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Articles 1 - 30 of 52
Full-Text Articles in Law
Assured Water Supply Laws In The Sustainability Context, Lincoln L. Davies
Assured Water Supply Laws In The Sustainability Context, Lincoln L. Davies
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
By juxtaposing five western states’ existing assured supply laws, this Article provides a preliminary assessment of whether, and how, assured supply laws can best promote sustainability—and, by extension, make at least one area of environmental law more like sustainability law. The Article reaches three principal conclusions. First, it finds that, as they appear to, assured supply laws in fact promote sustainability. Second, the extent to which assured supply laws likely promote sustainability greatly varies by state, because these laws’ policy designs also depend on the state of enactment. Finally, additional work is needed to provide a more concrete assessment of …
Optimizing Land Use And Water Supply Planning: A Path To Sustainability?, Randele Kanouse, Douglas Wallace
Optimizing Land Use And Water Supply Planning: A Path To Sustainability?, Randele Kanouse, Douglas Wallace
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
The rise of the environmental movement and the growing public embrace of ecological values roughly coincided with the end of the dambuilding era. By the 1970s, most of the good sites for dams had already been taken, and those that remained, such as California’s North Coast rivers, were increasingly valued as natural and recreational resources that should be permanently protected. At the same time, California’s population continued to swell, from under 20 million in 1970 to nearly 38 million today. How did these trends affect water supply development in California? Among other impacts, the average time a major water supply …
Alice In Groundwater Land: Water Supply Assessments And Subsurface Water Supplies, Kevin M. O'Brien
Alice In Groundwater Land: Water Supply Assessments And Subsurface Water Supplies, Kevin M. O'Brien
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
The purpose of this Article is to explore the preparation of Water Supply Assessments in the context of subsurface water supplies. The term “subsurface water supplies” is used here rather than “groundwater” because, as discussed below, the proponent of a development project may propose to utilize a subsurface water supply (such as water produced from beneath the surface of land via a well or a flowing spring) that is not properly classified as groundwater because it falls within the legal definition of subterranean stream flow. In such a case, the supply would be subject to the water rights permitting jurisdiction …
Friant Dam Holding Contracts: Not An Entitlement To Water Supply Under Sb 610, Barry Epstein
Friant Dam Holding Contracts: Not An Entitlement To Water Supply Under Sb 610, Barry Epstein
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
Nearly ten years ago, California’s Legislature enacted Senate Bill (SB) 610, a new law requiring that any proposed large development project receiving local land use approvals be supported by a Water Supply Assessment demonstrating available water supply to meet the project’s 20-year forecast water demand. While some, perhaps most, proposed large development projects are within the service territory of large, public or private municipal water purveyors whose entitlement to the water they deliver is well-established (though not necessarily adequate or secure), developments outside the service territory of such water purveyors can require more scrutiny of the underlying water rights entitlement …
Show Me The Water Plan: Urban Water Management Plans And California’S Water Supply Adequacy Laws, Ellen Hanak
Show Me The Water Plan: Urban Water Management Plans And California’S Water Supply Adequacy Laws, Ellen Hanak
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
This Article reviews the effectiveness of California’s strategy of using enabling legislation and passive enforcement to encourage more integrated local water and land use planning. To shed light on the effectiveness of the current policy framework, the Article begins with a critical overview of the Urban Water Management Planning process, drawing on a detailed analysis of plans submitted in the early 2000s. It then evaluates how water supply assessments are proceeding, with a particular emphasis on steps used to identify adequacy, drawing on telephone surveys of land use authorities and water utilities conducted by the author in 2004 and 2009. …
The Relationship Between Water Supply And Land Use Planning: Leading Cases Under The California Environmental Quality Act, James G. Moose
The Relationship Between Water Supply And Land Use Planning: Leading Cases Under The California Environmental Quality Act, James G. Moose
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
This Article will survey and analyze this 2007 California Supreme Court decision and the key appellate court cases leading up to and following it, all of which address the relationship between land use planning and water supply planning under CEQA. The Article will also address a subsequent California Supreme Court decision addressing the adequacy of the EIR for one of the most significant water supply programs in recent decades, the so-called CALFED Record of Decision, which reflected, as of the year 2000, a long-term strategy for addressing ecological problems occurring in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta while increasing the reliability …
Conservation Of What?: An Introduction To The Issue, Paul Stanton Kibel, Anthony A. Austin
Conservation Of What?: An Introduction To The Issue, Paul Stanton Kibel, Anthony A. Austin
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
No abstract provided.
How California Local Governments Became Both Water Suppliers And Planners, A. Dan Tarlock
How California Local Governments Became Both Water Suppliers And Planners, A. Dan Tarlock
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
The paradox of California is that growth is concentrated in arid southern California but most of the state’s water supply, with the exception of the Colorado and Owens Rivers, originates in the north. This has meant that the state has had to bring massive amounts of water to the south to support the state’s celebrated continued population growth in order to compensate for California’s “bad hydrology.”1 From 1940 to 2007, California’s population increased from 6,950,000 to 37,786,000, and that growth has stressed the state’s capacity to meet the demand for water. Predicting the future is impossible, but the most conservative …
Holding The "Responsible Corporate Officer" Responsible: Addressing The Need For Expansion Of Criminal Liability For Corporate Environmental Violators, Nancy Mullikin
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
This comment argues that the responsible corporate officer (RCO) doctrine, as written into the CWA and the CAA, was intended to impose an affirmative duty on corporate officers based on their position and should be interpreted to expand criminal liability in the prosecution of substantive corporate environmental crimes. This comment also argues that the courts should expand criminal liability based on the RCO doctrine instead of limiting its application. Part II provides an overview of criminal prosecution of environmental crimes: its history, procedures, and purposes, in order to provide a context for understanding how the RCO doctrine appropriately expands criminal …
Lyon's Roar, Then A Whimper: The Demise Of Broad Arranger Liability In The Ninth Circuit After The Supreme Court's Decision In Burlington Northern, Jon-Erik W. Magnus
Lyon's Roar, Then A Whimper: The Demise Of Broad Arranger Liability In The Ninth Circuit After The Supreme Court's Decision In Burlington Northern, Jon-Erik W. Magnus
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
This Comment will examine the development of arranger liability under Ninth Circuit jurisprudence, specifically looking at the impact of Ninth Circuit‟s decision in Burlington Northern and the impact of the Supreme Court‟s reversal. Section II of this Comment will briefly examine the mechanisms for triggering CERCLA liability, specifically the definition of arranger liability under CERCLA. Next, Section III will address arranger liability in the Ninth Circuit. Specifically, this discussion will consider “direct” arranger liability considered in Cadillac Fairview/California, Inc. v. United States, which examined when transactions constitute “arrangements for disposal,” as contrasted with Burlington Northern, which expanded and applied a …
One False Move: The History Of Organic Agriculture And Consequences Of Non-Compliance With The Governing Laws And Regulations, Sara N. Pasquinelli
One False Move: The History Of Organic Agriculture And Consequences Of Non-Compliance With The Governing Laws And Regulations, Sara N. Pasquinelli
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
This Article provides an overview of the types of factors that may lead to the decertification of organic products, and the current regulatory scheme to evaluate and adjudicate potential violations. The underlying rationale for the enforcement of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 may lie in protection of the integrity of the product, as well as protection of the environmental system that is integral to its production. However, the risk factors for transitioning the U.S. food economy to a larger market share in order for organic food to reach a broader population could be an unintended disincentive. Part II …
Greenhouse Gas Regulation And Border Tax Adjustments: The Carrot And The Stick, M. Benjamin Eichenberg
Greenhouse Gas Regulation And Border Tax Adjustments: The Carrot And The Stick, M. Benjamin Eichenberg
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
Global climate change due to the emission of anthropogenic, or manmade, greenhouse gases (GHGs) has the most widely dispersed costs of any transboundary environmental problem that the international community has yet faced. In other words, it is a global public problem and thus provides few incentives for unilateral or individual mitigation. This makes finding solutions difficult because international coalitions must face the problem of free-riders who benefit from reduced GHG concentrations at zero cost—those who make the economically rational decision to let others reduce atmospheric GHG concentrations while they continue to build GHG-intensive economies. Three of the primary complaints raised …
In This Edition, Shanna Foley, Susan L. Dautel
In This Edition, Shanna Foley, Susan L. Dautel
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Climate Change And The Public Trust Doctrine: Using An Ancient Doctrine To Adapt To Rising Sea Levels In San Francisco Bay, Tim Eichenberg, Sean Bothwell, Darcy Vaughn
Climate Change And The Public Trust Doctrine: Using An Ancient Doctrine To Adapt To Rising Sea Levels In San Francisco Bay, Tim Eichenberg, Sean Bothwell, Darcy Vaughn
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
The predicament faced in San Francisco Bay is confronted in bays and estuaries throughout the nation. Using BCDC as a case study, this Article examines the threats posed by climate change to San Francisco Bay, the relationship between the public trust doctrine and the Takings Clause, and how the public trust doctrine can help public agencies address the impacts of climate change and sea level rise by: enhancing limited permit authority; requiring fees to mitigate the impacts of climate change; addressing the impacts of shoreline armoring; utilizing rolling easements and other legal mechanisms; protecting wetlands, marshes, and salt ponds; implementing …
Aligning Visions For The Bay-Delta: Market-Based Ecosystem Restoration Through Agricultural Efficiency Improvements, Derek Adrian Hoye
Aligning Visions For The Bay-Delta: Market-Based Ecosystem Restoration Through Agricultural Efficiency Improvements, Derek Adrian Hoye
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
This Comment proposes a comprehensive solution that could generate enormous water savings by increasing the efficiency of agriculture. Part II outlines the basics of California water law, specifically focusing on laws pertaining to water conservation and transfer. Part III analyzes the systems used in three other states to deal with water shortages and declining ecosystems. Part IV presents a proposal for conserving agricultural water, promoting irrigation efficiency through an educational outreach program, and using the water-transfer market as an economic incentive for efficiency. This proposal supplements the recommendations of the Strategic Plan with practical implementation analysis and achievable goals.
Transoceanic Trash: International And United States Strategies For The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Susan L. Dautel
Transoceanic Trash: International And United States Strategies For The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Susan L. Dautel
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
Part II of this Comment provides an overview of the debris found in the Patch and the associated health impacts. Part III reviews the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Waste and Other Matters (the London Convention) with its corresponding international and U.S. laws, and then separately examines the U.S. Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act (MDRPRA). Part IV argues that the laws identified in Part III can be applied to provide a means to clean up the portion of the Patch affecting U.S. territory. Part V briefly surveys the United Nations Framework Convention on …
Different Endings: Lethal Injection, Animal Euthanasia, Humane Slaughter, And Unregulated Slaugter, Jeff Welty
Different Endings: Lethal Injection, Animal Euthanasia, Humane Slaughter, And Unregulated Slaugter, Jeff Welty
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
This Article compares the laws and regulations that govern the termination of life in several contexts: lethal injection of condemned inmates; the euthanasia of companion animals; the slaughter of farmed animals covered by the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act; and the slaughter of farmed and other animals not covered by the Act.
Doling Out Environmental Justice To Nicaraguan Banana Workers: The Jose Adolfo Tellez V. Dole Food Company Litigation In The U.S. Courts, Armin Rosencranz, Stephen Roblin, Nicole Balloffet
Doling Out Environmental Justice To Nicaraguan Banana Workers: The Jose Adolfo Tellez V. Dole Food Company Litigation In The U.S. Courts, Armin Rosencranz, Stephen Roblin, Nicole Balloffet
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
In this article, we will explore the circumstances that led to this landmark ruling and verdict in Los Angeles, how Judge Chaney’s rulings changed the trajectory of the case, the recent developments concerning fraud by at least one U.S. lawyer, and how all of these factors might impact the future practices of transnational corporations.
Seeds Of Dispute: Intellectual-Property Rights And Agricultural Biodiversity, Keith Aoki
Seeds Of Dispute: Intellectual-Property Rights And Agricultural Biodiversity, Keith Aoki
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
This Article is about the interrelationship between expanding intellectual-property rights and the conservation of biodiversity. While these rights are not strictly correlated with conservation, the types of markets and companies producing commercial seeds and other agricultural inputs tend to promote monocultures that erode biodiversity in both the developed and developing world. Furthermore, this Article argues that the rise of genetically engineered crops in the last two decades further exacerbates both intellectual-property claims of companies owning patented seed and biodiversity, as metaphorical monoculture becomes realized with genetically engineered crops in fields where all the plants have the same genetic structure.
Reaping Riches In A Wretched Region: Subsidized Industrial Farming And Its Link To Perpetual Poverty, Lloyd G. Carter
Reaping Riches In A Wretched Region: Subsidized Industrial Farming And Its Link To Perpetual Poverty, Lloyd G. Carter
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
This Article shows how a long American tradition of helping small farmers has, in the past few decades, morphed into a massive government aid program for large industrialized agribusiness operations—a program that not only drives small farmers off the land but also perpetuates rural poverty because agribusiness requires huge numbers of low-paid, seasonal harvest workers, many of whom are undocumented workers who choose to stay in the United States. Part II reviews the history and evolution of publicly subsidized farming in the Valley. Part III discusses the creation of the Westlands irrigation district as representing the archetype of large "factories …
Free-Range Cattle On The Bay Area's Rural Fringe, Paul C. Ringgold
Free-Range Cattle On The Bay Area's Rural Fringe, Paul C. Ringgold
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
As the population of the San Francisco Bay Area continues to in-crease, added pressures are placed on public land uses in the rural fringe. These uses include natural-resource conservation, scenic value, recreation, and historic activities, including agriculture and grazing. This Article will explore the use of public and nonprofit open space land for grazing, and the unique opportunities and challenges that this use presents in relation to the other public benefits that these lands provide. Key opportunities include the use of carefully managed grazing to restore and maintain California's native grasslands and to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire along …
Rain Follows The Plow: An Introduction To The Issue, Paul Stanton Kibel, Philip D. Batchelder
Rain Follows The Plow: An Introduction To The Issue, Paul Stanton Kibel, Philip D. Batchelder
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
No abstract provided.
From Fear Of Crime To Fear Of Nature: The Problem With Permitting Loaded, Concealed Firearms In National Parks, Avi Brisman, Alison Rau
From Fear Of Crime To Fear Of Nature: The Problem With Permitting Loaded, Concealed Firearms In National Parks, Avi Brisman, Alison Rau
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
In this short paper, we first briefly describe the current regulations set forth under 36 C.F.R. § 2.4 and 50 C.F.R. § 27.42, the new rule, and three legislative measures intended to address the issue at hand (S.2619, H.R. 5434, and H.R. 5646).22 We then turn to some of the environmental arguments against the rule changes before offering our own—namely that the regulation might well foster a fear of nature that could prevent individuals from forming the type of bonds with nature that often provide the impetus for environmental protection.
A Knot In The Line: Sea Turtle Bycatch Reduction Problems In The United States Atlantic Pelagic Longline Fishery, Alicia Pradas-Monne
A Knot In The Line: Sea Turtle Bycatch Reduction Problems In The United States Atlantic Pelagic Longline Fishery, Alicia Pradas-Monne
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
Part I of this Comment describes the problem of sea turtle bycatch, focusing on the direct impacts on sea turtles, ineffective laws, and poor reporting. Part II describes the U.S. Atlantic pelagic longline fishing industry by discussing longline fishing methodology, the historical background of the industry, the fish species harvested, and the areas covered by the fishery. Part III describes the current laws and regulations designed to protect sea turtles from becoming bycatch in the U.S. Atlantic pelagic longline fishery. Finally, Part IV provides recommendations for reducing sea turtle bycatch in the future.
In This Edition, Ethan Wimert, Laura Koch
In This Edition, Ethan Wimert, Laura Koch
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
No abstract provided.
The Ninth Circuit's "Clarifications" In Lands Council V. Mcnair: Much Ado About Nothing?, Keith G. Bauerle
The Ninth Circuit's "Clarifications" In Lands Council V. Mcnair: Much Ado About Nothing?, Keith G. Bauerle
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
In this Article, I will first provide some background for the issues treated in the decision, beginning with the NFMA’s and NEPA’s statutory and regulatory requirements and how they were interpreted in the two Ninth Circuit cases that lead to the McNair decision, Lands Council v. Powell and Ecology Center v. Austin. I will then outline the history of the Lands Council v. McNair litigation, and from there discuss the Ninth Circuit’s en banc decision. Placing the decision in the context of the circuit’s NFMA and NEPA jurisprudence, I argue that the decision’s holdings, on their own, do not constitute …
Dust In The Wind? The Bell Tolls For Crematory Mercury, Philip Donald Batchelder
Dust In The Wind? The Bell Tolls For Crematory Mercury, Philip Donald Batchelder
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
Part II of this Comment outlines the toxicity and behavior of mercury. Part III asserts that cremation is a significant and growing source of mercury pollution. Part IV describes the current regulatory atmosphere for crematory mercury vapor: the federal government’s decision to leave it largely unregulated and the efforts of a few states, including Maine, Minnesota, and Colorado, to begin tackling this problem. Part IV also contains a case study discussing whether agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area of California are effectively addressing crematory mercury. Part V explores the options of either capturing mercury emitted from crematories or pulling …
The Promise Of Wave Energy, Laura Koch
The Promise Of Wave Energy, Laura Koch
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
Part I is an overview of wave energy and the reasons we should be pursuing its sustainable development. Part II provides background on the legal framework for offshore energy and coastal protection. Part III addresses jurisdictional and regulatory issues. It begins with an explanation of the statutory basis for regulatory authority over wave energy and the jurisdictional dispute between two federal agencies. It then explores in detail the regulatory scheme of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which stands in contrast to the coordinated, well-planned approach required for sustainable wave energy development. Part IV then argues that although FERC’s approach …
New Ideas For Old Dams: Developing Solutions For A Shrinking Colorado River, David L. Wegner
New Ideas For Old Dams: Developing Solutions For A Shrinking Colorado River, David L. Wegner
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
The objective of this article is to discuss the need for a comprehensive and public review of alternative management options for the Colorado River system in the future. Due to the institutional and physical complexity of the basin, this analysis should be accomplished through the use of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (“NEPA”) and incorporating the requirements of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (“ESA”). We believe this review is necessary due to requirements of the ESA, impacts to the Colorado River delta, and increasing concerns related to the changing climate.
The Old And The New: Evaluating Existing And Proposed Dams In California, Jonas Minton
The Old And The New: Evaluating Existing And Proposed Dams In California, Jonas Minton
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
This article suggests criteria for determining when existing dams should be removed and for evaluating proposals for new dams. Section II offers a historical overview of dam building in California. Section III discusses current issues concerning evaluation of removal, repair, and expansion proposals for existing dams in the state. Section IV outlines issues, including funding and impacts, related to recent proposals for the construction of additional dams and reservoirs.