Law Commons^™

Massachusetts V. Epa And The Future Of Environmental Standing In Climate Change Litigation And Beyond, Randall S. Abate

Journal Publications

This Article focuses on the future scope of environmental standing after Massachusetts v. EPA. Injury in fact has been and remains the most controversial component of the environmental standing test within and outside the context of global environmental harms. Part I of this Article discusses the background context of environmental standing for global environmental harms and its corresponding origins in procedural and substantive injury claims in cases involving purely domestic environmental harms. Part II examines the landmark decision in Massachusetts v. EPA and considers how it confirms and extends standing jurisprudence for global environmental harms, yet fails to resolve some …

Climate Change And Freshwater Resources, Robert H. Abrams, Noah D. Hall, Bret B. Stuntz

Journal Publications

Earth's climate is warming. This is the unequivocal conclusion of climate scientists. Despite the complexities of climatology, certain consistent trends emerge with implications for water availability: as the world gets warmer, it will experience increased regional variability in precipitation, with more frequent heavy precipitation events and more susceptibility to drought. These simple facts will have a profound impact on freshwater resources throughout the United States, as the warmer climate will reduce available water supplies and increase water demand. Unfortunately, current water law and policy are not up to the new challenges of climate change and resulting pressures on freshwater resources. …

Settlement Of The Acf Controversy: Sisyphus At The Dawn Of The 21st Century, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

The ancient Greek myth in which Sisyphus is condemned to perpetually roll a massive boulder up a hill only to have it fall back down now symbolizes repetitive, ultimately fruitless effort. The Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) basin rapidly has become the emblem of Sisyphean water conflict in the eastern United States. It has the potential to rival some of the West's long-running water disputes, although it will never challenge the Colorado River in that regard.

At the outset, it is important to recognize that there are many parties with an interest in the ACF basin. The most prominent in recent years are …

Automobile Emissions And Climate Change Impacts: Employing Public Nuisance Doctrine As Part Of A "Global Warming Solution" In California, Randall S. Abate

Journal Publications

The battle against climate change and its impacts in the United States must be waged on many fronts and requires many weapons. Until the federal government provides a comprehensive and mandatory legislative response to the climate change problem, gap-filling efforts such as regional, state, and local legislative initiatives and climate change litigation will be essential to achieve some progress in the ongoing challenge to combat the causes and effects of climate change. This Article focuses on one of those gap-filling efforts: public nuisance suits against power companies and automobile manufacturers for the climate change impacts caused by emissions from those …

A Prairie Perspective On Global Warming And Climate Change: The Use Of Law, Technology, And Economics To Establish Private Sector Markets To Compliment Kyoto, Ronald C. Griffin

Journal Publications

We are in the midst of an environmental calamity that few perceive as grave. The climate is changing. Civilization is suffering. One person can do little to cope with these problems on a global scale. But farmers can do something about their farming operations to contribute less to climate change.

Today, two percent of the population feeds us. With mechanical advancements, new farm machinery, innovative practices, products, commodities, securities, and markets folk can do something to reward farmers for their efforts to slow the pace of climate change.

Environmental Law In The "New" Supreme Court, Robert Abrams

Journal Publications

In the 2006 term the United States Supreme Court issued plenary decisions in four environmental cases. As is usually the case, all four environmental cases that reached the Supreme Court presented nuanced questions of statutory interpretation, most of which were intertwined with administrative law issues. The decisions this term are of unusual importance, as all have significant aspects, either practical, precedential, or attitudinal. Additionally, two of the cases exhibit the 5-4 cleavage, so common in this term's decisions, in which Justice Kennedy is the outcome-determinative swing voter. On unusual occasions there are environmental cases decided by the Supreme Court that …

Broadening Narrow Perspectives And Nuisance Law: Protecting Ecosystem Services In The Acf Basin, Robert Haskell Abrams

Journal Publications

The political stalemate among the neighboring states of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida over the cooperative management of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin has been chronicled in numerous articles in the past. This Article will canvas parallel ground in relation to the ACF Basin. In addition, this Article will consider the usual mantra about why the legal deck appears to be stacked against the bottom of the basin where the principal benefits of the water are derived from the ecological systems that are supported by a more natural flow regime. After that, however, the Article will explain how the greatly expanded …

Climate Change, The United States, And The Impacts Of Arctic Melting: A Case Study In The Need For Enforceable International Environmental Human Rights, Randall S. Abate

Journal Publications

Climate change is currently the most significant and daunting international environmental problem, with disproportionate and devastating impacts on indigenous groups. The plight of the Inuit is illustrative of a larger need to recognize and enforce international environmental human rights violations. Part I of this Article examines the evolution of various approaches to environmental human rights theories in (1) United States law, (2) international human rights law instruments, and (3) the laws of other nations. Part II considers the scientific evidence and legal theory underlying the Inuit petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and explores how this scenario underscores …

Can States Regulate Hydropower Dams As Dischargers Pursuant To Their Clean Water Certification Authority?, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

Under §401 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C §13·n, to obtain a federal license for any activity that results in a "discharge into the navigable waters," the license applicant must obtain a certification from the state in which the activity takes place that the discharge complies with several aspects of state water-quality regulation under the Clean Water Act. A common setting in which this requirement has been applied is when a hydropower dam seeks to be relicensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Dawn Of A New Era In The Extraterritorial Application Of U.S. Environmental Statutes: A Proposal For An Integrated Judicial Standard Based On The Continuum Of Context, Randall S. Abate

Journal Publications

Congress has the authority to enact laws beyond the territorial boundaries of the United States. However, whether Congress intended to exercise extraterritorial authority in a given statute is a matter for the courts to ascertain through statutory interpretation. When considering the reach of federal legislation, courts are guided by a presumption against extraterritoriality. Part I of this Article discusses the origins and evolution of the presumption against extraterritoriality before and after the landmark decision in Aramco. Part II addresses the continuum of context paradigm from Massey and describes the extraterritorial application of U.S. environmental statutes. Part III of the Article …

Kyoto Or Not, Here We Come: The Promise And Perils Of The Piecemeal Approach To Climate Change Regulation In The United States, Randall S. Abate

Journal Publications

Climate change is a pervasive, yet controversial, problem. During the six months leading up to the Kyoto negotiations, President Clinton faced a major challenge when he tried to rally support at home for binding reductions on GHG emissions. Despite political and industry concerns about its potential economic impacts, the United States signed the Kyoto Protocol; however, the Bush administration withdrew from the Protocol in 2001. Part I of the Article analyzes the U.S. federal regulatory approach to climate change. Part II explores representative state, regional, and local attempts to combat climate change, whereas Part III describes voluntary compliance initiatives in …

Can The Farmers Sue Uncle Sam When The Bureau Of Reclamation Reduces Deliveries To The Water District?, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

Are farmers who have received water from an irrigation district "intended" third-party beneficiaries of that water district's service and repayment contracts with the United States Bureau of Reclamation and, therefore, within the scope of a waiver of sovereign immunity that would otherwise bar a suit by the farmers against the Bureau of Reclamation?

When "Responsible Parties" Clean Up Voluntarily, Can They Use Superfund To Get Some Of Their Cleanup Costs Back?, Robert H. Abrams, Amy Kullenberg

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

The Arkansas River: One Hundred Years Later, Kansas And Colorado Still Are At Odds, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

What Are The Respective Rights Of Virginia And Maryland In Relation To The Potomac River?, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

Is Kansas Entitled To Money Damages For Breach Of The Arkansas River Compact?, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

It’S All About What You Know: The Specific Intent Standard Should Govern "Knowing" Violations Of The Clean Water Act, Randall S. Abate, Dayna E. Mancuso

Journal Publications

Part I of this Article examines the historical and conceptual foundations of the specific intent standard as applied both outside and within the environmental law context. Part II addresses the historical and conceptual foundations of the general intent standard, also outside and within the environmental law context. Part III reviews the history of the conflict between application of the specific intent and general intent standards in prosecutions for knowing violations of the Clean Water Act. Part IV presents arguments that support application of the specific intent standard to knowing violation cases under section 309(c)(2)(A) of the CWA. Part V analyzes …

Multicultural Participation In The Public Hearing Process: Some Theoretical, Pragmatical, And Analeptical Considerations, John C. Duncan, Jr.

Journal Publications

Ideally, public participation in rule-making leads to better rules. Failure to involve the public obviously dilutes or vitiates democracy in crucial ways. This Article will discuss the hearing process of administrative rule-making, and ways that agencies can accommodate multi-cultural differences so as to improve both access to participation and the efficacy of that participation. Specifically, this paper will discuss the environmental justice movement. Part II of this Article places participation problems in context by looking at specific issues of environmental equity in the rule-making process. Part III examines the need to expand public participation as a desirable goal, discusses obstacles …

Killing The Proverbial Two Birds With One Stone: Using Environmental Statutes And Nuisance To Combat The Crime Of Illegal Drug Trafficking, Omar Saleem

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

Be Fruitful, And Multiply, And Replenish The Earth, And Subdue It: Third World Population Growth And The Environment, Omar Saleem

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

Attorneys' Fees Are Costly, But Are They A Recoverable Cost Of Environmental Cleanup Under Superfund?, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

Overcoming Environmental Discrimination: The Need For A Disparate Impact Test And Improved Notice Requirements In Facility Siting Decisions, Omar Saleem

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

Federal Liability For State Water-Adjudication Filing Fees: Has The United States Waived Its Sovereign Immunity?, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

When States Collide: Allocating The Waters Of The North Platte River, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

Groundwater Law In The Great Lakes States: A Lawyer's Catalog For The Benefit Of Water Planners, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

Water rights are of single importance in the Great Lakes region. Of primary concern are the various laws that govern the allocation and use of water. Virtually every Great Lakes state has its own rich history of judicially resolved water disputes. These disputes have occasioned the generation of a common law of waters and water rights which are often supplemented by statutes. Not only is this true for surface waters, it is also true for groundwater. It is the groundwater resource that this article addresses.

Quieting Title Amid The Changing Channels Of The Mississippi River, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

Charging A Higher Fee For Disposal Of Out-Of-State Hazardous Waste: Will The Dormant Commerce Clause Become Dormant?, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

Keeping Out Non-Local Garbage: An End-Run Around The Dormant Commerce Clause?, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

Interstate Water Pollution: Must Upstream Permits Comply With Downstream Standards?, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

Three Southwestern States Battle Over Canadian (River) Water, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.