greenest Way To A More Natural Landscape?, Catherine M. Janasie

Catherine M Janasie

Abstract: State Fertilizer Bills: The Greenest Way to a More Natural Landscape?

By: Catherine Janasie, J.D., LL.M.

Ocean and Coastal Law Fellow

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program at The University of Mississippi School of Law

Because the Federal Clean Water Act focuses mostly on point source pollution, states consider nonpoint source pollution to be the leading cause of water pollution in their waterways. Until recently, many thought that the regulation of fertilizer use by individual homeowners would invade too much on personal choice, which would make a fertilizer statute too unpopular for state legislators to pass. However, in an attempt …

Functional Government In 3-D, Robert L. Glicksman, Alejandro E. Camacho

Robert L. Glicksman

The creation of new administrative agencies and the realignment of existing governmental authority are commonplace and high-stakes events, as illustrated by the recent creation of the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11 and of new financial regulatory agencies after the global recession of 2009. Scholars and policymakers have not devoted sufficient attention to this subject, failing to clearly identify the different dimensions along which government authority may be structured or to consider the relationships among them. Analysis of these institutional design issues typically also gives short shrift to whether authority should be allocated differently based on agency function. These failures …

The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program: A Panacea For Forest Service Gridlock Or A New Name For Old Saws?, Brett M. Paben

Brett M Paben

No abstract provided.

Policy Tailors And The Rookie Regulator, Sarah Tran

Sarah Tran

Commentators have long lamented the lack of policy tailoring in the patent system. But unlike other administrative agencies, who regularly tailor regulatory policies to the needs of specific industries, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) was widely believed to lack the authority and institutional competence for such policymaking. This Article provides the first comprehensive analysis of recent legislative reforms to the PTO’s policymaking authority. It shows the reforms empower the PTO to have a larger say in patent policy than ever before. The big question is thus: to what extent is it good policy for a rookie regulator to …

The Oil And Gas Evolution: Learning From The Hydraulic Fracturing Experiences In North Dakota And West Virginia, Joshua P. Fershee

Joshua P Fershee

This Article discusses major differences and similarities in U.S. oil and gas extraction via hydraulic fracturing through a comparison of the experiences in North Dakota and West Virginia. Although there are other parts of the country experiencing growth in oil and gas extraction, Pennsylvania and Texas as but two examples, North Dakota and West Virginia are particularly apt for comparison. Both states have relatively small populations, meaning that the impact of large-scale energy extraction in each state is likely to have a large impact on the state, economically, environmentally, and socially.

This Article focuses on three main areas of comparison. …

In Third Parties We Trust? The Growing Antitrust Impact Of Third-Party Green Building Certification Systems For State And Local Governments, Darren Prum, Robert Aalberts, Stephen Del Percio

Darren A. Prum

According to the American Institute of Architects, there has been a 50 percent increase in the number of municipalities with a green building program in place since 2007. And 24 of the country's 25 largest metropolitan areas are built around a city with green building legislation on its books. Reducing buildings' environmental impact is a noble - and critical - goal. But governments' reliance on private, third-party standard-setting organizations - and the rating systems that they promulgate - as the basis for that legislation may be legally problematic.

This Article reviews one of those potentially problematic bases: antitrust. In order …

The Embattled Social Utilities Of The Endangered Species Act - A Noah Presumption And Caution Against Putting Gasmasks On The Canaries In The Coalmine, Zygmunt J.B. Plater

Zygmunt J.B. Plater

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is once again poised at the brink of what could become an illuminating national debate. The Act’s congressional reauthorization process is likely to provide the first major indicator of what the 105th Congress will or won’t do to environmental law generally. From the turbulent past and present of the ESA, this essay offers some reminders for the impending battles over the Act.

Carbon Regulation And Its Impact On The Appalachian Basin: Why The Coal-Fired Energy Industry In Appalachia Should Embrace, Prepare For, And Help Shape A Comprehensive Legislative Scheme That Limits Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Mark L. Belleville

Mark L. Belleville

The premise of this article – the coal-fired energy industry in Appalachia should embrace, prepare for, and help shape a comprehensive federal legislative scheme that limits carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions – may sound counterintuitive. Why would an industry that emits greenhouse gases (GHGs) get on board with a national plan to limit GHG emissions? The reason is threefold. First, some form of regulation limiting emissions is inevitable. Second, in many respects, a comprehensive federal scheme is preferable to the current patchwork that exists. Finally, a comprehensive federal scheme can be tailored to be advantageous (or at least …

Much Ado About Pluralities: Pride And Precedent Amidst The Cacophy Of Concurrences, And Re-Percolation After Rapanos, Donald J. Kochan, Melissa M. Berry, Matthew J. Parlow

Donald J. Kochan

Conflicts created by concurrences and pluralities in court decisions create confusion in law and lower court interpretation. Rule of law values require that individuals be able to identify controlling legal principles. That task is complicated when pluralities and concurrences contribute to the vagueness or uncertainty that leaves us wondering what the controlling rule is or attempting to predict what it will evolve to become. The rule of law is at least handicapped when continuity or confidence or confusion infuse our understanding of the applicable rules. This Article uses the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Rapanos v. United States to …

Runoff And Reality: Externalities, Economics, And Traceability Issues In Urban Runoff Regulation, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

It has long eluded regulators and private enforcers how to control the imposition of negative externalities. This paper will examine: (1) Whether existing authorities (like the Clean Water Act) are capable of providing regulation of urban runoff; (2) Whether, in light of economic controls, regulation of these activities are necessary; (3) A summary of recent runoff litigation; and (4) What is next; what should be next? Although each of these questions form background, the primary emphasis currently anticipated for this presentation is on traceability, collective action, and free rider problems that motivate regulation in this area. Often runoff is described …