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Articles 1 - 20 of 20
Full-Text Articles in Law
The Role Of Trust Law Principles In Defining Public Trust Duties For Natural Resources, John C. Dernbach
The Role Of Trust Law Principles In Defining Public Trust Duties For Natural Resources, John C. Dernbach
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Public trusts for natural resources incorporate both limits and duties on governments in their stewardship of those natural resources. They exist in every state in the United States—in constitutional provisions, statutes, and in common law. Yet the law recognizing public trusts for natural resources may contain only the most basic provisions—often just a sentence or two. The purpose and terms of these public trusts certainly answer some questions about the limits and duties of trustees, but they do not answer all questions. When questions arise that the body of law creating or recognizing a public trust for natural resources does …
Evolution Of Water Institutions In The Indus River Basin: Reflections From The Law Of The Colorado River, Erum Sattar, Jason Robison, Daniel Mccool
Evolution Of Water Institutions In The Indus River Basin: Reflections From The Law Of The Colorado River, Erum Sattar, Jason Robison, Daniel Mccool
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Transboundary water institutions in the Indus River Basin can be fairly characterized as broken in key respects. International relations between India and Pakistan over the Indus Waters Treaty, as well as interprovincial relations within Pakistan over the 1991 Water Accord, speak to this sentiment. Stemming from research undertaken by the authors for the Harvard Water Federalism Project and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), this Article seeks to spur the evolution of the Indus River Basin’s water institutions by offering a comparative perspective from North America’s most “institutionally encompassed” basin, the Colorado River Basin. Mindful of the importance …
Optimal Property Rights For Emerging Natural Resources: A Case Study On Owning Atmospheric Moisture, Jianlin Chen
Optimal Property Rights For Emerging Natural Resources: A Case Study On Owning Atmospheric Moisture, Jianlin Chen
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
This Article critically examines the design of property rights for emerging natural resources—naturally occurring substances that humans have only recently come to be able to exploit viably—through a case study of how the fifty states allocate ownership in, and regulate the use of, atmospheric moisture, an issue that has emerged in the context of weather modification (particularly cloud seeding). Building on the surprising finding that legislative declarations of state ownership have not resulted in greater regulatory control or other substantial restrictions on private use, this Article highlights a dimension of property rights design that has yet to receive concerted scholarly …
Closing The Regulatory Gap In Michigan's Public Trust Doctrine: Saving Michigan Millions With Statutory Reform, Kelsey Breck
Closing The Regulatory Gap In Michigan's Public Trust Doctrine: Saving Michigan Millions With Statutory Reform, Kelsey Breck
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
The Great Lakes are some of Michigan's most valuable and important environmental resources. The public trust doctrine requires Michigan to protect and preserve the lands along the shores of the Great Lakes for the use of future generations. Unfortunately, the public trust doctrine in Michigan is in disarray and as a result, public and private rights to the lands along the Great Lakes are poorly delineated. This Note presents an economic argument for why the public trust doctrine should be reformed to better define public and private rights to the land along Michigan's Great Lakes. It also suggests a statutory …
Investigating 40 C.F.R. Sec. 124.55(B): State-Court Review Of Npdes Permit Certifications, Tad Macfarlan
Investigating 40 C.F.R. Sec. 124.55(B): State-Court Review Of Npdes Permit Certifications, Tad Macfarlan
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
This Note investigates the wisdom and validity of 40 CER. § 124.55(b), a Clean Water Act regulation promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program. The Clean Water Act provides affected states with an opportunity to certify federally administered NDES permits before issuance by EPA. State certification is a meaningful moment in water quality regulation, and judicial review of these critical decisions takes place in state courts. Unfortunately, 40 C.ER. § 124.55(b), designed to bring certainty and finality to permit-holders, effectively removes state courts from the process of …
The Texas Wind Estate: Wind As A Natural Resource And A Severable Property Interest, Alan J. Alexander
The Texas Wind Estate: Wind As A Natural Resource And A Severable Property Interest, Alan J. Alexander
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
In 2011, Texas is again at the forefront of an energy boom: the wind energy boom. In 2006, Texas surpassed California and became the US. state with the most installed capacity to produce wind energy, and Texas' level of installed capacity has continued to grow. But the law has not kept pace with this growth. Similar to the initial growth of the oil and gas industry in Texas, the wind energy industry was also born, and continues to grow, in the absence of clear legal and regulatory standards. Lack of regulation in the early development of the oil industry contributed …
International Law's Lessons For The Law Of The Lakes, Joseph W. Dellapenna
International Law's Lessons For The Law Of The Lakes, Joseph W. Dellapenna
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
The eight Governors of the Great Lakes States signed a proposed new compact for the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence basin on December 13, 2005, and they joined with the Premiers of Ontario and Québec in a parallel agreement on the same topic on the same day. Neither document is legally binding-the proposed new compact because it has not yet been ratified by any State nor consented to by Congress; the parallel agreement because it is not intended to be legally binding. Both documents are designed to preclude the export of water from the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin apart from …
The Role Of Local Governments In Great Lakes Environmental Governance: A Canadian Perspective, Marcia Valiante
The Role Of Local Governments In Great Lakes Environmental Governance: A Canadian Perspective, Marcia Valiante
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Restoration of environmental integrity in the Great Lakes Basin has been only a qualified success after thirty-five years of efforts pursuant to policies developed by federal, state, and provincial governments. Many unresolved problems stem from activities under local government control, yet in the past local governments were excluded from Great Lakes policy-making. By looking at recent changes in the powers, interests, experience, and influence of local governments in Ontario, this Essay concludes that local governments now have the ability to participate meaningfully in Great Lakes policy formation and implementation. To include local governments would improve the chances of successful restoration …
The Public Trust In Surface Waterways And Submerged Lands Of The Great Lakes States, Bertram C. Frey, Andrew Mutz
The Public Trust In Surface Waterways And Submerged Lands Of The Great Lakes States, Bertram C. Frey, Andrew Mutz
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
The modern public trust doctrine compels each Great Lakes state to protect the sustainable future of the Lakes and to preserve traditional public uses. At the same time, the doctrine constrains the states' powers to allow exploitation of trust resources. This Article provides a brief historical overview of the public trust doctrine in waterways and their submerged lands. It next explores how the eight Great Lakes states have applied the doctrine, discusses the surprising number of differences in the doctrine's development from state to state, and provides comparison charts. After analyzing the variety of approaches used by the eight states …
From "Navigable Waters" To "Constitutional Waters": The Future Of Federal Wetlands Regulation, Mark Squillace
From "Navigable Waters" To "Constitutional Waters": The Future Of Federal Wetlands Regulation, Mark Squillace
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Wetlands regulation in the United States has a tumultuous history. The early European settlers viewed wetlands as obstacles to development, and they drained and filled wetlands and swamps at an astounding rate, often with government support, straight through the middle of the twentieth century. As evidence of the ecological significance of wetlands emerged over the last several decades, programs to protect and restore wetlands became prominent. Most notable among these is the permitting program under section 404 of the Clean Water Act. That provision prohibits dredging or filling of "navigable waters, " defined by law to mean "waters of the …
The Great Lakes As An Environmental Heritage Of Humankind: An International Law Perspective, A. Dan Tarlock
The Great Lakes As An Environmental Heritage Of Humankind: An International Law Perspective, A. Dan Tarlock
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Since 1985, the eight Great Lakes states and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec have cooperated to prevent almost all diversions of water from the Great Lakes basin. In 2005, the eight states signed an Agreement to create a tiered system of reviews for diversions and a draft interstate Compact, which creates a binding process to regulate diversions. This cooperation is primarily a state initiative, supported by the federal governments in both countries, which has paid little attention to the international character of the lakes. This Essay argues that there are three major benefits to the region from the …
Walking The Beach To The Core Of Sovereignty: The Historic Basis For The Public Trust Doctrine Applied In Glass V. Goeckel, Robert Haskell Abrams
Walking The Beach To The Core Of Sovereignty: The Historic Basis For The Public Trust Doctrine Applied In Glass V. Goeckel, Robert Haskell Abrams
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
In 2004, a split panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals announced its conclusion that Michigan littoral owners of property owned to the water's very edge and could exclude members of the public from walking on the beach. In that instant almost 3300 miles of the Great Lakes foreshore became, in theory and in law, closed to public use. The case became the leading flash point of controversy between the vast public and ardent private property rights groups. A little more than one year later, the Michigan Supreme Court reversed that ruling as errant on public trust grounds and returned …
Keeping Clean Waters Clean: Making The Clean Water Act's Antidegradation Policy Work, John A. Chilson
Keeping Clean Waters Clean: Making The Clean Water Act's Antidegradation Policy Work, John A. Chilson
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
This Note stresses the importance of making the Clean Water Act's antidegradation policy work in order to avoid a system of national waters of equally mediocre quality. The Nation's highest quality and most important waters are not receiving appropriate protection under the Act because the antidegradation policy contains vague definitions, the states fail to review water quality standards every three years and to entertain citizens' petitions, and the Environmental Protection Agency has not taken an active role in ensuring compliance with federal standards. This Note examines the schemes of the Great Lakes States and Florida and hypothesizes that similar provisions …
Coal Policy--Need It Be The West Against The Rest?, C. Peter Goplerud Iii, Duffy Ruimerman
Coal Policy--Need It Be The West Against The Rest?, C. Peter Goplerud Iii, Duffy Ruimerman
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
This Article will analyze the legal issues involved in this "West against the rest" conflict. While numerous areas of disagreement exist within the larger picture of Western-federal relations, the Article will focus on two specific issues of present concern. First, the Article will explore the role of the states under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. This section includes an analysis of recent litigation involving regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Interior relating to the establishment of state mining programs. Second, the Article will address the imposition of state severance taxes on coal, with particular emphasis …
The Clean Air Act Amendments Of 1977 And The National Parklands, Robert Maynard
The Clean Air Act Amendments Of 1977 And The National Parklands, Robert Maynard
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
This article explores the new legislative scheme as it pertains to national parklands. After outlining the history of the PSD concept, the article considers the PSD provisions and their application to national parklands. Examination of the visibility section, which rounds out the framework for preservation of parkland air resources set up in the PSD section, completes the discussion. The analysis focuses on several potential defects in the regulatory structure of the amendments, including the failure to extend immediate protection under the PSD and visibility sections to a large number of national parkland units, the somewhat unrealistic criteria chosen to define …
State Management Of The Environment Part One: An Evaluation Of The Michigan Experience, Geoffrey J. Lanning
State Management Of The Environment Part One: An Evaluation Of The Michigan Experience, Geoffrey J. Lanning
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Michigan's citizens, as well as its government, seem but dimly aware of the fact that Michigan-the home of America's most growth-centered industry, the automobile-lies at the very eye of the environmental storm. This article seeks to take a broad look at the shortcomings of Michigan's environmental protection in recent years. In so doing, it groups many of Michigan's recent environmental failings into broad categories which will both clarify the status of Michigan's environmental law climate and provide a basis for its reform. Parts One and Two consist of this analysis and evaluation. Part Three will examine possible solutions and offer …
State Management Of The Environment Part Two: A Continuing Evaluation Of The Michigan Experience, Geoffrey J. Lanning
State Management Of The Environment Part Two: A Continuing Evaluation Of The Michigan Experience, Geoffrey J. Lanning
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
In Part One of this article, the author outlined the scope and character of Michigan's environmental problems and suggested some of the factors underlying the state's weak and bureaucratic decisionmaking process. Part Two concludes the author's analysis of the fundamental obstacles to effective environmental decisionmaking in Michigan, and Part Three will contain recommendations for reform.
Improved Policy Making For The Multiple Use Of Public Lands, Christopher J. Dunsky
Improved Policy Making For The Multiple Use Of Public Lands, Christopher J. Dunsky
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
The purpose of this article is to analyze the failure of past legislative attempts to define public land policy effectively, to examine current proposals for change, and to present an alternative proposal for a clearer statutory definition of policy.
Land-Use Management In Delaware's Coastal Zone, Francis S. Babiarz
Land-Use Management In Delaware's Coastal Zone, Francis S. Babiarz
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
The vastness and variety of the resources of this nation's coastal area have in the past generally been sufficient to support a number of different land uses. Recreational, commercial, and industrial facilities have developed together, generally at the expense of the natural environment. These land uses, however, including the natural environment in its unused form, no longer simply coexist, but now actively vie for the limited coastal area remaining. The legislatures of several states have attempted to resolve this conflict in a variety of ways. In June of 197 1 the Delaware General Assembly enacted the Coastal Zone Act (CZA), …
The Trend In Water Law Development, Jerome Maslowski
The Trend In Water Law Development, Jerome Maslowski
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
The basis of public and private rights in the waters of the State of Michigan is grounded principally in the common law. There has been a scarcity of statutory law on the subject and it is only within the last ten years that any statutes have been enacted which seek to delineate public and private rights.