Law Commons^™

A Review Of Amendment 16 To The Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan, Jonathon N. Feinberg, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Who Owns The Fish? Moving From The Commons To Federal Ownership Of Our National Fisheries, John B. Walden, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Opening The Industry Playbook: Myths And Truths In The Debate Over Bpa Regulation, Thomas Mcgarity, Rena Steinzor, Matthew Shudtz, Lena Pons

Rena I. Steinzor

For the last two decades, scientists have amassed evidence that bisphenol A (BPA) poses a threat to human health. Although scientists have targeted BPA as a public health concern, plastics industry lobbyists have attempted to thwart the efforts of federal, state, and local authorities to reduce exposure to BPA. This paper reviews the major arguments advanced by the plastics industry and debunks them as “myths” that public health officials must reject. The five topics covered include: the myth of scientific consensus on safety; the myth that only studies complying with “Good Laboratory Practices” guidelines are adequate for making regulatory decisions; …

Epa's Iris Program: Evaluating The Science And Process Behind Chemical Risk Assessment, Rena I. Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

No abstract provided.

Resolving Conflicts Between Green Technology Transfer And Intellectual Property Law, Robert V. Percival, Alan Miller

Robert Percival

This paper examines claims that intellectual property law, which is designed to create incentives for innovation, actually may inhibit the transfer to developing countries of green energy innovations. Although the paper cannot find significant examples of green energy technologies whose diffusion has been hindered by existing intellectual property protections, it explores strategies, such as compulsory licensing schemes, for responding to such problems if and when they arise in the future. The paper concludes that intellectual property law need not be an obstacle to a global transformation toward a green energy infrastructure that can promote economic development while advancing new levels …

Can The Battle Against Climate Change Become An Effective Social Movement?, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

Sprawl In Canada And The United States (Powerpoint), Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

PowerPoints for a speech explaining that sprawl in Canada is (1) less extensive than in the USA and (2) caused partially by government regulation.

Federal Energy Efficiency And Conservation Laws, John Dernbach, Marianne Tyrrell

John C. Dernbach

This paper provides an overview of U.S. law and policy concerning energy efficiency and conservation. The United States appears torn between two narratives - one expressing the abundant demonstrated opportunities provided by energy savings and the other based on a fear of deprivation from using less energy. Rather than choosing between the two, U.S. law and policy splits the difference - embracing efficiency and conservation more or less halfheartedly. Energy efficiency and conservation policy thus has a Groundhog Day aspect, in which the same or similar arguments are made year after year, decade after decade, and often (it appears) to …

Water, Work, Wildlife, And Wilderness: The Collaborative Federal Public Lands Planning Framework For Utility-Scale Solar Energy Development In The Desert Southwest, Tim Duane, Siobhan Mcintyre

Tim Duane

Federal and state energy policies have recently emphasized increased renewable energy development, including large utility-scale solar energy projects in the desert southwest. Many of the prime solar development sites in the region are on public land, which is administered primarily by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Federal public lands policy has therefore been confronted with a rush of project development proposals seeking federal Rights-of-Way (ROW) from the BLM. State permits and licenses, together with compliance with other federal regulatory requirements (especially under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act) must be coordinated with the BLM …

Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions (2011 Edition), Garrett Power

Garrett Power

This electronic book is published in a searchable PDF format as a part of the E-scholarship Repository of the University of Maryland School of Law. It is an “open content” casebook intended for classroom use in courses in Land Use Control, Environmental Law and Constitutional Law. It consists of cases carefully selected from the two hundred years of American constitutional history which address the clash between public sovereignty and private property. It considers both the personal right to liberty and the personal right in property. The text consists of non-copyrighted material and readers are free to use it or re-mix …

Marine Mammals And International Trade: Balancing Social Conscience With Trade Obligations – A Summary And Update On The World Trade Organization Seal Products Dispute, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Ethics, The Legacy Of The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., And The Movement Toward Environmental Justice, Beverly Mcqueary Smith

Beverly McQueary Smith

No abstract provided.

Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Uncertainty And The Protection Of Biodiversity From Invasive Alien Species, Sophie Riley

Sophie Riley

Scientists anticipate that the problem of invasive alien species will be exacerbated by co-stressors of biodiversity, such as land clearing and climate change. One of the most effective means of regulating invasive alien species is to prevent their entry by implementing rigorous quarantine measures with strong border controls. Yet, regulators face constant uncertainty with regard to the impact of invasive alien species on biodiversity, and the need to navigate a range of opinions on how best to deal with uncertainty. These difficulties are illustrated by the differing approaches to uncertainty embodied by the World Trade Organization on the one hand …

Iron Ocean Fertilization And International Law, David Freestone, Rosemary Rayfuse

Rosemary Rayfuse

Intentional ocean fertilisation and the commercial sale of associated carbon offsets raise a number of issues in international law. On the one hand states are obliged to adopt adaptation and mitigation measures to prevent dangerous climate change. On the other hand, international law obliges states to protect and preserve the marine environment and to act in a precautionary manner in the face of scientific uncertainty. This article examines the application of the international law of the sea to ocean fertilisation, with particular reference to the dumping regime which prohibits the dumping of wastes or other materials from vessels into the …

Warm Waters And Cold Shoulders: Jostling For Jurisdiction In Polar Oceans, Rosemary Rayfuse

Rosemary Rayfuse

In May 2008 the five Arctic coastal states adopted the Ilullisat Declaration in which they asserted their role as stewards, for the international community, of the Arctic Ocean ecosystem. This paper discusses the legal basis for their claim to stewardship with particular reference to the high seas portion of the central Arctic Ocean, and their assertion that no need exists for a new comprehensive legal regime in respect of those high seas waters. It is argued that while the high seas regime of the Arctic may be extensive, it is not comprehensive. Thus, the legitimacy of the claim to stewardship …

Australia And Climate Change Diplomacy: Towards A Post-2012 Regime – Policy Proposals On Australia’S Climate Change Diplomacy, Rosemary Rayfuse, Shirley Scott

Rosemary Rayfuse

A workshop on Australia and Climate Change Diplomacy: Towards a Post-Kyoto Regime (the Workshop) was held at the Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales on 22-23 November 2007. The purpose of the Workshop was to evaluate Australia’s past and current climate change diplomacy and to make policy recommendations for the future. The interdisciplinary Workshop brought together 19 leading experts in economics, science, international relations, law, and business. The majority were academics, but the group also included private consultants and NGO representatives from Australia with one visitor from China. The Workshop was organised and hosted by Associate Professor Rosemary …

Regional Allocation Issues Or Zen And The Art Of Pie Cutting, Rosemary Rayfuse

Rosemary Rayfuse

Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) have increasingly become the mechanism of choice through which high seas fisheries are to be managed. How these organisations allocate fishing opportunities for the dwindling resources under their jurisdiction is, however, a difficult and often controversial issue. Achieving equitable, scientifically reliable and sustainable allocations as between members and as between members and non-members has serious implications for the operational efficacy and legitimacy of an RFMO and its management regime. This paper examines the allocation practices adopted in RFMOs in the context of the tension between state sovereignty and the development of rules of international law …

Next Generation Recycling & Waste Reduction: Building On The Success Of Pennsylvania’S 1988 Legislation, John C. Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

The Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling, and Waste Reduction Act (Act 101 of 1988) keeps millions of tons of materials out of landfills every year. It supports a multi-billion dollar industry that provides tens of thousands of jobs. It also probably affects human environmental behavior more than any other statute in state history. And it reduces greenhouse gas emissions at the same time because of the materials and energy that are saved.

Yet the program is now rudderless and drifting. While the Act contains specific goals, those goals have either been met or ignored, and no new goals have been set. …

Environmental Challenges Of Climate-Nuclear Fusion: A Case Study Of India, Deepa Badrinarayana

Deepa Badrinarayana

Climate change is launching a nuclear energy future, because nuclear power generation produces low greenhouse gas emissions. Nations are therefore reviewing their nuclear energy portfolio and expanding international cooperation on civilian nuclear energy. India is a notable example. Recognizing India’s energy demands and climate mitigation problems associated with fossil fuel use, the Nuclear Supplier’s Group, at the behest of the United States, removed nuclear trade sanctions imposed on India. India has been subsequently negotiating and signing numerous bilateral agreements aimed at expanding its domestic nuclear power generation facility. The apparent advantages of nuclear energy in mitigating climate change are significantly …

The Bp Oil Spill: Marine Pollution, Admiralty Law And State Police Power Under The Oil Pollution Act Of 1990o, John J. Costonis

John J. Costonis

ABSTRACT

Choice of law issues in marine pollution events engage federal admiralty/general maritime law, federal environmental legislation and the reserved powers of the states to protect their natural resources and economic welfare. Admiralty and general maritime law enjoyed center stage throughout the first two thirds of the last century. Federal marine pollution statutes were few and weak, and state initiatives were typically deemed preempted in all but the so-called “marine but local” cases. The equilibrium began to shift in favor of state police powers and federal environmental values in the mid-1960’s in consequence of the Supreme Court’s solicitude for the …

Strategies For Promoting Green Energy Innovation, Deployment, & Technology Transfer, Robert V. Percival

Robert Percival

This paper surveys various strategies for promoting the development and deployment of green energy technologies.

Environmental Law Goes Global: Taking Back Eden: Eight Environmental Cases That Changed The World, By Oliver A. Houck, Robert V. Percival

Robert Percival

No abstract provided.

La Responsabilidad Por Daño Ambiental Global Y La Evolución En Las Relaciones Entre El Derecho Público Y Privado [Liability For Global Environmental Harm And The Evolving Relationship Between Public And Private Law], Robert V. Percival

Robert Percival

No abstract provided.

Why Intellectual Property Rights In Traditional Knowledge Cannot Contribute To Sustainable Development, Dennis S. Karjala

Dennis S Karjala

This paper makes a simple point: If sustainability (however defined) is the goal, intellectual property rights in traditional knowledge do not move us toward the achievement of that goal. The reason is that the only social policy justification for recognizing intellectual property rights at all is that they supposedly serve as an incentive to create socially desirable works of authorship and inventions. They are not and should not serve as a reward for past achievements. In other words, outside of their usual incentive function of promoting new technology, intellectual property rights in traditional knowledge have no role to play in …

Strategic Spillovers, Daniel B. Kelly

Daniel B Kelly

The traditional problem with externalities is well known: self-interested individuals and profit-maximizing firms often generate harm as an unintended byproduct of their use of property. I examine situations in which individuals and firms purposely seek to generate harm, in order to extract payments in exchange for desisting. Situations involving such “strategic spillovers” have received relatively little systematic attention, but the underlying problem is a perennial one. From the “livery stable scam” in Chicago during the nineteenth century to “pollution entrepreneurs” in China in the twenty-first century, various parties have an incentive to engage in externality-generating activities they otherwise would not …

Delaware's "Expanding Duty Of Loyalty" And Illegal Conduct: A Step Towards Corporate Social Responsibility, David Rosenberg

David Rosenberg

Courts and legal scholars have long agreed that approval of illegal activity constitutes a violation of a corporate director’s fiduciary duties to the shareholders. While directors’ fiduciary obligations have traditionally been divided into the duties of care, loyalty and good faith, recent decisions in the Delaware courts have narrowed them down into a fairly broadly defined single duty of loyalty. Therefore, in order for shareholders to bring a lawsuit against directors for approving illegal activity, they must claim that the directors acted disloyally, even in situations where the directors believed that their decision would benefit the corporation and the shareholders. …

Brief Of Law Professors As Amici Curiae In Support Of Respondents, American Electric Power Co. V. State Of Connecticut, No. 10-174, James R. May, Stuart Banner

James R. May

No abstract provided.

Perspectives On Law Firm Sustainability, Howard S. Dakoff, John C. Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

New Directions In Earth Rights, Environmental Rights And Human Rights: Six Facets Of Constitutionally Embedded Environmental Rights Worldwide, James May, Erin Daly

Erin Daly

This essay provides an overview of the worldwide phenomenon of constitutional environmental rights. Since the Stockholm Convention, nearly 60 countries have constitutionally entrenched environmental rights, according their citizens basic rights to environmental quality in one form or another. The list is diverse politically, including countries with civil, common law, Islamic, and other traditions. Some of the more recent of these include Kenya in 2010, Ecuador in 2007, France in 2005, Afghanistan in 2004, and South Africa in 1996. As a result, domestic courts and international tribunals are enforcing constitutionally enshrined environmental rights with growing frequency, reflecting basic human rights to …

Testimony Of Rena Steinzor…Before The U.S. House Of Representatives, Energy And Commerce Committee, Subcommittee On Environment And Economics. 112th Congress, 1st Session (2011)., Rena Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

Environmental regulations have saved millions of lives, preventing chronic respiratory illness and heart attacks in cities across the country. These rules protect children from irreversible neurological damage, save billions of dollars in cleanup costs, and preserve water quality in lakes, rivers, and streams. If anything, our regulatory system is dangerously weak, and Congress should focus on reviving it rather than eroding public protections….