Law Commons^™

Comprehensive Seagrass Restoration Planning In Southwest Florida: Science, Law And Management, Althea S. Hotaling, R. Benjamin Lingle, Thomas T. Ankersen

UF Law Faculty Publications

In coastal Florida, the development and maintenance of docks, marinas, and channels frequently cause destruction of seagrass beds. Seagrass loss is accompanied by a loss of the ecosystem services the beds provide, such as sediment stabilization, water filtration, protection from storms, and habitat and nursery grounds for fish species. The current legal framework for seagrass protection and the implementation of mitigation for seagrass loss could be improved. In this Article, the authors argue that policymakers could revise the Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method to include more assessments related specifically to the ecology of seagrass beds and their ecosystem services. Seagrass mitigation …

Small, Slow, And Local, Mary Jane Angelo

UF Law Faculty Publications

The United States is in the middle of a significant cultural shift. Until very recently, United States citizens and policy-makers were willing to accept, or at least tolerate, what has become our food status quo--a highly subsidized, centralized, industrial food system that is environmentally harmful and unsustainable and encourages unhealthy eating habits. Many citizens and policy-makers are now demanding that we re-evaluate our entire agricultural system from farm to table and look for ways to develop a new food paradigm that is environmentally sound, sustainable, socially equitable, and that makes healthy whole foods available to all.

During the summer of …

Three Meta-Lessons Government And Industry Should Learn From The Bp Deepwater Horizon Disaster And Why They Will Not, Alyson C. Flournoy

UF Law Faculty Publications

There are many law and policy lessons to be learned from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and its aftermath. Some are lessons specific to the BP oil well blowout. Regrettably, Congress has failed to enact even these critical reforms, although some important regulatory reforms have been adopted. This Article focuses on three broader lessons that this disaster should also teach, but that are very unlikely to be learned; lessons that could help to reduce the risk of future disasters. These meta-lessons suggest the need to: (1) learn from the next disaster-not the last one; (2) learn from the blueprint of …

The Dormant Commerce Clause And Water Export: Toward A New Analytical Paradigm, Christine A. Klein

UF Law Faculty Publications

Facing water shortages, states struggle with competing impulses, desiring to restrict water exports to other states while simultaneously importing water from neighboring jurisdictions. In 1982, the Supreme Court weighed in on this issue through its seminal decision, Sporhase v. Nebraska ex rel. Douglas. Determining that groundwater is an article of commerce, the Court held invalid under the dormant Commerce Clause a provision of a Nebraska statute limiting water export. The issue has again come into the national spotlight, as the Tarrant Regional Water District of Texas has challenged Oklahoma legislation limiting water exports, and as Wind River L.L C …