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Letter To The City Of San Francisco Concerning Hunters Point Candlestick Park Implosion, Environmental Law And Justice Clinic, Golden Gate University School Of Law

Environmental Law and Justice Clinic

Letter requesting that the San Francisco Planning Department decertify Addendum 3 to the Environmental Impact Report for the Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard Phase II; and engage the residents in the Bayview-Hunters Point community to arrive at a sound decision on an alternative that has the least air quality impacts on this vulnerable community.

Environmental Law And Justice Clinic Fall 2014 Report, Helen H. Kang

Environmental Law and Justice Clinic

The Clinic provides legal and technical assistance to communities that bear a disproportionate pollution burden while enjoying fewer of the benefits and basic amenities such as clean drinking water and open space. We focus on communities in California, although some projects address pollution reduction at the national level. Three core areas continued to dominate our efforts in the last year: clean drinking water for low-income communities, clean energy for California, and air pollution reduction. We also provided legal consulting to numerous organizations that sought our specialized expertise in the areas of clean air, energy, and environmental justice strategy.

Arrested Development: A Call For Feasible Market-Control Measures To Incentivize Alternative Fuel Innovation And Combat Global Climate Change, Michael Digrande

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment examines the implementation and perceived effectiveness of measures like California’s LCFS (Low Carbon Fuel Standard). The following Parts explore the United States’ arrested development in implementing effective market-based measures to reduce GHGs, and how a market-based approach to incentivize fuel innovation is simply one facet in addressing the complex issue of global climate change. Part I addresses the science of global warming, identifying the immediate need to transition from an economy reliant on fossil fuels to one buoyed by the promise of new, zero-emission fuels. Part II provides background on how current notions of federalism shape environmental policy …

Cuel Comments On December 2013 Draft Eir/Eis For Proposed Bay Delta Conservation Plan (Bdcp), Paul Stanton Kibel

CUEL - Center for Urban Environmental Law

In July 2014 CUEL submitted comments on the draft environmental impact assessment for the proposed Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP).

The following comments are submitted by the Center on Urban Environmental Law (CUEL) at Golden Gate University School of Law. The focus of CUEL' s comments is on Chapter 11 (Fish and Aquatic Resources) of the December 2013 Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Bay Delta Conservation Plan (December 2013 Draft EIR/ EIS). The December 2013 Draft EIR/ EIS was prepared and circulated for public review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National …

Waste 2.0: Updating California's Electric-Waste Recycling Policies For The Digital Age, Mary Loung

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

When electronic products are improperly disposed of or sent to unregulated recycling sites, the e-waste breaks down in the area without appropriate safeguards. Toxic substances like mercury, lead, and arsenic are then released into the ground, causing soil, water, and air contamination. These e-waste toxins are known to have caused cancer, respiratory illness, and reproductive problems. Also, the chance to reclaim valuable materials and safely recycle the toxic materials is lost forever under the mountain of garbage. Therefore, finding innovative and all-encompassing ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle electronics products is important in solving this e-waste crisis.

As the e-waste …

Maintaining The California Environmental Quality Act's Informational Goals Under The Use Of Design-Build, Christopher L. Garcia

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

Today’s environmentally conscious world demands that those who undertake construction projects consider their effects on air and water quality, the flora and fauna, and where people will live, among other public concerns. Chief in ensuring that these impacts are considered before construction in the Golden State is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). CEQA is “the cornerstone of California’s environmental laws,” requiring mitigation, public comment, and controls approval of construction projects that may potentially have a significant effect on the environment. At its core, CEQA is a comprehensive environmental protection and informational statute designed to ensure that the developer of …

Effective Environmental Policymaking: A Regional Review Of Codifying Policy Through Citizen-Sponsored Ballot Measures, Elizabeth Colman

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

In order to assess the value of the statewide ballot measure as a tool for environmental advocates, this Comment will explore the electoral outcomes of citizen-sponsored statewide environmental ballot measures in four Pacific states with a long history of direct democracy. California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, all rich in pristine lands, make up just one region of the American political landscape, but they provide a meaningful picture of the history of environmental ballot measures.

This Comment narrows the broad topic of “environmental” ballot measures into six workable categories of environmental ballot measure. Using this framework, the aim of this Comment …

Water Management: From An Uncertain Present To A Sustainable Future, Katherine A. Spanos

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

Over the last ten years, two separate water management planning efforts in California—integrated regional water management and climate change planning—have come together in a way that provides similar lessons to help different interests find common ground for water management solutions. This planning synthesis has resulted in a significant change in the way California now addresses issues of water management.

After a brief background discussion (Part II), Part III of this Article examines the history of the merger of these two initiatives. Part IV explores an approach for water management based on the experience gained from this history. This approach is …

Tellez V. Dole: Nicaraguan Banana Workers Confront The U.S. Judicial System, Armin Rosencranz, Stephen Roblin

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

In This Edition, Cynthia Tyler, Andrew J. Graf

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

It is with great honor and pleasure that we introduce Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal’s seventh Pacific Region Edition. This edition features a diverse range of articles authored by legal scholars and comments by current students with a focus on environmental issues affecting the Pacific Region and the United States.

Table Of Contents

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Masthead

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Coal Pollution And Climate Change, Alan Ramo

Publications

No abstract provided.

Fixing The Cec Submissions Procedure: Are The 2012 Revisions Up To The Task?, John H. Knox

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

The citizen submissions procedure of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) celebrates its twentieth birthday this year. After a promising childhood, the procedure has had a stormy adolescence, vexed by accusations of ineffectiveness, bias, and delay. In 2012, the CEC adopted revisions to the procedure that promise to improve its timeliness, but do little or nothing to address its other problems. As the procedure enters its twenties, settled maturity is still a distant prospect. Created in 1993 by the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), a tri-national agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States, the submissions …

Understanding Canada's Responses To Citizen Submissions Under The Naaec, Chris Tollefson, Anthony Ho

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

The North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) is a side-agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), to which the United States, Canada, and Mexico are signatory parties (Parties). A central feature of the NAAEC is its citizen submission on enforcement matters (SEM) process, by which citizens and citizen groups from any of the three signatory countries can call on the NAAEC Secretariat to consider whether a Party is failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws. To date, there have been eighty-one citizen submissions filed against the three Parties. Much of the scholarship surrounding the SEM process has …

Seeking A Regulatory Chill In Canada: The Dow Agrosciences Nafta Chapter 11 Challenge To The Quebec Pesticides Management Code, Kathleen Cooper, Kyra Bell-Pasht, Ramani Nadarajah, Theresa Mcclenaghan

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Continental Chill: An Introduction To The Issue, Paul Stanton Kibel, Allyson L. Umberger

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Masthead

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Salmon Eye Lens On Climate Adaption, Paul S. Kibel

Publications

This Article discusses the current gap in climate adaptation law and policy, emphasizing the potential role that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Endangered Species Act (ESA) and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) could play in filling this gap. It focuses on the provisions in these laws that establish that agency planning and decision-making should be based on the best available science, and notes that the best available science now confirms that GHG emission-induced climate change is happening now and will continue to happen during this century. This Article posits that the most appropriate and effective way to factor expected …

The California Offset Game: Who Wins And Who Loses?, Alan Ramo

Publications

California is implementing the most comprehensive global warming regulatory program in the United States. A key part of this program is its cap-and-trade system. Integral to the cap-and-trade requirements are provisions for offsets, whereby companies, to meet their caps, can purchase credits from certain unregulated entities whose activities are deemed to have resulted in real and additional emission reductions. California has attempted to avoid the Kyoto Protocol's project-by-project lengthy and problematic review of offsets with a performance standard approach for domestic offsets and a sector approach for international offsets. Offsets, even if done right. raise serious environmental justice questions as …

U.S. Military Accountability For Extraterritorial Environmental Impacts: An Examination Of Okinawa, Environmental Justice, And Judicial Militarism, Alan Ramo

Publications

Local resistance to the relocation of a U.S. military base to a Bay threatening an endangered sea mammal off the coast of the island of Okinawa raises important issues regarding the extraterritoriality of U.S. environmental laws, the role of the courts in reviewing military operations and ultimately environmental justice. Federal courts continue inconsistently to sort out the extraterritoriality of U.S. laws, including environmental laws. Strong arguments remain that the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act should also apply to the U.S. military’s actions in Okinawa. Although the modern U.S. Supreme Court has reversed earlier cases and given …

Transitioning A Community Away From Fossil-Fuel Generation To A Green Economy: An Approach Using State Utility Commission Authority, Alan Ramo, Deborah N. Behles

Publications

A transition is starting throughout the nation as renewable energy resources are developed and older fossil-fuel facilities retire. The communities that bear the brunt of fossil-fuel pollution will also likely bear this transition’s economic impacts. Yet, there is no guarantee that these communities will share in the transition’s economic benefits—in particular, the building, operation, and ownership of new renewable energy resources. Renewable energy laws generally do not consider these types of impacts when determining where to site new resources.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), in a case involving Native Americans in Arizona affected by the operations and closure of …

The Critical Role Of Islands For Waterbird Breeding And Foraging Habitat In Managed Ponds Of The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, South San Francisco Bay, California, Us Department Of The Interior

Federal Documents

The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project aims to restore 50–90 percent of former salt evaporation ponds into tidal marsh in South San Francisco Bay, California. However, large numbers of waterbirds use these ponds annually as nesting and foraging habitat. Islands within ponds are particularly important habitat for nesting, foraging, and roosting waterbirds. To maintain current waterbird populations, the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project plans to create new islands within former salt ponds in South San Francisco Bay. In a series of studies, we investigated pond and individual island attributes that are most beneficial to nesting, foraging, and roosting …

Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Muir Woods National Monument: Final General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Volume I, Us National Park Service

Federal Documents

We are pleased to present this final General Management Plan for Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Muir Woods National Monument. The plan is the culmination of several years of effort involving the thoughtful input and participation of thousands of individuals, dozens of public agencies, and numerous outside organizations and stakeholder groups. This plan replaces the 1980 General Management Plan. That plan for a "National Park in an Urban Area" effectively guided the park for over three decades, and most of its major concepts have been fulfilled.

A general management plan is a key document for any unit of the …

Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Muir Woods National Monument: Final General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Volume Ii, Us National Park Service

Federal Documents

We are pleased to present this final General Management Plan for Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Muir Woods National Monument. The plan is the culmination of several years of effort involving the thoughtful input and participation of thousands of individuals, dozens of public agencies, and numerous outside organizations and stakeholder groups. This plan replaces the 1980 General Management Plan. That plan for a "National Park in an Urban Area" effectively guided the park for over three decades, and most of its major concepts have been fulfilled.

A general management plan is a key document for any unit of the …

Environmental Law And Justice Clinic Fall 2013 Report, Helen H. Kang

Environmental Law and Justice Clinic

The Environmental Law and Justice Clinic at Golden Gate University School of Law provides legal and technical assistance to communities that suffer the most from pollution. We focus on communities in California, although some projects address pollution reduction at the national level. Three core areas dominated our efforts this year: clean drinking water for low-income communities, clean energy for California, and air pollution reduction. In addition, we provided legal consulting to numerous organizations that sought our specialized expertise in clean air, energy, and environmental justice strategy.

2014 Annual Report - Momentum: 6 Decades Of Clean Air Progress, Bay Area Air Quality Management District

California Agencies

No abstract provided.