Law Commons^™

This article explores how the identification and account- ing of ecosystem services can aid coastal management policies, particularly as management looks to a future that includes the impacts of climate change. At the core of making better deci- sions is an understanding of the value of ecosystem services. The economic context of ecosystem services is explored in order to outline what may be considered a complete account- ing of costs. Once contextualized, ecosystem services will then be applied to current coastal management issues associ- ated with sea level rise. In particular, policy-relevant questions about mitigating and adapting to sea level …

This paper reviews the current management scheme used by Massachusetts to protect vernal pools, which represent small-scale ecosystems, and analyzes its relative strengths and weaknesses from an overall sustainability standpoint by looking at the frameworks developed for management. The frameworks are analyzed to determine if the objectives of vernal pool protection are being met. The initial impression is the outcomes are not meeting the objective of overall vernal pool protection, because there are failures in the drivers (mainly the certification requirement), which limits the number of verbal pools actually protected. An expansion of the current Massachusetts program is suggested to …

Ecosystem-based management is becoming a more prevalent in federal legislative and executive mandates. Still, there are constitutional limitations to applying such measures, especially regarding federal control of certain intrastate water resources. Recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent may suggest a willingness to allow ecosystem-based principles as a foundation to support greater federal control. This paper looks at one recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to determine how far ecosystem-based principles might apply to federal control over intrastate bodies of water.

The purpose of this article is to identify agricultural operations as the major source of marine pollution, and present an argument for an alternate regulatory mechanism to properly control these sources. First, causes of marine pollution will be identified. Then, existing federal regulations will be reviewed and criticized. Some emphasis will be placed on §303 of the CWA, and the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program suggested by EPA. It will be used as a case study to show why ambient-based regulations are ineffective at controlling pollution sources. Limitations on other regulatory programs will be identified and explained. An alternate …