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Full-Text Articles in Law
Tiny Things With A Huge Impact: The International Regulation Of Nanomaterials, Dario Picecchi
Tiny Things With A Huge Impact: The International Regulation Of Nanomaterials, Dario Picecchi
Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law
Mounting evidence demonstrates that nanotechnology and nanomaterials impose severe environmental risks. To minimize these risks, the usage and handling of certain nanomaterials could be addressed under existing treaties such as the Rotterdam Convention, the Stockholm Convention, and the Basel Convention. However, even if existing treaties govern the handling of certain nanomaterials, no treaty effectively regulates all the specific challenges that nanomaterials pose to the global environment. Consequently, a completely new regulatory instrument is required. An international organization could take responsibility for developing and promoting such a nanospecific international legal framework. By incorporating the precautionary principle, a technology transfer, research cooperation, …
Lamarck Revisited: The Implications Of Epigenetics For Environmental Law, Michael P. Vandenbergh, David J. Vandenbergh, John G. Vandenbergh
Lamarck Revisited: The Implications Of Epigenetics For Environmental Law, Michael P. Vandenbergh, David J. Vandenbergh, John G. Vandenbergh
Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law
For generations, a bedrock concept of biology was that genetic mutations are necessary to pass traits from one generation to the next, but new developments in genetics are challenging this fundamental assumption. A growing body of scientific evidence demonstrates that chemical alteration of the way a gene functions, whether through exposure to chemicals, foods or even traumatic experiences, may not only affect the exposed individual, but also the individual’s offspring for two generations or more. This interaction between genes and the environment, known as epigenetics, has revolutionized the understanding of how genes are expressed within an individual and how they …
Change In Regulation Is Necessary For Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes, Insung Hwang
Change In Regulation Is Necessary For Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes, Insung Hwang
Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law
Millions of genetically engineered (GE) mosquitoes could soon be released in Key West, Florida as an effort to eradicate wild mosquitoes that are transmitters of diseases such as malaria, dengue, and chikungunya. Both international and domestic regulations fail to provide effective regulatory schemes that can facilitate the application of this technology while ensuring all safety and environmental aspects are properly addressed. The Food and Drug Administration’s assertion of jurisdiction is based on its assessment that the GE mosquitoes are “animal drugs” under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. This is especially troublesome because the end goal of using these …
Instrument Choice, Carbon Emissions, And Information, Michael Wara
Instrument Choice, Carbon Emissions, And Information, Michael Wara
Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law
This Article examines the consequences of a previously unrecognized difference between pollutant cap-and-trade schemes and pollution taxes. Implementation of cap-and-trade relies on a forecast of future emissions, while implementation of a pollution tax does not. Realistic policy designs using either regulatory instrument almost always involve a phase-in over time to avoid economic disruption. Cap-and-trade accomplishes this phase-in via a limit on emissions that falls gradually below the forecast of future pollutant emissions. Emissions taxation accomplishes the same via a gradually increasing levy on pollution. Because of the administrative complexity of establishing an emissions trading market, cap-and-trade programs typically require between …
Making Method Visible: Improving The Quality Of Science-Based Regulation, Pasky Pascual, Wendy Wagner, Elizabeth Fisher
Making Method Visible: Improving The Quality Of Science-Based Regulation, Pasky Pascual, Wendy Wagner, Elizabeth Fisher
Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law
Scientific inferences are theories about how the world works that scientists formulate based on their observations. One of the most difficult issues at the intersection of law and science is to determine whether the weight of evidence supports one scientific inference versus other competing interpretations of the observations. In administrative law, this difficulty is exacerbated by the behavior of both the courts and regulatory agencies. Agencies seldom achieve the requisite visibility that explains the analytical methods they use to reach their scientific inferences. Courts—because they appreciate neither the variety of inferential methods nor their epistemic foundations—do not demand this level …