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Full-Text Articles in Law
What The Frack? How Weak Industrial Disclosure Rules Prevent Public Understanding Of Chemical Practices And Toxic Politics, Benjamin W. Cramer
What The Frack? How Weak Industrial Disclosure Rules Prevent Public Understanding Of Chemical Practices And Toxic Politics, Benjamin W. Cramer
Benjamin W. Cramer
Hydraulic fracturing, known colloquially as “fracking,” makes use of chemically-formulated fluid that is forced down a gas well at great pressure to fracture underground rock formations and release embedded natural gas. Many journalists, environmentalists, and public health advocates are concerned about what may happen if the fracking fluid escapes the well and contaminates nearby drinking water supplies. This article attempts a comprehensive analysis and comparison of all relevant fracking fluid disclosure regulations currently extant in the United States, and considers whether the information gained is truly useful for citizens, journalists, and regulators. In recent years the federal government and several …
An Extinction Of Transparency: The Opaque Endangered Species List, Benjamin W. Cramer
An Extinction Of Transparency: The Opaque Endangered Species List, Benjamin W. Cramer
Benjamin W. Cramer
This article reconstructs the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as an informational statute with unresolved problems of transparency and disclosure. The article introduces the informational requirements of modern American environmental legislation, including the ESA. The article then examines the conflict between the substantive goals of the ESA and the procedural focus of American administrative jurisprudence. This is followed by a case history of the informational requirements of the ESA in general and the official endangered species list in particular, with coverage of political manipulation of the list and whether or not it is a truly transparent item of government-held information. The …
Fine Feathered Adversaries: The Fcc And Avian Mortality At Communications Towers, Benjamin W. Cramer
Fine Feathered Adversaries: The Fcc And Avian Mortality At Communications Towers, Benjamin W. Cramer
Benjamin W. Cramer
Every year, millions of birds are killed at communications towers in the United States, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) oversees hundreds of thousands of such towers. In 2000, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), utilizing the legal mandates of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, issued guidelines urging the FCC to take action on ameliorating the widespread avian mortality at its communications towers. These guidelines included provisions for the siting of towers and environmental assessments of tower construction processes, which are conducted by the FCC’s licensees. Two years later, …
Fine-Feathered Adversaries: The Fcc And Avian Mortality At Communications Towers, Benjamin W. Cramer
Fine-Feathered Adversaries: The Fcc And Avian Mortality At Communications Towers, Benjamin W. Cramer
Benjamin W. Cramer
Every year, millions of birds are killed at communications towers in the United States, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) oversees hundreds of thousands of such towers. In 2000, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), utilizing the legal mandates of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, issued guidelines urging the FCC to take action on ameliorating the widespread avian mortality at its communications towers. These guidelines included provisions for the siting of towers and environmental assessments of tower construction processes, which are conducted by the FCC’s licensees. Two years later, …