Law Commons^™

Current Challenges In The Rio Grande/Río Bravo Basin: Old Disputes In A New Century, Regina M. Buono, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

The Rio Grande River traverses 2000 kilometres of the international border between Mexico and the United States. The river and its tributaries are governed by a series of border treaties and institutions, as well as under the domestic laws of each nation. Often lauded for enabling innovative and collaborative governance, in recent years the complicated regime has come under pressure as domestic and international water governance institutions struggle under the strain of climate change, population growth, and other stressors on water supply and demand in the region. This chapter considers three of the major challenges currently facing the Rio Grande …

Indonesia’S Extraterritorial Obligation To Protect The Human Rights Of Individuals From Transboundary Haze Pollution, Yogi Bratajaya, Diajeng Wulan Christianti, Ahmad Gusman Catur Siswandi

Indonesian Journal of International Law

Ever since the late 1980s, forest fires located in Indonesia have resulted in haze pollution which engulfs the Southeast Asian region almost annually. This paper argues that Indonesia is extraterritorially obligated to ensure the human rights of individuals outside its territory as a result of its failure to prevent the haze pollution. It analyzes the extraterritorial application of Article 2(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), arguing that an individual whose human rights have been adversely affected by transboundary environmental harm is deemed ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the originating state. Applying this interpretation, individuals located …

Impact Assessment And Responsible Business Conduct Tools In The Extractive Sector: An Environmental Human Rights Toolbox For Government, Business, Civil Society, And Indigenous Groups, Sara L. Seck, Charlotte Connolly, Penelope Simons, Audrey Axten

Responsible Business Conduct and Impact Assessment Law

This toolbox provides guidance on how governments, businesses, civil society, and Indigenous groups may encourage and adopt a human rights approach to impact assessment (IA). It forms part of a broader research project aimed at highlighting the interrelationship between IA laws and Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) tools, funded by the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Knowledge Synthesis Grant: Informing Best Practices in Environmental & Impact Assessments (the “KSG”).

The Role Of Esg Rating Agencies And Market Efficiency In Europe’S Climate Policy, Ebbe Rogge, Lara Ohnesorge

UC Law Environmental Journal

The European Union (“EU”) set out an ambitious policy agenda to reduce its impact on climate change. Although the popular image is that economic growth and sustainability are practically incompatible, this policy agenda includes measures enabling reallocation of investment towards sustainable projects and companies. This paper posits that, by adopting measures requiring the disclosure of non-financial and in particular Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) information, EU policy relies on market efficiency to ensure the desired reallocation of investment.

In order for this market efficiency approach to work properly, non-financial information must be accessible, comparable, and verified. This creates a new …

Green Bonds: Reforming Esg Regulation In The United States To Meet The Requisite Funding Demand For A Decarbonized Economy, Bryant Rivera

UC Law Environmental Journal

At the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (“COP26”) in Glasgow, nations around the world reaffirmed their international commitment to limit average global temperature increases by the end of the century to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This international effort will require a significant amount of funding, one that will demand a substantial restructuring of the U.S. financial market towards a carbon neutral economy. In recent years, green bonds have emerged as the leading financial instrument to finance environmental projects and initiatives. Although the market has seen unprecedented growth, it is nevertheless inhibited by its lack of regulatory structure, with all disclosures …

Radical Legal Change: Moving Toward Earth Law, Tara Pierce

UC Law Environmental Journal

This paper will examine the required paradigm shift in socio-legal philosophical thinking and the shared values between the Public Trust Doctrine and Earth Law. These legal frameworks were born from different social narratives, which greatly impacted their ability to serve the public and the Earth Community. Exploring each legal framework’s origins and current practice will illuminate how the Public Trust Doctrine can bridge the gap between Western legal systems toward Earth Law—a holistic approach to justice in the context of history, society, ecology, and humanity’s relationship with our planet. Earth Law focuses on the roles of beings within their ecosystem, …

Using Federal Power To Compel Fire Prevention And Address Growing Property Insurance Issues In Wildland-Urban Interface, Brandon A. Prince

UC Law Environmental Journal

The Western United States continues to experience devastating wildfire seasons. These severe disasters worsen as climate change lengthens periods of aridity and hotter temperatures. Despite this longstanding and well-documented forecast, wildland-urban interface (“WUI”) development has continued without much restriction over the past thirty years. Insurers who once issued policies in these western WUI regions now experience substantial losses on an annual basis and are reconsidering their approach to market participation in fire-prone areas. In areas with acute fire destruction like California, insurers’ resulting rate increases and non-renewals have forced state government intervention to protect property owners. This tension is emblematic …

Violations Of The Eighth Amendment: How Climate Change Is Creating Cruel And Unusual Punishment, Robert Pistone

UC Law Environmental Journal

As climate change continues to threaten human life on Earth, greenhouse gas emissions are causing more frequent record-setting temperatures and natural disasters. If the current United States prison system does not take steps to address how climate change is affecting the quality of life of its inmates, then imprisonment will be considered cruel and unusual punishment in the near future. In fact, in light of climate change, there is a strong argument that the current treatment of prisoners is already cruel and unusual punishment when other factors are taken into account. This paper focuses on the standards of what conditions …

And Then There Were Two: Splitting South Carolina's Department Of Health And Environmental Control, Arslan S. Valimohamed

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Environmental Litigation Has Turned Pipelines Into Pipe Dreams, Madison Hinkle, Jesse J. Richardson

Law Faculty Scholarship

Proposed oil and gas pipelines have faced a myriad of legal challenges in the past several years. Even where pipeline proponents have prevailed, the cost and delay of protracted litigation has often caused cancellation of pipeline projects. In addition, presidential transitions have led to abrupt reversals of pipeline policies, which courts have often reviewed skeptically. This Article explores the regulatory framework for pipeline construction and analyzes recent lawsuits, describing the legal requirements that agencies must follow to change policies and discussing policies of the Obama and Trump Administrations in context of the legal challenges. It concludes by analyzing the approaches …

An Assessment Of Requirements In Investments, New Technologies, And Infrastructures To Achieve The Sdgs, Peter Yang

Faculty Scholarship

Background: The implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires much planning and the provision of resources, especially regarding the necessary investments, technologies and infrastructures needed. Yet, it is presently unclear how available these elements are, what gaps exist, what changes have taken place in terms of their availability since the adoption of the SDGs and what their requirements will be in the future. The knowledge gap has become even more concerning because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a bibliometric analysis, an assessment of the global progress of SDG implementation and requirements, identifying challenges through the development …

Developing Solar Energy In Rural Virginia: An Analysis Of Legal, Environmental, And Policy Issues, Reza Kameli, Sun Shen

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

This paper focuses on the legal, environmental, land use, and policy issues associated with developing solar energy projects in Virginia, with a particular focus on large-scale installations in rural areas. Part II discusses state laws, regulations, and recent legislative actions that relate to solar development, including the Virginia Stormwater Management Act and Erosion and Sediment Control Law. Part III reviews local strategies for managing solar development, including comprehensive plans, ordinances, siting agreements, and conditional use permits. Part IV addresses the challenges localities may face when balancing land preservation and Virginia’s ambitious clean energy goals. Finally, Part V provides recommendations for …

Making Me Ill: Environmental Racism And Justice As Disability, Britney Wilson

Articles & Chapters

Civil rights legal scholars and practitioners have lamented the constraints of the largely intent-based legal framework required to challenge racial discrimination and injustice. As a result, they have sought alternative methods that seemingly require less overt proof of discrimination and are more equipped to address structural harm. One of these proposed solutions involves the use of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)—due to its affirmative mandate to address discrimination by reasonable modification or accommodation—and the framing of issues of racial injustice in terms of disability or the deprivation of medical rights. Environmental justice, an area in which issues of both …

Governing For Transformative Change Across The Biodiversity-Climate-Society Nexus, Unai Pascual, Pamela D. Mcelwee, Sarah E. Diamond, Hien T. Ngo, Xuemei Bai, William W. L. Cheung, Michelle Mei Ling Lim, Nadja Steiner, John Agard, Camila I. Donatti, Carlos M. Duarte, Rik Leemans, Shunsuke Managi, Aliny P. F. Pires, Victoria Reyes-Garcia, Christopher Trisos, Robert J. Scholes, Hans-Otto Portner

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Transformative governance is key to addressing the global environmental crisis. We explore how transformative governance of complex biodiversity–climate–society interactions can be achieved, drawing on the first joint report between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to reflect on the current opportunities, barriers, and challenges for transformative governance. We identify principles for transformative governance under a biodiversity–climate– society nexus frame using four case studies: forest ecosystems, marine ecosystems, urban environments, and the Arctic. The principles are focused on creating conditions to build multifunctional interventions, integration, and innovation across scales; coalitions of …

Measuring The Benefits Of Power Plant Effluent Regulation, David A. Keiser, Bethany A. Daviss Noll, Catherine L. Kling, Rachel Rothschild

Other Publications

This report reviews the Economic Analysis (EA) that supported the 2020 Revisions of the Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELGs) and Standards for the Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Category (“2020 Rule” or “Rule”). We review the economic framework, literature, and analyses performed to support these revisions. Our report builds on Davis Noll and Rothschild (2021). In that report, Davis Noll and Rothschild detailed numerous impacts of the 2020 Rule that EPA neglected to examine in the EA, such as the health impacts from bromide, lead, and mercury emissions, harms to threatened and endangered species, and forgone climate benefits related to …

Treaty-Based Climate Change Claims: Litigation Pathways In The Face Of Cultural Devastation, Kirsten D. Gerbatsch

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Do It For The Kids: Protecting Future Generations From Climate Change Impacts And Future Pandemics In Maryland Using An Environmental Rights Amendment, Johanna Adashek

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Youth And Indigenous Voices In Climate Justice: Leveraging Best Practices From U.S. And Canadian Litigation, Randall S. Abate

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Water Justice Under The Big Sky: Locating A Human Right To Water In Montana Law, Abigail R. Brown

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Judicial Duty: Interpreting And Enforcing Montanans' Inalienable Right To A Clean And Healthful Environment, Nate Bellinger, Roger Sullivan

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Letter To The Reader

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Editors And Staff Members

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

“That’S What We Call ‘Aesthetics’”: The Social Construction Of Tap Water Mistrust In An Underbounded Community, Abby Vidmar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent research on water insecurity in the United States has revealed that underbounded communities — urban disadvantaged unincorporated neighborhoods characterized by high-poverty and high residential density lying just outside the border of an incorporated municipality — often lack consistent access to clean and safe water. In these settings, poor water quality and inadequate infrastructure shape residents’ risk perceptions often leading to tap water mistrust. However, little is known about the broader social, political, and economic drivers of water quality in these settings and how such drivers inform the social construction of risk across different stakeholder groups. Using an underbounded African-American/Hispanic …

Legal Rights For Rivers, Katie O'Bryan

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

"In Countless Ways And On An Unprecedented Scale": Reflections On The Stockholm Declaration At 50, Rebecca Bratspies

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Conference: The 1972 Stockholm Declaration At Fifty: Reflecting On A Half-Century Of International Environmental Law / International Environmental Law At Its Semicentennial: The Stockholm Legacy / Hosted By The Dean Rusk International Law Center And The Georgia Journal Of International And Comparative Law On October 8, 2021 In Athens, Georgia And Online, Melissa J. Durkee

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

More Than The Daily Catch: How Regulating The Fishing Industry Can Help Keep Plastics From The Ocean, Katherine Payne

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Rule Against Hearsay, Indigenous Claims And Story-Telling As Testimony In Canadian Courts, Zia Akhtar

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Watershed Moment: The Health And Economic Impact Of Water Sustainability In The Navajo Nation Post Pandemic, Onnaedo Nwankwo

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.