Law Commons^™

Pursuing The Exemption: The Makah's White Whale, Sarah Van Voorhis

Washington Journal of Social & Environmental Justice

No abstract provided.

Community Empowerment In Decarbonization: Nepa’S Role, Wyatt G. Sassman

Washington Law Review

This Article addresses a potential tension between two ambitions for the transition to clean energy: reducing regulatory red-tape to quickly build out renewable energy, and leveraging that build-out to empower low-income communities and communities of color. Each ambition carries a different view of communities’ role in decarbonization. To those focused on rapid build-out of renewable energy infrastructure, communities are a potential threat who could slow or derail renewable energy projects through opposition during the regulatory process. To those focused on leveraging the transition to clean energy to advance racial and economic justice, communities are necessary partners in the key decisions …

The Euclid Proviso, Ezra Rosser

Washington Law Review

This Article argues that the Euclid Proviso, which allows regional concerns to trump local zoning when required by the general welfare, should play a larger role in zoning’s second century. Traditional zoning operates to severely limit the construction of additional housing. This locks in the advantages of homeowners but at tremendous cost, primarily in the form of unaffordable housing, to those who would like to join the community. State preemption of local zoning defies traditional categorization; it is at once both radically destabilizing and market responsive. But, given the ways in which zoning is a foundational part of the racial …

Reimagining Exceptional Events: Regulating Wildfires Through The Clean Air Act, Emily Williams

Washington Law Review

Wildfires are increasing in both frequency and severity due to climate change. Smoke from these fires causes serious health problems. Land managers agree that prescribed burns help mitigate these negative consequences. Prescribed burns are lower-intensity fires that are intentionally ignited and managed for an ecological benefit. They reduce the amount of smoke produced and limit wildfire damage to natural systems and human property.

The Clean Air Act (CAA) is designed to regulate air pollution to protect public health, yet it exempts wildfire smoke through the exceptional events designation while imposing strict regulations on prescribed burns. Congress and the Environmental Protection …

Water Banks In Washington State: A Tool For Climate Resilience, Jennifer J. Seely

Washington Law Review

Water banks—a tool for exchanging senior water rights and offsetting new ones—can address multiple problems in contemporary water law. In the era of climate change, water banks enable needed flexibility and resilience in water allocation. As growing cities require new water rights, water banks can repurpose old water for new uses. These advantages should lead the Washington State Legislature to incentivize water banks, but in the 2018 “Hirst fix” it embraced habitat restoration as a false equivalent for water. The Legislature is rightfully concerned about the speculation that some private water banks allow. But overall, water banks enable new and …

Climate Change Has Beef With Federal Cattle Grazing, John David Janicek

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Increased emissions of greenhouse gases are causing the Earth􏰂s climate to change producing extreme temperatures and dangerous conditions for mankind. Livestock is positioned at a unique juncture of the current and future fight against atmospheric temperature rise. These animals produce the very nutrients a growing world population needs to survive, and the meat they yield plays an important role in all world cultures. Unfortunately, the production of livestock is considered one of the most significant emitters of greenhouse gases, of which cattle is the largest contributor. Therefore, a balance must be struck between livestock production and preservation of the Earth. …

Are Beach Bondaries Enforceable? Real-Time Locational Uncertainty And The Right To Exclude, Josh Eagle

Washington Law Review

Over the past few decades, landowners have tried to use the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments to fully privatize the upper, dry-sand part of the beach. If these efforts were to succeed, there would be a host of negative consequences, and not just for surfers. In most states in which beaches are economically important, including California, Florida, New Jersey and Texas, privatized dry sand would have a significant impact on public access. This Article explores the possibility that courts and the public can put an end to the beach privatization movement simply by pointing to the common law of waterfront …

Fifty Shades Of Gray Infrastructure: Land Use And The Failure To Create Resilient Cities, Jonathan Rosenbloom

Washington Law Review

Land use laws, such as comprehensive plans, site plan reviews, zoning, and building codes, greatly affect community resilience to climate change. One often-overlooked area of land use law that is essential to community resilience is the regulation of infrastructure on private property. These regulations set standards for infrastructure built by private developers. Such infrastructure is completed in conjunction with millions of commercial and residential projects and is necessary for critical services, including potable water and energy distribution. Throughout the fifty states, these land use laws regulating infrastructure constructed by private developers encourage or compel “gray infrastructure.” Marked by human-made, engineered …

Response To Professor Rosenbloom: Fifty Shades Of Gray Infrastructure: Land Use And The Failure To Create Reslient Cities, 93 Wash. L. Rev. 317 (2018), Roberta F. Mann

Washington Law Review Online

This piece is a response to Jonathan Rosenbloom, Fifty Shades of Gray Infrastructure: Land Use and The Failure to Create Resilient Cities, 93 Wash. L. Rev. 317 (2018).

Response To Professor Rosenbloom: Fifty Shades Of Gray Infrastructure: Land Use And The Failure To Create Reslient Cities, 93 Wash. L. Rev. 317 (2018), Roberta F. Mann

Washington Law Review Online

This piece is a response to Jonathan Rosenbloom, Fifty Shades of Gray Infrastructure: Land Use and The Failure to Create Resilient Cities, 93 Wash. L. Rev. 317 (2018).

Playing Nice In The Sandbox: Making Room For Historic Structures In Olympic National Park, Christopher Chellis

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

As ambitious as it is at times challenging to meaningfully apply, the Wilderness Act purports to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness. Interest groups often seek to extract from the Act a meaning of wilderness that comports with whatever interest they wish to secure for themselves and their members, and their interests often conflict with each other. These conflicts can turn national parks into sandboxes where interest groups draw lines and ask the National Park Service to pick a side. The losing party inevitably looks to a judge …

Wilderness: Good For Alaska. Legal And Economic Perspectives On Alaska's Wilderness, E. Barrett Ristroph, Anwar Hussain

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

This article addresses the legal framework for Wilderness in Alaska, which has more land within the National Wilderness Preservation System than any other state, as well as the economic impacts and valuation of wildlands. Wilderness management in Alaska is subject to the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which aims to ensure that rural Alaskans can use wildlife resources to sustain customary and traditional ways of life. The values of Wilderness range from direct economic benefits and revenue generated from recreation to passive values that are measured by the public’s willingness to pay for preservation. While there are challenges to …

Climate Variability, Land Ownership And Migration: Evidence From Thailand About Gender Impacts, Sara R. Curran, Jacqueline Meijer-Irons

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Scholars point to climate change, often in the form of more frequent and severe drought, as a potential driver of migration in the developing world, particularly for places where populations rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. To date, however, there have been few large-scale, longitudinal studies that explore the relationship between climate change and migration. This study significantly extends current scholarship by evaluating distinctive effects of climatic variation and models these effects on men’s and women’s responsiveness to drought and rainfall. Our study also investigates how land ownership moderates these effects. We find small, but significant, increases in migration above …

Climate Change, Gender Inequality And Migration In East Africa, Medhanit A. Abebe

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

East Africa, one of the most volatile regions in Africa, has been suffering from enormous problems caused by population growth, weak governance, war, and famine. Recently, the advent of climate change has exacerbated these pre-existing problems. These impacts are not felt equally across populations, and, according to various studies, disproportionately affect women. Despite reforms, rural East African women still struggle to access resources or participate in decision-making processes. As a result, they have a weaker ability to adapt to climate change than men. This weaker adaptive capacity influences migration patterns between the genders, and creates its own set of problems. …

A Next, Big Step For The West: Using Model Legislation To Create A Water-Climate Element In Local Comprehensive Plans, Michelle Bryan Mudd

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The West is witnessing early, important efforts to join water supply and land use planning, and the reality of climate change makes this convergence all the more critical. Local comprehensive planning presents itself as an existing and indispensable tool for unifying important planning efforts in the areas of land use, water, and climate change. As the primary regulators of land use, local governments are at the front line of regulating a myriad of environmental concerns. They are also integral partners in planning and implementing water-related initiatives alongside tribal, state, federal, and private partners. The West’s potential for broad-based action is …

When Old Becomes New: Reconciling The Commands Of The Wilderness Act And The National Historic Preservation Act, Nikki C. Carsley

Washington Law Review

The Wilderness Act created a national framework for the protection of wilderness areas. Although the statute defines wilderness as an area “untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain,” it leaves room for the “public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation, and historical use.” As such, the Wilderness Act clarifies that its purposes are “within and supplemental” to other land-use statutes, including statutes like the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), which created a national scheme for preserving historic places and structures. When considering the Wilderness Act relative to the NHPA, agencies and courts have …

Why Land Tenure Reform Is The Key To Political Stability In Tonga, Kersti Harter Kennedy

Washington International Law Journal

The Kingdom of Tonga, a South Pacific country, erupted in violent pro-democracy riots in late 2006 after decades of political unease. Tonga’s people are divided into two main classes: the nobles and the commoners. These two classes have long differed in political and land rights in a hierarchy that is typical of chiefdoms such as Tonga. Tonga’s government has attempted to deal with the sometimes violent, commoner-led pro-democracy movement by amending its Constitution to allow commoners to vote for more of the members of the Legislative Assembly. The resulting government and the noblemen have not, however, shown a commitment to …

Regular Takings Or Regulatory Takings?: Land Expropriation In Rural China, Valerie Jaffee Washburn

Washington International Law Journal

This article takes as its starting point the recent spate of unrest in rural China over government takings of rural, agricultural land. Though the popular and scholarly press has paid a great deal of attention to this issue, few analyses have explored in depth the institutional and legal framework surrounding it. This piece first attempts such an exploration and concludes that the underlying issues have as much to do with China's national land use regulatory system as they do with the behavior of local governments that seize privately-farmed land for other uses. In fact, it is more productive to see …

Climate Refugees Require Relocation Assistance: Guaranteeng Adequate Land Assets Through Treaties Based On The National Adaptation Programmes Of Action, Holly D. Lange

Washington International Law Journal

Rising ocean levels in the South Pacific threaten thousands of inhabitants with displacement. Many of these small Pacific island states lack available land to internally accommodate displaced individuals. Thus, thousands of “climate refugees” will be forced to move off their island homes and, without provisions of adequate land rights, will most likely end up in refugee camps in other countries. Climate change exemplifies an inherently global challenge. Developed countries produce disproportionately more greenhouse gases, and developing countries lack resources to adequately respond to climatic displacement. International treaties establish a legal responsibility to assist developing states adapt to climate change. However, …

The Displaced Residents' Right To Relocation Assistance: Toward An Equitable Urban Redevelopment In South Korea, Jihye Kim

Washington International Law Journal

Major urban redevelopment projects are currently on-going to beautify the urban landscape in Seoul, which is the most densely populated metropolitan area of South Korea. In this process, massive acquisition of homes has taken place, displacing many residents who are now demanding relocation assistance. South Korean law imposes obligations upon developers to provide relocation assistance for displaced residents. However, vagueness in the statutory language causes not only confusion in the implementation of the law, but has also led to a Supreme Court decision denying displaced residents’ legal right to relocation assistance. This interpretation further expanded developer’s discretion in carrying out …

Certain Opinions Of The Central Committee Of The Chinese Communist Party [And The] State Council On Promoting The Stable Development Of Agriculture And Continuing To Increase Farmers' Income In 2009, Tobias Damm-Luhr

Washington International Law Journal

The following is a translation of Certain Opinions of the State Council [and the] Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (“CCP”) on Promoting the Stable Development of Agriculture and Continuing to Increase Farmers’ Incomes in 2009 (“2009 No. 1 Document”), which the CPC Central Committee and the State Council promulgated on December 31, 2008, and made public on February 2, 2009. It calls on “every region and every department” to seriously study the blueprint created by the Third Plenary Session of the CPC’s 17th Central Committee, namely the Decision on Certain Issues Concerning the Advancement of Rural Reform and …

A Current Review Of Chinese Land-Use Law And Policy: A "Breakthrough" In Rural Reform?, Robin Dean, Tobias Damm-Luhr

Washington International Law Journal

Three decades ago, China moved from a communal system of farming to a system that granted more extensive land-use rights to individual households, starting rural China on a path to greater prosperity. Today, however, the law and policy promulgated by the Chinese government prevents farmers from fully realizing this prosperity. The Land Administration Law gives farmers thirty-year contractual rights to the land they farm and the Law on Rural Land Contracting strengthens this right by more specifically enumerating requirements for land contracting and the transfer of contractual rights. Nevertheless, the rural-urban gap is the worst it has been in decades …

Urbanites Versus Rural Rights: Contest Of Local Government Land-Use Regulations Under Washington Preemption Statute 82.02.020, Donya Williamson

Washington Law Review

In Citizens’ Alliance for Property Rights v. Sims, the Court of Appeals of Washington held that King County clearing and grading regulations—recently enacted pursuant to the Washington State Growth Management Act—constitute an unlawful “tax, fee, or charge” on the development of land, thereby violating a Washington excise tax preemption statute. The court ruled that the clearing limitations do not qualify under the statutory exception for mitigation of development impacts since they are not calculated on a site-by-site basis. This Note argues that the ruling greatly expands the scope of this statutory limitation on local land-use regulation, compromises Growth Management …

Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing: Enforcing Land Use Restrictions On Land And Water Conservation Fund Parks, Michael J. Gelardi

Washington Law Review

Congress created the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) in 1965 to provide resources for states and federal agencies to acquire and develop land for public outdoor recreation. Over the past forty years, the LWCF has quietly become one of the most successful conservation programs in United States history. The federal government and states have used the LWCF to preserve unique landscapes for their natural beauty, scientific value, and wildlife habitat, as well as to encourage traditional recreational pursuits. The LWCF Act prohibits the conversion of LWCF-funded state and local parks to uses other than public outdoor recreation unless approved …

Land Use Regulation: The Weak Link In Environmental Protection, A. Dan Tarlock

Washington Law Review

Professor William Rodgers is one of the handful of legal academics who have shaped and influenced environmental law since it was created out of whole cloth in the late 1960s. The staggering quantity, quality, breadth, and creativity of his scholarship are perhaps unrivaled among his peers. It is easy to criticize the gap between the environmental problems that society faces and the inadequate legal tools and institutions that we have created to confront them. Professor Rodgers has always been able to see both the deep flaws in environmental law and the possibilities for more responsive legal regimes.

Trading The People's Homes For The People's Olympics: The Property Regime In China, Theresa H. Wang

Washington International Law Journal

China is under increasing international scrutiny as the country’s economic growth launches the previously isolated nation onto the world stage. As the national wealth increases at a record rate, the government is constantly modifying strategies to ensure its economic stability. In response to this nearly unmanageable growth, entire Chinese cities are remodeled and progressively more privatized, while urban dwellers are evicted from their homes in the name of economic development. These urban land acquisitions often occur with little or no compensation, while private developers reap the economic benefits. These policies follow a pattern of development replayed throughout history, notably in …

The Heart Of Fiji's Land Tenure Conflict: The Law Of Tradition And Vakavanua, The Customary "Way Of The Land", John Crosetto

Washington International Law Journal

In an effort to ease racial tension and the resulting political unrest, recent law reform in Fiji has focused on land tenure. Political coups in the wake of expiring agricultural leases demonstrate that the current tenure system fails to provide the security and predictability demanded by both Fijian owners and Indian tenants. Current law reform theory advocates adapting the rule of law to the local context to promote human rights and self-determination. A problem lies, however, in identifying the institutions and interests that define Fiji's local context. In addition to the country's divided ethnic population, Fiji's "tradition" is largely defined …

Does The Ghost Of Lochner Haunt Mission Springs? Ruminations On § 1983 Due Process Claims In Light Of Mission Springs, Inc. V. City Of Spokane, Mark K. Funke

Washington Law Review

The last time the Washington Supreme Court applied substantive due process in a land use case was in Mission Springs, Inc. v. City of Spokane in 1998. Since then, the Washington Law Review has published four commentaries that address substantive due process in Washington land use, all of which characterize Washington's substantive due process law as producing undesirable results. However, none of the available commentary takes into consideration that there are two types of substantive due process cases in Washington land use. In one type, courts strike down local ordinances, while in the other they enforce the lawful application of …

The Public-Use Requirement In Washington After State Ex Rel. Washington State Convention & Trade Center V. Evans, Tim Benedict

Washington Law Review

In State ex rel. Washington State Convention & Trade Center v. Evans, the Supreme Court of Washington held that an exercise of eminent domain for a convention center expansion project containing private developments utilizing most of the project's developed space would not violate the Washington public-use requirement In so doing, the court made the already confusing and contradictory Washington case law concerning public use in the context of eminent domain even more unpredictable. This Note argues that the court should have adopted a public-purpose analysis and thereby clarified the Washington public-use requirement.

Past, Present And Future Constitutional Challenges To Transferable Development Rights, Jennifer Frankel

Washington Law Review

Seattle's transfer of development rights (TDR) system, an innovative land use device, has so far avoided many of the problems that have plagued other TDR systems. Although the system's voluntary participation avoids a takings challenge, it is still vulnerable to attack on due process grounds. In addition, two U.S. Supreme Court cases held that conditions in land use regulations must closely mirror the harms sought to be prevented, suggesting new constitutional problems for Seattle's TDR system. This Comment describes Seattle's current TDR system and examines its vulnerability to constitutional challenges. This paper concludes that while Seattle's TDR system will probably …