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Full-Text Articles in Law
Enforcing Environmental Norms: Diplomatic And Judicial Approaches, Nicholas A. Robinson
Enforcing Environmental Norms: Diplomatic And Judicial Approaches, Nicholas A. Robinson
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Environmental norms are observed because they are norms about how people respect each other and the natural systems that sustain human communities. Environmental norms are basic to human well-being. They arise out of the human condition, not unlike human rights laws. Environmental norms emerge from the fact that humans exist within ecosystems, and human society is embedded in the natural systems in which they have evolved; environmental norms are grounded in an objective reality, and scientists can measure the consequences of observing--or failing to observe--those norms. The provisions of environmental norms, therefore, exist not merely as pronouncements of governments, applied …
Golden And Its Emanations: The Surprising Origins Of Smart Growth, John R. Nolon
Golden And Its Emanations: The Surprising Origins Of Smart Growth, John R. Nolon
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This article provides the background for the adoption of the Ramapo ordinance, explains its precocious inventions in some detail, and describes other dramatic local inventions emanating from the Ramapo approach to smart growth. It ends with a reflection on the Quiet Revolution, the continuing disquiet that accompanies the spectacular smart growth inventions of local governments in this country, and modest recommendations for reform. Along the way, the reader will encounter the rebirth of performance zoning, local environmental laws that protect critical environmental resources, a local abandoned property reclamation act, the use of mediation to solve border wars between localities, an …
The Current Controversy Regarding Tmdls: Contemporary Perspectives "Tmdls And Pollutant Trading", Ann Powers
The Current Controversy Regarding Tmdls: Contemporary Perspectives "Tmdls And Pollutant Trading", Ann Powers
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The article first summarizes CWA requirements relevant to TMDLs and outlines elements of an effective trading program. It then examines the program recently established by the State of Connecticut to allow trading of nitrogen credits among sewage treatment plants on Long Island Sound to achieve an established TMDL, and the CWA issues presented. Finally, it gives a brief comparison to the program being designed for the Chesapeake Bay, for which no TMDL has been established. Current brief descriptive summaries of several often cited programs are appended.
Overlooked Issues In The "Diligent Prosecution" Citizen Suit Preclusion, Jeffrey G. Miller
Overlooked Issues In The "Diligent Prosecution" Citizen Suit Preclusion, Jeffrey G. Miller
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Congress sought to attain full compliance with environmental statutes. It reasoned that multiple enforcers would provide more comprehensive and effective enforcement than one enforcer. Congress therefore empowered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the states and private citizens as enforcers of the statutes. However, Congress worried that successive actions by multiple enforcers could bring disruption and conflict to enforcement litigation and remedies. It therefore included in the citizen suit provision of each statute a limited, three-element notice, delay, and bar preclusion device to manage successive citizens' enforcement against the violations already subject to government enforcement. The device generally bars citizens from …
Is Citizen Suit Notice Jurisdictional And Why Does It Matter?, Karl S. Coplan
Is Citizen Suit Notice Jurisdictional And Why Does It Matter?, Karl S. Coplan
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The question of whether notice is jurisdictional or not has important ramifications for citizen suit litigation. The characterization of the notice requirement as “jurisdictional” implicates the proper procedure for raising notice objections, the means of curing notice defects, the question of waiver of notice objections, and the timing of raising notice objections. This article will conduct a brief review of the case law concerning the jurisdictional nature (or not) of the notice requirement, a consideration of the as-yet unnoticed impact of Steel Co. on the issue, and a discussion of the procedural and litigation ramifications of characterizing the notice element …
The Takings Clause And The Separation Of Powers: An Essay, John A. Humbach
The Takings Clause And The Separation Of Powers: An Essay, John A. Humbach
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The most fundamental environmental problem is this: across our nation there are literally hundreds of millions of acres of important natural resource lands-- farms, forests, wetlands, reservoir watersheds, shore lands, endangered species habitat--lands that have relatively little commercial value in their present natural condition, but which would have much greater commercial value if their natural values were degraded or destroyed. Stated differently, private property often will yield a much greater profit to its owner if it is used in ways that will harm or obliterate important environmental assets and values. For this reason, private owners are understandably tempted to supplant …