Law Commons^™

Soaps And Shampoos: Proposals To Reform Regulation In The United States Personal Care Market To Decrease Deforestation From Palm Oil Imports, Kelsey Weston

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Palm oil is the world's most highly sought-after vegetable oil due to its multifaceted uses and cheap cost of production. However, producing this versatile oil comes at a high cost to one of the largest biodiversity on the planet. Over the last two centuries, Indonesia and Malaysia have become the main producers and exporters of palm oil but they are also home to the largest number of mammal species in the world that have seen a staggering decline in populations. Furthermore, palm oil production has caused excessive release of greenhouse gases, increased disruption of forestland, and economic poverty for smallholders …

Manure, Methane, And Money: The Anaerobic Digester Disaster In California, Pegga Mosavi

Animal Law Review

The small, idyllic family farms that come to mind at the first mention of farming are all but gone, replaced by enormous factories that churn out animals at record speed, with little regard for their health and welfare. These factory farms produce a host of issues, including pervasive water and air pollution, particularly in vulnerable agricultural communities like those of the San Joaquin Valley in California. While the detriments of the factory farm model are numerous, contribution to climate change in particular has garnered significant attention. Animal agriculture in the U.S. produces 36% of the country’s methane, a greenhouse gas …

Municipalities Could Provide Valuable Second-Life Uses Of Electric Vehicle Li-Ion Batteries While Legislators And Manufacturers Refine Safe Recycling And Disposal Practices, Heather D. Stewart

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

As consumers are embracing emerging electric vehicles (EVs) as an important step to take in combating climate change, the reality is that the EV solution has some serious short-term issues to address, especially when evaluating the lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that power most EVs. This comment first discusses the potential problems associated with the lack of recycling and disposal technology as well as regulations that are available for EV LIBs. Even though consumers and regulators alike are supportive that fossil fuel-burning internal combustion engines need to be replaced with cleaner transportation options such as EVs, policies, and proclamations are still subject …

Addressing The Disproportionate Adverse Health Effects Among Bipoc Communities As A Result Of Environmental Racism, Lindsay M. Farbent

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

This article examines factors that contribute to the negative health impacts on Black Americans, other minorities, and low-income communities that are living in areas with high levels of air pollution, toxic waste, and environmental hazards. First, this article assesses the role of historical residential redlining on the segregation of BIPOC neighborhoods. Furthermore, the article addresses gaps in both federal and state environmental laws that allow facilities to keep obtaining permits and polluting in BIPOC and primarily low-income neighborhoods. Moreover, the article explains the higher rates of trauma, stress, and stress-related illnesses among BIPOC communities exposed to high levels of environmental …

Is Bitcoin The New Gold? The Two May Be More Similar Than You Think, Including Their Value, Uses, And Deleterious Effects On The Environment, Justin Allen

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

In the 1850s, the Gold Rush started in the United States, and in 2010, an analogous phenomenon, the Cryptoboom, began. Similar to the Gold Rush, Bitcoin’s initial boom was marred by the deleterious effects that mining for valuable coins had on the environment, but there are steps that can be taken to mitigate the negative effect cryptocurrencies have on the environment. Cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and the blockchain technology that powers cryptocurrencies, have been widely embraced by many people, corporations, and even entire governments for a multitude of reasons. Some have embraced the fruits of blockchain to use as a decentralized …

Miami Is Setting The Expectation On How Coastal Communities In Florida Should Respond To Protect Homeowners From The Sinking State, Dayana B. Blanco

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

This note begins by explaining what environmental factors are causing the sea level rise to increase at just a rapid pace and how coastal communities are ultimately affected. Because Florida is a slice of paradise within the states, it causes the population to increase vastly. Thus, millions of homeowners could face tragic consequences, such as total inundation of residential homes, flooding within the community, and a drastic decrease in home value. In response to this natural disaster, in 2021, Governor Ron DeSantis passed Senate Bill 1954 into law, which requires the Department of Environmental Protection to complete a statewide flood …

Congress Invests In A New Generation: The Future Of Commercial Fishing Is Supported By The Implementation Of The Young Fishermen’S Development Act, Shayla Alltop

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

This note speaks to the importance and potential impact of the Young Fishermen’s Development Act. This ongoing, historical legislation, ultimately signed into law on January 5, 2021, will establish funds over several fiscal years to support the future of commercial fishing. The Alaska and New England regions are discussed briefly to show the significance of the commercial fishing industry to those areas. An overview of the Act is provided, and the context for its need is explained as it relates to the industry’s entrants. Further, the phenomenon known as “graying of the fleet” is examined, as well as some of …

The Key Deer Is Headed For Extinction: How Repealing A Trump-Era Federal Rule Defining "Habitat" Could Allow Assisted Migration To Save Species Threatened By Climate Change, Kennedi Fichtel

St. Thomas Law Review

Climate change induced sea level rise is imminent. In fact, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has predicted that “[b]y 2045, the sea level in the Florida Keys will rise 15 inches . . . .” Such a projection usually invites questions about the implications for coastal residential homeowners. However, this projection means so much more for the voiceless inhabitants of the Florida Keys. Anthropogenic climate change that leads to sea level rise of this magnitude will be responsible for permanently destroying species’ habitats, and therefore impacting their ability to survive. For endangered and threatened species, this means extinction. As …

Exploring The Role Of Nonhuman Animal Victims In Federal Environmental Crime Prosecutions, Melissa L. Jarrell, Joshua Ozmy

Animal Law Review

While nonhuman animals in the United States are often victimized directly or as a consequence of environmental crimes, little is known about them or the role their victimization plays in federal environmental crime prosecutions. Through content analysis of 2,588 of the Environmental Protection Agency's criminal prosecutions from 1983-2019, we identified cases where identifiable nonhuman animal victims play a central role in the prosecution. We developed a typology of victims and the consequences of their victimization, and we explored the geography, charging statutes, and penalties. Results suggest that victimization is infrequent, acute, and clusters around toxic discharges and pesticide abuse stemming …

Eating Our Way To Their Extinction: What Florida Should Learn From California On Banning Shark Fin Soup And The Shark Fin Trade, Bettina Tran

Seattle Journal of Environmental Law

Currently, it is legal to possess, sell and purchase shark fins in 38 states, Florida included. Fishermen are allowed to harvest sharks all around the world with minimal surveillance and weak regulation, causing greed to push a 400-million-year old species to the brink of extinction. Florida’s current statue is completely ineffective and toothless when it comes to shark conservation. The State needs to amend its shark fin law prohibiting the trade in all detached shark fins, for any purpose, by anyone to discontinue fueling a cruel practice. There is a federal bill pending in congress that would ban the trade …

Highway Culverts, Salmon Runs, And The Stevens Treaties: A Century Of Litigating Pacific Northwest Tribal Fishing Rights, Ryan Hickey

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Isaac Stevens, then Superintendent of Indian Affairs and Governor of Washington Territory, negotiated a series of treaties with Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest during 1854 and 1855. A century and a half later in 2001, the United States joined 21 Indian tribes in filing a Request for Determination in the United States District Court for the District of Washington. Plaintiffs alleged the State of Washington had violated those 150-year-old treaties, which remained in effect, by building and maintaining culverts under roads that prevented salmon passage. This litigation eventually reached the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which held in favor …

Collaboration Through Nepa: Achieving A Social License To Operate On Federal Public Lands, Temple Stoellinger, L. Steven Smutko, Jessica M. Western

Public Land & Resources Law Review

As demand and consumption of natural gas increases, so will drilling operations to extract the natural gas on federal public lands. Fueled by the shale gas revolution, natural gas drilling operations are now frequently taking place, not only in the highly documented urban settings, but also on federal public lands with high conservation value. The phenomenon of increased drilling in sensitive locations, both urban and remote, has sparked increased public opposition, requiring oil and gas producers to reconsider how they engage the public. Oil and gas producers have increasingly deployed the concept of a social license to operate to gain …

Public-Private Conservation Agreements And The Greater Sage-Grouse, Justin R. Pidot

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In 2015, the Obama Administration announced its conservation plans for the greater sage-grouse, an iconic bird of the intermountain west.Political leadership at the time described those plans as the “largest landscape-level conservation effort in U.S. history,”and they served as the foundation for a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) that a listing of the bird was not warranted under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). The Trump Administration appears poised to substantially amend the plans, although an array of interested parties have urged that the plans be left intact. Regardless of the outcome of this debate, conservation of …

Streamlining The Production Of Clean Energy: Proposals To Reform The Hydroelectricity Licensing Process, Travis Kavulla, Laura Farkas

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Hydroelectric power is an efficient and clean source of power. In an era when air emissions dominate public concern about the environmental effects of the energy sector, it is a paradox that among the most highly regulated energy projects are hydroelectric dams, which do not combust fuel. This is partly due to a failure of successive statutory enactments,which have transformed hydroelectric licensing from a regulatory “one-stop shop” with a single regulator, to a process chained to a bewilderingnumber of often conflicting regulatory agencies, often riven with delay. Hydroelectric licensing has also failed because its capacious standard of review encourages special-interest …

Center For Biological Diversity V. Zinke, Ryan Hickey

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The oft-cited “arbitrary and capricious” standard revived the Center for Biological Diversity’s most recent legal challenge in its decades-long quest to see arctic grayling listed under the Endangered Species Act. While this Ninth Circuit decision did not grant grayling ESA protections, it did require the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider its 2014 finding that listing grayling as threatened or endangered was unwarranted. In doing so, the court found “range,” as used in the ESA, vague while endorsing the FWS’s 2014 clarification of that term. Finally, this holding identified specific shortcomings of the challenged FWS finding, highlighting how …

Friends Of Animals V. United States Fish & Wildlife Service, Bradley E. Tinker

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In Friends of Animals v. United States Fish & Wildlife Service, the Ninth Circuit held that the plain language of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act allows for the removal of one species of bird to benefit another species. Friends of Animals argued that the Service’s experiment permitting the taking of one species––the barred owl––to advance the conservation of a different species––the northern spotted owl––violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The court, however, found that the Act delegates broad implementing discretion to the Secretary of the Interior, and neither the Act nor the underlying international conventions limit the taking of …

California Sea Urchin Commission V. Bean, Thomas C. Mooney-Myers

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In California Sea Urchin Commission v. Bean, the Ninth Circuit upheld the Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to end an experimental sea otter colony and translocation program. Commercial fishing groups sought reversal of the decision due to their interest in maintaining the translocation program which reduced otter predation on commercially valuable shellfish. While the Ninth Circuit held the group had standing, it then applied the Chevron test and determined the agency’s actions were reasonable.

Agency Coordination Of Private Action: The Role Of Relational Contracting, Karen Maire Bradshaw Schulz

Texas A&M Law Review

This Article explores the previously overlooked role of relational contracting in forming and maintaining public-private partnerships. Relational contracting generally describes firms using formal but legally non-binding agreements to collaborate on shared objectives. Why do parties invest in forming elaborate contracts that they do not—and cannot—enforce in court? Contract theory suggests that the very act of contracting is relationship-building; it generates commitment, trust, cooperation, a win-win philosophy, and strengthened communication. Writing down goals and intentions allows parties to clarify expectations while maintaining flexibility for unforeseen conditions. This Article demonstrates that agencies also use relational contracting— creating unenforceable written agreements to build …

Frankly My Dear, I Don’T Want A Dam: Refocusing Dam Removal Priorities To Protect Endangered Salmon Now, Skylar Sumner

Animal Law Review

Dams are a critical threat to salmon habitat and population recovery. While much progress has been made in the past few years with dam removal, the more quickly dams are removed, the greater chance that salmon can be restored to their historic ranges. In the Pacific Northwest, dams are a particular threat to salmon. Many regulatory tools can be used to bring dams into compliance, but there is often much resistance to these efforts. This Essay proposes that by targeting dilapidated private dams opposed to functional ones on public land, compliance or removal will be achieved with less resistance and …

What Can Animal Law Learn From Environmental Law?, Rachel Lamb, Tara Zuardo

Animal Law Review

This Review analyzes and synopsizes What Can Animal Law Learn from Environmental Law?, edited by Professor Randall S. Abate. The book is a compilation of writings by numerous professionals in the fields of animal and environmental law. This Review introduces the background of the book and those sections most relevant to animal law. The book is divided into four distinct units, and this Review addresses each in turn: (1) Introductory Context, (2) U.S. Law Contexts, (3) International and Comparative Law Contexts, and (4) Vision for the Future. This Review ends by illustrating how academic settings can benefit from the use …

America's Invaders: The Nile Monitor And The Ineffectiveness Of The Reactive Response To Invasive Species, William K. Norvell Iii

Animal Law Review

In response to an ever increasing level of environmental devastation caused by invasive species and the resultant concerns for ecological preservation, both the state and federal governments have passed legislation to combat this pressing issue. In this Note, the author evaluates the effectiveness of these reactive and proactive policies in the United States. The author also analyzes the successful, proactive invasive species legislation from Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, and then contrasts them to the failing, mainly reactive laws found in the United States. Despite these shortcomings, the author concludes that it is entirely possible for the United …

Foreword, David N. Cassuto

Pace Environmental Law Review

The overlap between animal law and environmental law arises because the two disciplines are fundamentally linked. One cannot talk about the environment without also discussing the nonhuman sentient beings that populate it. Indeed, as I shall discuss shortly, one of the most vexing issues for me— as a scholar working in both fields—involves my ongoing attempt to address the historical tension between the two disciplines. This volume of the Pace Environmental Law Review (PELR) marks an important step on the path toward resolving those tensions and moving environmental law forward. That path will not always be smooth, nor will it …

Shark Laws With Teeth: How Deep Can U.S. Conservation Laws Cut Into Global Trade Regulations, Kaitlin M. Wojnar

Animal Law Review

Controversy surrounding application of the Shark & Fishery Conservation Act of 2010 (Shark Conservation Act) reflects a culmination of competing interests between environmental conservation and international free trade. Non-governmental organizations are pressuring the United States (U.S.) government to use the Shark Conservation Act to impose trade sanctions against countries that do not have specific regulations on shark finning. The implementation of such import bans, however, could negatively impact the nation’s relationships with some of its principal trade partners and violate international obligations under multilateral trade treaties. This Note proposes that the U.S. cannot impose such an embargo on shark products …

Hot, Crowded, And Legal: A Look At Industrial Agriculture In The United States And Brazil, David N. Cassuto, Sarah Saville

Animal Law Review

Over the last sixty years, industrial agriculture has expanded in the United States and throughout the world, including in Brazil. Any benefit this expansion has brought comes at significant environmental and social costs. Industrial agriculture is a leading contributor to global climate change, air and water pollution, deforestation, and dangers in the workplace. This Article discusses the impact of industrial animal agriculture in the U.S. and Brazil. It also examines the laws pertaining to industrial agriculture in both countries and provides a comparative analysis of the two legal regimes. Finally, this Article concludes with the observation that although the price …

The Wilderness Myth: How The Failure Of The American National Park Model Threatens The Survival Of The Iyaelima Tribe And The Bonobo Chimpanzee, Mark Hopson

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

The Wilderness Myth

Abstract by Mark Hopson

Contrary to popular opinion, and the vast majority of legal scholarship on the subject, the traditional American model for a national park is scientifically and logically unsound. Further, this model has been adopted at a terrible social cost to the indigenous tribes who lived on the land that became national parks. Every government that has chosen to implement the American national park model has done so at the expense of indigenous people.

This article chronicles the creation of the world’s first national parks, Yosemite and Yellowstone, and the legal battles involved. The article …

Introduction To The Environmental Law And Justice Symposium Issue, Randall S. Abate, Robert H. Abrams, Robert Graggs

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

A "Fisheye" Lens On The Technological Dilemma: The Specter Of Genetically Engineered Animals, George Kimbrel, Paige Tomaselli

Animal Law Review

One year ago, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed approval of the first genetically engineered (GE or transgenic) animal for food production—a salmon engineered to grow much faster than normal using genetic material from an ocean pout. Faced with concerns from scientists and the public that these “super” salmon will escape into the wild and be the final blow to wild salmon, proponents crafted a scheme that is half Michael Crichton, half Kurt Vonnegut: The engineered salmon eggs will begin life in a lab on a frozen Canadian island, then be airlifted to a guarded Panamanian fortress, …

Something Stinks: The Need For Environmental Regulation Of Puppy Mills, Melissa Towsey

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Saving Lives Or Spreading Fear: The Terroristic Nature Of Eco-Extremism, Kevin R. Grubbs

Animal Law Review

Much debate has surfaced surrounding so-called “eco-terrorism.” Some commentators argue that such activity is not and should not be called terrorism. This Comment analyzes these extremist activities through the lens of federal terrorism laws and argues that, while these activists’ goals are laudable, their methods are often terroristic. Consequently, those activities that go too far are-and should be-classified as terrorism.

The Animal Question: The Key To Coming To Terms With Nature, Jim Mason

Animal Law Review

No abstract provided.