Law Commons^™

Ferc's Dam Decommissioning Authority Under The Federal Power Act, Beth C. Bryant

Washington Law Review

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asserted in a 1994 Policy Statement that it has the authority under the Federal Power Act to deny a new license for a hydroelectric dam or impose environmental conditions on a new license that may render a project unprofitable, when doing so is in the public interest. In addition, FERC stated that it would impose decommissioning costs on the dam owner. The hydroelectric industry claims that FERC lacks the authority to take these actions, and that if maintaining a dam is no longer in the public interest, either the federal government or another party …

Federalism In The Era Of International Standards: Federal And State Government Regulation Of Merchant Vessels In The United States (Part Iii), Craig H. Allen

Articles

No abstract provided.

What A Salmon Czar Might Hope For, William H. Rodgers, Jr.

Articles

There is a windowof opportunity in the wave of Endangered Species Act salmon listings that has descended on the Pacific Northwest in 1998 and 1999. Federal law links listings to the "inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms." Experience in Oregon has shown that EPA listings cannot be avoided by "voluntary or future conservation efforts."

Meaningful state law that will deter federal overrides must be "current" and "enforceable." With salmon stocks plummeting and with "inadequate" regulation prominently confirmed, what would the naive observer expect from a Washington State legislature intent upon saving the salmon and protecting its authority? A spate of stunning …

The Most Creative Moments In The History Of Environmental Law: "The Who's", William H. Rodgers, Jr.

Articles

My definition of creativity in environmental law is any legal initiative that advances the subject with new levels of analysis, structure, or institutional bridges. There are two requirements: improvement on function and novelty. Law is better if it increases the prospect of protecting the natural world or its inhabitants. Law is novel if it combines mandate, process, or structure in unusual ways.

There are reasons to suspect that environmental law as a field may be more creative than other legal subjects such as trust and estates, contracts, property, or tax law. One reason, as Oliver Houck has said, is that …

Saving The Lost Sheep: Bringing Environmental Values Back Into The Fold With A New Epa Decisionmaking Paradigm, Victor B. Flatt

Washington Law Review

Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses benefit-cost analysis in making many of its regulatory and enforcement decisions. This Article argues that, although required in some instances, the EPA's benefit-cost analysis procedure is incomplete, deeply flawed, and may even violate statutes in some respects. Much of the controversy surrounding environmental regulation can be attributed to this flawed benefit-cost analysis. This Article proposes a new paradigm for EPA regulatory decisionmaking. The proposed paradigm is a four-step decisionmaking process that enhances the outcome of the EPA's decisions by highlighting values that are often ignored or outside the traditional benefit-cost analysis but are …