Law Commons^™

From "Navigable Waters" To "Constitutional Waters": The Future Of Federal Wetlands Regulation, Mark Squillace

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Wetlands regulation in the United States has a tumultuous history. The early European settlers viewed wetlands as obstacles to development, and they drained and filled wetlands and swamps at an astounding rate, often with government support, straight through the middle of the twentieth century. As evidence of the ecological significance of wetlands emerged over the last several decades, programs to protect and restore wetlands became prominent. Most notable among these is the permitting program under section 404 of the Clean Water Act. That provision prohibits dredging or filling of "navigable waters, " defined by law to mean "waters of the …

The Role Of Case Studies In Natural Resources Law [Summary], John Copeland Nagle

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

4 pages.

"John Nagle, Univ. of Notre Dame Law School" -- Agenda

Survey Says: Army Corps No Scalian Despot, Kim Diana Connolly

Journal Articles

Justice Antonin Scalia and others have described the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ('the Corps') administration of the permitting process as burdensome and inefficient. Empirical data gathered from the Corps, however, do not bear out this assessment. In this Article, Kim Diana Connolly evaluates data collected from Corps Customer Service Surveys as well as the apparent disconnect between applicant experiences and the public's negative perception of the permitting process. She begins the Article with an overview of the Corps' regulatory permitting process, then lays out the history of and context for the Corps' Customer Service Surveys. Next, she summarizes available …

Wetlands Mitigation: Retroactive Application Of Clean Water Act Requirements To Property Destroyed By Natural Disasters, John Stapleford

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

The Ramsar Convention On Wetlands: Assessment Of International Designations Within The United States, Kim Diana Connolly

Other Scholarship

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, more commonly knows as the Ramsar Convention, is one international framework used to protect wetlands. At this time, the United States has designated 22 sites as wetlands of international importance. In this Article, Royal C. Gardner and Kim Diana Connolly analyze survey data collected from each of these 22 sites to determine whether and how Ramsar designation benefits these wetland areas. The authors first provide a brief overview of the Ramsar Convention, including its function within the United States. They then break down the survey data, looking at both …

Implementing Rapanos - Will Justice Kennedy's Significant Nexus Test Provide A Workable Standard For Lower Courts, Regulators And Developers?, Bradford Mank

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

In 2001, the Supreme Court in SWANCC v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held that the Corps lacked authority under the 1972 Clean Water Act to regulate wetlands isolated from navigable waters. The Court held that the CWA's jurisdiction is limited to non-navigable waters that have a significant nexus to navigable waters. SWANCC did not address the Corps' regulation of wetlands near non-navigable tributaries. The courts of appeals are divided over if the Corps may regulate tributary wetlands. Mank, The Murky Future of the Clean Water Act After SWANCC, 30 ECOLOGY LAW QUARTERLY 811-891 (2003).

In 2006, the Supreme Court …

Opening The Floodgates: The Roberts Court's Decision In Rapanos V. United States Spells Trouble For The Future Of The Waters Of The United States, Bill Currie

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

From "Navigable Waters" To "Constitutional Waters": The Future Of Federal Wetlands Regulation, Mark Squillace

Publications

Wetlands regulation in the United States has a tumultuous history. The early European settlers viewed wetlands as obstacles to development, and they drained and filled wetlands and swamps at an astounding rate, often with government support, straight through the middle of the twentieth century. As evidence of the ecological significance of wetlands emerged over the last several decades, programs to protect and restore wetlands became prominent. Most notable among these is the permitting program under § 404 of the Clean Water Act. That provision prohibits dredging or filling of "navigable waters," defined by law to mean "waters of the United …

Maieusis Through A Gated Membrane: "Getting The Science Right" In Public Decisionmaking, Deborah Hussey Freeland

Deborah M. Hussey Freeland

Law meets science in a remarkable variety of contexts. While their interactions are often studied in particular contexts, general theories of their interaction are wanting. This paper presents a general model of an interface between law and science that identifies how their interaction must be structured to promote effective interdisciplinary collaboration, and then demonstrates how this model can be used to analyze problems as diverse as: a large-scale intergovernmental attempt at ecosystem restoration; and the effects of a method of science-based alternative dispute resolution on science and negotiated outcomes. In both cases, the model features of a properly functioning law-science …