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Full-Text Articles in Law
What Local Climate Change Plans Can Teach Us About City Power, Katherine A. Trisolini
What Local Climate Change Plans Can Teach Us About City Power, Katherine A. Trisolini
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Discussions of city power have long focused on cities’ power relative to higher levels of government and to each other. The diffuse causes of climate change offer an opportunity to revisit the question of city power by focusing more closely on the intended object of influence. Although these two perspectives on power will at times overlap, they are not identical. If we consider greenhouse gas emissions as the target, cities can employ their relatively minor powers to substantial effect and many of them appear to be trying to do so. But consideration of cities’ climate change policies alters the usual …
A Tale Of Two Greenways: A Comparative Study Of Greenway Projects, Gabrielle Markeson
A Tale Of Two Greenways: A Comparative Study Of Greenway Projects, Gabrielle Markeson
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Comment discusses the recent trend in urban planning which places an emphasis on creating smart growth communities, which encourage mixed land use, alternative modes of transportation, and incorporating green space in development to combat urban sprawl. Smart growth communities often offer greenways, which encompass a broad range of green space including open space along rivers and streams, natural or landscaped courses for pedestrian or bicycle passage, open space connectors for parks, and linear parks designated as parkways, among others. The Comment discusses the environmental, economic, and health benefits of greenways. While greenways have become desirable, many communities aren't successful …
Municipal Solid Waste Flow Control In The Post-Carbone World, Eric S. Peterson, David N. Abramowitz
Municipal Solid Waste Flow Control In The Post-Carbone World, Eric S. Peterson, David N. Abramowitz
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Garbage will always ultimately be the government's problem. Evolving environmental standards and state and federal policies will continue to require reasoned responses from local governments and municipal solid waste flow control is a vital cog in many jurisdictions' solid waste management solutions. Without flow control of some form, governments' ability to plan and provide for the most environmentally sound and economically acceptable solutions will wane, leaving the public vulnerable to the vagaries of a private market that does not have a duty to protect the public health and safety. The Carbone decision has blunted one of the local governments chief …
The Ocean Dumping Deadline: Easing The Mandate Millstone, Julian H. Spirer
The Ocean Dumping Deadline: Easing The Mandate Millstone, Julian H. Spirer
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Article examines the development the "mandate millstone," the inflexible federal rules and regulations directed at state and local governments in the environmental arena. It surveys how the mandate millstone has burdened or threatened to burden the ocean dumping of sewage sludge by New York City. The Article reviews the method by which the city has traditionally disposed of its sewage sludge in the ocean waters surrounding the city, and how the city's disposal practices would have been altered radically had the city been forced to implement a plan, pursuant to United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, to end …
Environental Impact Statements: Instruments For Environmental Protection Or Endless Litigation?, Fran Hoffinger
Environental Impact Statements: Instruments For Environmental Protection Or Endless Litigation?, Fran Hoffinger
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Congress enacted the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on January 1, 1970. NEPA's purpose is to "declare a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment." In an effort to achieve this national policy, NEPA requires federal agencies proposing certain major federal actions that affect the environment to include an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in their proposal or recommendations. The EIS must include both an assessment of the beneficial and adverse environmental impacts of the proposed actions and an analysis of the impacts in light of other circumstances. This Comment discusses the historical background …
Environmental Law: A Reevaluation Of Federal Pre-Emption And The Commerce Clause, Mark J. Alonso
Environmental Law: A Reevaluation Of Federal Pre-Emption And The Commerce Clause, Mark J. Alonso
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Comment addresses how the concern of state and local governments to regain control over environmental regulation has resulted in a marked increase in conflicts with the commerce and supremacy clauses of the Constitution. Various tests have been used by the courts to determine violations of these Constitutional provisions where environmental objectives are sought through local laws. In the field of environmental litigation, traditional tests are constantly challenged to meet the changing moral climate of the nation. This Comment weighs the desire of local legislatures for more responsive environmental regulation against the federal goal of uniform regulation and unrestrained interstate …
Urban Environmental Law: Emergent Citizens' Rights For The Aesthetic, The Spiritual, And The Spacious, Nicholas A. Robinson
Urban Environmental Law: Emergent Citizens' Rights For The Aesthetic, The Spiritual, And The Spacious, Nicholas A. Robinson
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The issues in environmental law have been largely directed toward the natural environment, however, very recently and with growing force, new law has been channeled into the service of our nation's urban centers. Traditionally, urban environmental law included only broad schemes to redress urban ills, such as zoning laws, public housing programs, and urban renewal. In the past few years, there has been an increase in the development of personally held and asserted citizens rights to a quality urban environment. While articles on the urban environment often deal with statutory and administrative action, this article presents a different perspective, that …
Environmental Law-Statutory Interpretation-Factors To Be Considered In Making A Threshold Determination That An Environmental Impact Statement Is Necessary Under The Na- Tional Environmental Policy Act Of 1969
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was passed by Congress in 1969 declaring a policy which will promote efforts to protect the environment, to stimulate the health and welfare of man, and to enrich the understanding of the natural resources important to the nation. Under NEPA, all federal agencies must develop decision making procedures that include an evaluation of factors the agency will consider in deciding whether a proposed agency action will significantly affect the "human environment."' Federal agencies, unable to discern the meaning of "human environment," have had difficulty in deciding what factors to consider in making the threshold …