Law Commons^™

Environmental Law And Policy: Nature, Law And Society, Zygmunt Plater, Robert Abrams, Robert Graham, Lisa Heinzerling, David Wirth, Noah Hall

David A. Wirth

This user-friendly book - noted for its comprehensive legal process approach to the depth and complexity of modern environmental law - gives students a solid doctrinal footing in the law and helps build their analytical skills. Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society, Fourth Edition, uses the legal process approach, building on a base of common law and constitutional law and continuing on to statutory and administrative law, to illustrate both the structure of the law and how it works.

Among the attributes that have made this classroom-tested casebook a favorite:

coverage not only of the staples of environmental …

Third Party Access And Refusal To Deal In European Energy Networks: How Sector Regulation And Competition Law Meet Each Other, Michael Diathesopoulos

Michael Diathesopoulos

In this paper, we will analyse the issue of concurrence between competition and sector rules and the relation between parallel concepts within the two different legal frameworks. We will firstly examine Third Party Access in relation to essential facilities doctrine and refusal of access and we will identify the common points and objectives of these concepts and the extent to which they provide a context to each other’s implementation. Second, we will focus on how Commission uses sector regulation and objectives as a context within the process of implementation of competition law in the energy sector and third, we will …

From Ship To Shore: Reforming The National Contingency Plan To Improve Protections For Oil Spill Cleanup Workers, Rebecca Bratspies, Alyson Flournoy, Thomas Mcgarity, Sidney A. Shapiro, Rena I. Steinzor, Matthew Shudtz

Rena I. Steinzor

Eleven workers died on April 20, 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform exploded beneath them. Since then, tens of thousands of workers have toiled under difficult conditions to stop the leak and clean up the mess. For these workers, the spill is more than an environmental and economic disaster; it poses straightforward and serious risks to their health and safety. Oil is toxic, as are the dispersants used liberally by BP to contain it. BP’s foul up is not the first significant oil spill in the nation’s history, nor even the first in the Gulf. The oil companies …

Superwomen Professionalism - Jeopardy, Beau James Brock

Beau James Brock

Powerpoint "Jeopardy" presentation made as a part of a professionalism CLE at the LSBA/BRAWA "Superwomen" Conference. This portion was presented after the panel opened the discussion on issues of community involvement, duties to the bar and others, client development opportunities, professional responsibility, and mentoring.

Corrective Lenses For Iris: Additional Reforms To Improve Epa's Integrated Risk Information System, Rena I. Steinzor, Wendy E. Wagner, Lena Pons, Matthew Shudtz

Rena I. Steinzor

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) is the most important toxicological database in the world. Not only is it the single most comprehensive database of human health information about toxic substances, it also serves as a gateway to regulation, as well as to a range of public and private sector efforts to protect against toxic substances. IRIS “profiles” of individual substances include a number of scientific assessments of the substance’s toxicity to humans by various means of exposure – by inhalation, contact with the skin, and so on. Federal regulators rely on the assessments to do …

Mr., Chinedu Chibueze Ihenetu-Geoffrey

Chinedu Chibueze Ihenetu-Geoffrey

The solution to most environmental problems requires community participation. The levels and extent of this participation varies with the problem in question, which in turn, is influenced by both national concerns and international obligations. This presentation will focus on biodiversity and genetic resources within the Nigerian Environmental terrain and other international jurisdictions. Within national jurisdiction, there is no legal gap, as coastal states enjoy jurisdiction and sovereign rights for the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources. In areas beyond national jurisdiction, certain existing legal principles and the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and international fisheries are applicable to …

Deq Compliance Priorities, Beau James Brock

Beau James Brock

Powerpoint on 2010-2011 DEQ Office of Compliance Priorities and Recent Developments.

Regulatory Blowout: How Regulatory Failures Made The Bp Disaster Possible, And How The System Can Be Fixed To Avoid A Recurrence, Alyson Flournoy, William Andreen, Rebecca Bratspies, Holly Doremus, Victor Flatt, Robert Glicksman, Joel Mintz, Daniel Rohlf, Amy Sinden, Rena I. Steinzor, Joseph Tomain, Sandra Zellmer, James Goodwin

Rena I. Steinzor

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is destined to take its place as one of the greatest environmental disasters in the history of the United States, or for that matter, of the entire planet. Like so many other disasters on that list, it was entirely preventable. BP must shoulder its share of the blame, of course. Similarly, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) – since reorganized and rebranded – has come under much deserved criticism for its failure to rein in BP’s avaricious approach to drilling even where it was unable to respond to a worst-case scenario in …

A New Clear And Present Danger: Security, Freedom And Ordered Liberty On The Home Front During The War Against Terrorism, Beau James Brock

Beau James Brock

Regardless of the foreign policy rationalizations for failing to respond to Osama Bin Laden’s declaration of war against the United States prior to September 11th, we are faced with a de facto state of war, for over a full decade now, that will require an ever vigilant and determined commitment in order to secure the domestic security of our land. The use of available technology to break through our opponents’ intelligence networks has been a vital instrument of victory in past wars and will be in this struggle we now face. But, where is the line marking appropriate federal action …

After The Crisis: Consequences, Beau James Brock

Beau James Brock

Powerpoint presentation on potential consequences of failing to properly plan and prepare for environmental incidents which may result in dire civil or criminal liability. Also, a discussion of the LDEQ and EPA upcoming enforcement directives is included.

Liability For Environmental Harm And Emerging Global Environmental Law, Robert V. Percival

Robert Percival

Environmental law and policy are undergoing rapid change at the global, national, and even local levels. The nations of the world continue to struggle to develop an effective global response to climate change. Transboundary pollution and resource management problems command regional attention even as nations work to upgrade their own environmental standards and their energy, transportation, and land use policies. Surprising environmental initiatives are emerging even from state and local governments. In my previous work I have argued that globalization is affecting law and legal systems throughout the world in profound new ways. See Robert V. Percival, The Globalization of …

Just Laws Versus Unjust Laws: Asserting The Morality Of Civil Disobedience, Amin George Forji

Amin George Forji

How is a citizen living under a merciless totalitarianism such as the Nazi but opposed to its philosophies expected to respond to the law? Where does his primary obligation as a citizen reside? Is it to the laws of the land that command total submission or to his convictions by which he is convinced that the system is totally unjust? Does one have a moral obligation to always obey the law? Conversely, should one obey an unjust law? Obviously, such an individual like Antigone in ancient Greece is naturally torn between two loyalties. (Note 1)If he obeys the law, he …

Will Laxity And Collusion Now Come To An End?, Zygmunt J.B. Plater

Zygmunt J.B. Plater

No abstract provided.

Some Back-Ended Legal And Political Issues In United States Fisheries Management, Chad J. Mcguire, Bradley P. Harris

Chad J McGuire

A Few Inconvenient Truths About Michael Crichton's State Of Fear: Lawyers, Causes And Science, Lea B. Vaughn

Lea B Vaughn

Abstract: Although Crichton has lost the battle regarding global warming, his characterization of lawyers and law practice remains unchallenged. This article challenges his damning portrait of lawyers as know-nothing, self aggrandizing manipulators of various social and environmental causes. A more nuanced examination of “cause lawyering” reveals that lawyers are not part of a vast conspiracy to grab power through the causes for which many work; in fact, the rules of professional responsibility as well as the structure of “cause lawyering” limit their power and influence. Regardless, lawyers are nonetheless vital, and generally principled, participants in the debates and causes that …

Immortal Beloved And Beleaguered: Towards The Integration Of The Law On Assisted Death And The Scientific Pursuit Of Life Extension, Mary J. Shariff

Mary J. Shariff

This article sets out to explore the scientific pursuit of life extension in the context of current controversies surrounding death, particularly those that involve competent individuals who desire death but are unable to bring it about without the assistance of another individual. Humans are on the threshold of being able to significantly increase their life expectancy yet, in Canada and elsewhere, we have still not come to any consensus as to how we are permitted to die. After a brief introduction in Part I, Part II of this article summarizes the legal position in Canada on assisted death and explores …

Immortal Beloved And Beleaguered: Towards The Integration Of The Law On Assisted Death And The Scientific Pursuit Of Life Extension, Mary J. Shariff

Mary J. Shariff

This article sets out to explore the scientific pursuit of life extension in the context of current controversies surrounding death, particularly those that involve competent individuals who desire death but are unable to bring it about without the assistance of another individual. Humans are on the threshold of being able to significantly increase their life expectancy yet, in Canada and elsewhere, we have still not come to any consensus as to how we are permitted to die. After a brief introduction in Part I, Part II of this article summarizes the legal position in Canada on assisted death and explores …

From Energy Sector Inquiry To Recent Antitrust Decisions In European Energy Markets: Competition Law As A Means To Implement Energy Sector Regulation In Eu, Michael Diathesopoulos

Michael Diathesopoulos

This paper presents the conceptual path followed by European Union, European Commission and European Competition Network, after the Energy Sector Inquiry (2007) towards the realisation of the objective of an Energy Internal Market, fully functional and open to competition. Firstly, we examine the findings of Sector Inquiry and then we describe how the Third Energy Package - that followed - tried to address the issues highlighted by the Inquiry and how Third Energy Package introduces a promising but complex system, in order to develop sector rules. Following the above, we proceed to a brief but close examination of 10 recent …

Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions (2010 Ed.), Garrett Power

Garrett Power

This electronic book is published in a searchable PDF format as a part of the E-scholarship Repository of the University of Maryland School of Law. It is an “open content” casebook intended for classroom use in courses in Land Use Control, Environmental Law and Constitutional Law. It consists of cases carefully selected from the two hundred years of American constitutional history which address the clash between public sovereignty and private property. It considers both the personal right to liberty and the personal right in property. The text consists of non-copyrighted material and readers are free to use it or re-mix …

Moving Power Forward: Creating A Forward-Looking Energy Policy Based On A National Rps, Joshua P. Fershee

Joshua P Fershee

In Power Forward: The Argument for a National RPS, Professor Lincoln L. Davies provides a comprehensive and compelling argument for a national renewable portfolio standard (“RPS”). This Commentary Article reviews Professor Davies’ assumptions and conclusions and places his RPS analysis in context within the broader energy and environmental debate.

Beyond expanding renewable energy generation and shifting away from fossil fuels, RPS legislation is often motivated by additional goals: addressing climate change, improving national security, and promoting economic development. This Commentary Article argues that, if these loftier goals are to be achieved, a better articulation of RPS objectives is necessary. Furthermore, …

Climate Change, Corporate Strategy, And Corporate Law Duties, Perry E. Wallace

Perry Wallace

Although greenhouse-gas management now ranks among the world’s great challenges, this status did not obtain instantly—or easily. Today, however, reservations about the validity of global warming as a major threat are fading. They are fading, appropriately, as rapidly as some ice sheets and glaciers are melting. Indeed, the steady flow of new, compelling evidence joins an already considerable base of scientific, economic, and other certainties about the subject. The result of this evolution in climate-change certainty has been major change of global dimensions. In notable ways, the structures and the functions of governmental, economic, and social institutions around the world …

Relational Contract Theory And Management Contracts: A Paradigm For The Application Of The Theory Of The Norms, Michael Diathesopoulos

Michael Diathesopoulos

This paper examines management contracts as a paradigm for the application of relational contracts theory and especially of the theory of contractual and relational norms. This theory, deriving from Macauley's implications, but structured and analysed by I.R. MacNeil gives us a framework for the explanation and understanding of contractual obligations and business relations' rules and practice. After presenting the key literature about the norms theory and especially defining the content of MacNeil's norms, we define management contracts as relations, characterised by a high relational element and we explain why, investigating all their features, which make them a suitable object for …

Sustainable Approaches To Managing Small-Scale Ecosystems: A Case Study Of Vernal Pool Protection In The Commonwealth Of Massachusetts, United States Of America, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Climate Adaptation And The Fifth Amendment To The United States Constitution: How Do Adaptation Strategies Impact Regulatory Takings Claims?, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

The Moral Limits Of Jurisdiction, Beau James Brock, Harold Leggett

Beau James Brock

As the states and the public face new rules on emissions under the Clean Air Act, the authors find that environmental policy devoid of economic feasibility equals ethical bankruptcy by policymakers to the detriment of all citizens and their economic liberty

Hanousek V. United States: Social Engineering Encroaching On Individual Liberty, Beau James Brock

Beau James Brock

A legal decision that unexpectedly judicially “extended the reach environmental criminal law” was Hanousek v. United States, wherein the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held the legal standard for criminal negligence under the Clean Water Act (CWA) was ordinary negligence.

When Is Command-And-Control Efficient? Institutions, Technology And The Comparative Efficiency Of Alternative Regulatory Regimes For Environmental Protection, Peter Z. Grossman, Daniel H. Cole

Peter Z. Grossman

The nominal efficiency of a regulatory regime is determined by comparing its social costs and benefits; the regime is nominally efficient if it produces benefits in excess of its costs. Thus, a regulatory regime can be at once nominally efficient and relatively inefficient. A regulatory regime that is nominally efficient in the early days of pollution-control efforts, when increments of environmental quality are relatively cheap, may (but will not necessarily) grow less efficient over time - producing less return on each dollar invested - as increments of environmental quality grow increasingly expensive. A regulatory regime that is more efficient in …

Can Red Clay Go Green? Adapting Law And Policy In The Face Of Climate Change, 20th Annual Red Clay Conference, Daniel M. Bodansky, David D. Caron, Mary Carr, Heidi Davison, David Hunter, Josh Love, James Marlow

David B. Hunter

Program for the 20th Annual Red Clay Conference held Friday, April 4, 2008 at the University of Georgia School of Law's Dean Rusk Hall.

The Implications Of Climate Change Litigation For International Environmental Law-Making, David B. Hunter

David B. Hunter

Climate advocates are increasingly raising specific climate change concerns before domestic courts, human rights tribunals, international commissions and other national and international decisionmaking bodies. Win or lose, these litigation strategies are significantly changing and enhancing the public dialogue around climate change. This article discusses the awareness-building impacts of climate litigation as well as related impacts such strategies may have on the development of climate law and policy. The article argues that litigation's focus on specific victims facing immediate threats from climate change has increased the political will to address climate change both internationally and nationally. It has also shifted the …

One Year's Environmental Litigation: 1977-78, Oscar S. Gray

Oscar S. Gray

No abstract provided.