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Full-Text Articles in Law

Escaping The Sporhase Maze: Protecting State Waters Within The Commerce Clause, Mark S. Davis, Michael Pappas Nov 2012

Escaping The Sporhase Maze: Protecting State Waters Within The Commerce Clause, Mark S. Davis, Michael Pappas

Michael Pappas

Eastern states, though they have enjoyed a history of relatively abundant water, increasingly face the need to conserve water, particularly to protect water-dependent ecosystems. At the same time, growing water demands, climate change, and an emerging water-oriented economy have intensified pressure for interstate water transfers. Thus, even traditionally wet states are seeking to protect or secure their water supplies. However, restrictions on water sales and exports risk running afoul of the Dormant Commerce Clause. This Article offers guidance for states, partciularly eastern states concerned with maintaining and improving water-dependent ecosystems, in seeking to restrict water exports while staying within the …


Interstate Water Compact Version 3.0: Missouri River Basin Compact Drafters Should Consider An Inter-Sovereign Approach To Accommodate Federal And Tribal Interests In Water Resources, Jeffrey T. Matson Nov 2012

Interstate Water Compact Version 3.0: Missouri River Basin Compact Drafters Should Consider An Inter-Sovereign Approach To Accommodate Federal And Tribal Interests In Water Resources, Jeffrey T. Matson

Jeffrey T Matson

In the aftermath of the historic 2011 Missouri River flood, Missouri River Basin (MRB) state representatives and governors criticize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for operating the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System (System) in support of the multiple, often conflicting, purposes outlined in the Flood Control Act of 1944. These officials envision entering into an interstate compact to divest the Corps of some of its operational authority and to broaden their role in managing water resources. Similarly, MRB tribal leaders argue that the Corps fails to operate its System in a manner that respects the interrelated issues of …


The Killing Fields: Reducing The Casualties In The Battle Between U.S. Species Protection Law And U.S. Pesticide Law, Mary Jane Angelo Apr 2012

The Killing Fields: Reducing The Casualties In The Battle Between U.S. Species Protection Law And U.S. Pesticide Law, Mary Jane Angelo

Mary Jane Angelo

For the past 35 years, the conflicting goals, standards, focuses, and methods of United States species protection laws and United States pesticide law have produced a fierce legal battle. The unwitting casualties of this battle are the millions of birds, fish, and other wildlife that have been killed, and the hundreds of protected species put at risk of extinction. This battle has intensified in recent years, as environmental organizations have sued the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") for its continued failure to comply with the Endangered Species Act ("ESA"). In response, EPA has invoked numerous legal and regulatory strategies, …


Modernizing Water Law: The Example Of Florida, Christine A. Klein, Mary Jane Angelo, Richard Hamann Apr 2012

Modernizing Water Law: The Example Of Florida, Christine A. Klein, Mary Jane Angelo, Richard Hamann

Mary Jane Angelo

This Article takes a national view of the modernization of water law. Using Florida as an example, it identifies some of the most important and controversial challenges faced by states. Part II provides an overview of the process of water law reform. As states attempt to improve water management, they have modified their common law water allocation systems with an overlay of statutory law. Often, the process occurs in a piecemeal fashion, resulting in a patchwork of rules -- common law and statutory, old and new. In rare cases -- including that of Florida -- the process may be more …


Incorporating Emergy Synthesis Into Environmental Law: An Integration Of Ecology, Economics, And Law, Mary Jane Angelo, Mark T. Brown Apr 2012

Incorporating Emergy Synthesis Into Environmental Law: An Integration Of Ecology, Economics, And Law, Mary Jane Angelo, Mark T. Brown

Mary Jane Angelo

Emergy synthesis, flrst developed by Dr. Howard T. Odum in the 1970s, and further expanded and refined by other scholars over the past thirty years, has the potential to transform environmental decisionmaking by providing a methodology that can integrate ecology, economics, and law. Virtually all areas of environmental law are concerned in some way with both the ecological and the economic impacts of environmental decision making. Unfortunately, existing environmental law statutes tend to incorporate ecological and economic considerations in a simplistic, piecemeal, and awkward fashion. Emergy synthesis incorporates both ecological and economic considerations through a sophisticated scientiic methodology. Emergy synthesis …


Corn, Carbon, And Conservation: Rethinking U.S. Agricultural Policy In A Changing Global Environment, Mary Jane Angelo Apr 2012

Corn, Carbon, And Conservation: Rethinking U.S. Agricultural Policy In A Changing Global Environment, Mary Jane Angelo

Mary Jane Angelo

This Article explores a range of issues related to both the regulatory and incentive-based federal programs that affect the crops we grow, the manner in which they are grown, and the human and environmental impacts of such programs. The Article evaluates the 2008 Farm Bill and describes how the policies contained in it influence virtually every aspect of agriculture, from the decision to grow certain crops, the amount of crops grown, the industrial manner. This Article focuses on one particular commodity, corn, which while ubiquitous and seemingly pedestrian, is perhaps one of the major environmental offenders, and for which the …


Integrating Water Management And Land Use Planning: Uncovering The Missing Link In The Protection Of Florida's Water Resources?, Mary Jane Angelo Apr 2012

Integrating Water Management And Land Use Planning: Uncovering The Missing Link In The Protection Of Florida's Water Resources?, Mary Jane Angelo

Mary Jane Angelo

Except for limited provisions, Florida law does not establish a formal link between land planning and water planning. In light of the importance of water resources for the future development of the State, this is a significant "missing link." Land use planners and water managers live in very different worlds and speak very different languages. Water managers point to poor planning as the cause of environmentally inappropriate development, and planners point to the shortcomings of water management regulatory programs as the cause of environmental woes. So what is the problem?Why are water management and planning not better integrated? Should they …


Rio+20 - An Analysis Of The Zero Draft And The Final Outcome Document “The Future We Want”, Vicki-Ann Assevero, Sonali P. Chitre Jan 2012

Rio+20 - An Analysis Of The Zero Draft And The Final Outcome Document “The Future We Want”, Vicki-Ann Assevero, Sonali P. Chitre

Sonali P Chitre

Rio 20 the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) was held June 20-22, 2012 to allow world leaders as well as participants from governments, civil society, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and other groups to come together to draft a roadmap detailing how the world should promote sustainable development. The Final Outcome Document (FOD) of Rio 201 is more detailed and stronger than the initial Zero Draft. The Zero Draft of January 10, 2012 by the Secretariat was purposely general and left many areas to be filled in by specific country proposals. The FOD was finalized and agreed upon by 192 …


A New And Improved Energy Reality—It's No Pipedream, Daniel Hare Jan 2012

A New And Improved Energy Reality—It's No Pipedream, Daniel Hare

Daniel Hare

In this paper, I propose an original policy solution to the complicated issue of permitting and regulatory review for cross-border natural resource projects to allow for a smoother, quicker approval process for certain types of projects. I have specifically designed this new procedure so as to focus on political compromise and minimize political partisanship, while instead concentrating on achieving results. By modifying the current regulatory standard to a more streamlined model, deserving cross-border natural resource projects can swiftly gain approval, yet environmental, economic, foreign policy, national security, and other significant concerns will still receive the attention and thorough evaluation they …


Using The Public Natural Resource Management Laws To Improve Water Pollution Anti-Degradation Policies, Sandi Zellmer, Robert Glicksman Dec 2011

Using The Public Natural Resource Management Laws To Improve Water Pollution Anti-Degradation Policies, Sandi Zellmer, Robert Glicksman

Sandi Zellmer

The Clean Water Act’s principal goal is to “restore and maintain” the integrity of the nation’s surface water bodies. The Act’s adoption was spurred largely by the perception that unchecked pollution had caused the degradation of those waters, making them unsuitable for uses such as fishing and swimming. At the time Congress passed the statute, however, some lakes, rivers, and streams had water quality that was better than what was needed to support these uses. An important question was whether the statute would limit discharges with the potential to impair these high quality waters. EPA’s anti-degradation policy sought to ensure …