Law Commons^™

The Dilution Of The Clean Water Act, Mark C. Van Putten, Bradley D. Jackson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article argues that the zero discharge goal of the Clean Water Act is more than naive rhetoric. To the contrary, it is the Act's raison d'être, and it is woven into the fabric of the Act's operative provisions. So understood, the zero discharge goal can and should provide continuing guidance for EPA's implementation of the Act.

Pennsylvania's Implementation Of The Surface Mining Control And Reclamation Act: An Assessment Of How "Cooperative Federalism" Can Make State Regulatory Programs More Effective, John C. Dernbach

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article first explains the background against which Pennsylvania's implementation of SMCRA has occurred. Coal mining has had a serious and continuing effect on the State's environment, as Part I explains. In response to these effects, Pennsylvania began to regulate coal mining many decades ago. This regulatory development reached a milestone when the State achieved primacy under SMCRA in 1982.

Part II suggests that the new program in Pennsylvania has been responsible for substantial reductions in adverse environmental effects from surface coal mining, particularly less erosion and sedimentation, less acid mine drainage, and more backfilling. In addition, Part II explains …