Law Commons^™

In The Wake Of The Snail Darter: An Environmental Law Paradigm And Its Consequences, Zygmunt J.B. Plater

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Everything is connected to everything else: so goes the first law of ecology. This interconnectedness is reflected in environmental law as well, extending beyond natural science and particular resource conflicts to link environmental law intimately with the politics, philosophies, economics, and societal values that form its much larger context-an ecology of human and natural systems.

The Tellico Dam litigation reflected this interconnectedness. On its face, it was a simple environmental confrontation; it will be remembered as the "extreme" case of the little endangered fish, the snail darter, that almost stopped a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) dam. But if one picks …

The Dilution Of The Clean Water Act, Mark C. Van Putten, Bradley D. Jackson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article argues that the zero discharge goal of the Clean Water Act is more than naive rhetoric. To the contrary, it is the Act's raison d'être, and it is woven into the fabric of the Act's operative provisions. So understood, the zero discharge goal can and should provide continuing guidance for EPA's implementation of the Act.

Introduction, Joseph L. Sax

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This symposium was conceived as a way of asking how much, and in what ways, environmental law had changed since its beginnings some twenty years ago. Except for Samuel Hays, a prominent historian of the environmental movement, none of the participants addresses those questions directly. By indirection, however, each one provides an answer. Far from fading away, environmental law has become institutionalized, an accepted and significant enterprise both for government and for attorneys. It was not always thus. Twenty years ago, there was probably not a single lawyer in the United States who devoted any significant part of his or …

Reducing Acid Rain In Eastern North America: The Scientific Basis For An Acid Rain Control Policy, Michael Oppenheimer

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article presents the scientific basis for an effective acid rain control policy. Part I suggests that if a choice must be made, regulation should focus primarily on sulfur dioxide emissions rather than nitrogen oxide emissions because sulfur deposition is the major cause of watershed acidification. Part II explains the need for at least a fifty percent reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions to meet a "safe" deposition level. Part III specifies the geographical allocation of sulfur emission reductions necessary to attain target deposition levels in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. The Article concludes by demonstrating the need for …

Pennsylvania's Implementation Of The Surface Mining Control And Reclamation Act: An Assessment Of How "Cooperative Federalism" Can Make State Regulatory Programs More Effective, John C. Dernbach

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article first explains the background against which Pennsylvania's implementation of SMCRA has occurred. Coal mining has had a serious and continuing effect on the State's environment, as Part I explains. In response to these effects, Pennsylvania began to regulate coal mining many decades ago. This regulatory development reached a milestone when the State achieved primacy under SMCRA in 1982.

Part II suggests that the new program in Pennsylvania has been responsible for substantial reductions in adverse environmental effects from surface coal mining, particularly less erosion and sedimentation, less acid mine drainage, and more backfilling. In addition, Part II explains …