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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Real World Roadless Rules Challenges, Kyle J. Aarons
The Real World Roadless Rules Challenges, Kyle J. Aarons
Michigan Law Review
The legal status of America's 58.5 million acres of Inventoried Roadless Areas has been unsettled for nearly a decade. These wild areas were given strict protection in the final days of the Clinton Administration, but President Clinton's Roadless Rule was suspended and later overturned by the Bush Administration when it promulgated its State Petitions Rule. Both rules were challenged in various courts, with conflicting results. As it stands, the United States Forest Service is simultaneously compelled to follow the Roadless Rule by the Ninth Circuit and barred from following the rule by the Tenth. This Note argues that both rules …
Risk Regulations And Its Hazards, Stephen F. Williams
Risk Regulations And Its Hazards, Stephen F. Williams
Michigan Law Review
A Review of Breaking the Vicious Circle: Toward Effective Risk Regulation by Stephen Breyer
Limitations Of Sovereign Immunity Under The Clean Water Act: Empowering States To Confront Federal Polluters, Corinne Beckwith Yates
Limitations Of Sovereign Immunity Under The Clean Water Act: Empowering States To Confront Federal Polluters, Corinne Beckwith Yates
Michigan Law Review
This Note considers whether civil penalties that states impose on federal agencies for violations of NPDES permits arise under federal law and thus are covered by the Clean Water Act's waiver of sovereign immunity - an issue the Supreme Court is scheduled to address during the 1991 term. Part I outlines the history of the Clean Water Act, discussing Supreme Court decisions and statutory amendments that affect the sovereign immunity provision. Part II explains the mechanics of the NPDES state permit process and examines, through analysis of statutory provisions, the degree of control retained by the EPA over individual states …
Federal Agency Treatment Of Uncertainty In Environmental Impact Statements Under The Ceq's Amended Nepa Regulation § 1502.22: Worst Case Analysis Or Risk Threshold, Charles F. Weiss
Michigan Law Review
This Note traces the judicial and administrative treatment of uncertainty under NEPA and supports the CEQ's replacement of worst case analysis with a qualitative probability threshold. Part I discusses the development of reasonableness standards in NEPA common law to define agency obligations prior to promulgation of the worst case analysis regulation. Part II reviews the worst case analysis regulation and its judicial construction. Finally, Part III outlines the amended regulation, which replaces worst case analysis with a probability threshold employing the rule of reason to limit EIS discussion to environmental effects shown through credible scientific evidence to be reasonably foreseeable. …
A New Approach To Review Of Nepa Findings Of No Significant Impact, Geoffrey Garver
A New Approach To Review Of Nepa Findings Of No Significant Impact, Geoffrey Garver
Michigan Law Review
This Note examines the confused array of judicial approaches for reviewing agency findings of no significant environmental impact and proposes a standardized, comprehensive approach that ensures compliance with both the procedural and substantive aspects of NEPA. Part I reviews agency procedures mandated by NEPA which ensure that agencies develop a detailed record for judicial scrutiny and constitute the legal basis against which to check agency threshold decisions. Part II examines the conflicting approaches of the lower courts, emphasizing their reliance on Supreme Court decisions, their characterization of the threshold decision as legal or factual, and the burden of proof each …
Eis Supplements For Improperly Completed Projects: A Logical Extension Of Judicial Review Under Nepa, Michigan Law Review
Eis Supplements For Improperly Completed Projects: A Logical Extension Of Judicial Review Under Nepa, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
This Note argues that the private cause of action under NEPA retains its utility despite the completion of the project sued upon. Part I describes the procedural implementation of the policy concerns underlying NEPA through the EIS process for proposed actions, and the EIS supplementation process for project changes made after the original EIS has been prepared. Part II examines current law applicable to projects completed in violation of NEPA and concludes that the denial of post-completion relief conflicts with the underlying goals of NEPA. Part III analyzes extension of relief to completed projects, and proposes court-ordered EIS supplementation for …
Clean Coal/Dirty Air, Michigan Law Review
Clean Coal/Dirty Air, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
A Review of Clean Coal/Dirty Air by Bruce A. Ackerman and William T. Hassler
Program Environmental Impact Statements: Review And Remedies, Michigan Law Review
Program Environmental Impact Statements: Review And Remedies, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
This Note discusses the application of NEPA to federal programs. It first analyzes when the courts have required a program impact statement and draws upon that analysis to explain the relative functions of site-specific and program statements. It then examines the appropriate scope of judicial inquiry and the proper standards for reviewing federal program compliance with NEPA. Finally, the Note scrutinizes the types of remedies that may be imposed if a program does not comply with NEPA and proposes a procedure for determining the proper scope of judicial remedies.
The Extraterritorial Scope Of Nepa's Environmental Impact Statement Requirement, Michigan Law Review
The Extraterritorial Scope Of Nepa's Environmental Impact Statement Requirement, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
This Note analyzes the extent to which NEPA's section 102(2) procedural requirements, specifically the impact statement requirement of section 102(2) (C), apply to federal agencies in their activities abroad. After determining that Congress does possess the authority to extend the requirements of NEPA to all federal agency actions, and that legislative intent will thus control the territorial scope of these requirements, consideration will be given to the presumption against the extraterritorial application of congressional enactments. It will be concluded that a "clear statement" of congressional intent is not required in the case of NEPA and that the scope of the …
On Leading A Horse To Water: Nepa And The Federal Bureaucracy, Roger C. Cramton, Richard K. Berg
On Leading A Horse To Water: Nepa And The Federal Bureaucracy, Roger C. Cramton, Richard K. Berg
Michigan Law Review
This Article is concerned with the effect of NEPA on administrative decision-making. What benefits has NEPA conferred on us? What dangers have emerged? What questions remain to be clarified if NEP A's benefits are to be achieved while minimizing any negative side effects?