Agriculture Law Commons^™

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 …

No Farms No Food? A Response To Baylen Linnekin, Joshua Ulan Galperin

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

You have likely seen the bumper sticker, bold white text on a green background, reading “No Farms No Food.” The sticker is a product of, and in fact a tagline for, the American Farmland Trust. On the one hand, the point is obvious: As American Farmland Trust puts it, “[e]very meal on our plates [c]ontains ingredients grown on a farm. We all need farms to survive.” On the other hand, what seems like a plain statement on its face, “no farms no food,” is not so simple. Farms produce affordable food, they produce vast quantities of food, they produce healthy …

The Detroit Frontier: Urban Agriculture In A Legal Vacuum, Jacqueline Hand, Amanda Gregory

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Key To Engaging With The Sdgs: Utilizing Rio Principle 10 To Succeessfully Implement The U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, Taís Ludwig

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Blood Biofuels, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Agenda: Flpma Turns 40, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

FLPMA Turns 40 (October 21)

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers approximately 245 million acres of our public lands and yet, for most of our nation's history, these lands seemed largely destined to end up in private hands. Even when the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 ushered in an important era of better managing public grazing districts and "promoting the highest use of the public lands," such use of our public lands still was plainly considered temporary, "pending its final disposal." It was not until 1976 with the passage of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) that congress adopted a policy that …

The Safe Drinking Water / Food Law Nexus, Margot J. Pollans

Pace Environmental Law Review

At 2 AM on August 2, 2014, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency issued the following warning to the citizens of Toledo: “Do Not Drink.” The Ohio City's tap water was contaminated with microcystin, a toxin that can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and abnormal liver function. The source was an algal bloom in Lake Erie resulting from high levels of agricultural fertilizers and animal waste. For three days, Toledo residents drank only bottled water.

This is just one of many similar examples of agricultural contamination of urban drinking water supplies. Creating a physical connection between urban and rural communities, this pollution highlights …

Maintaining A Healthy Water Supply While Growing A Healthy Food Supply: Legal Tools For Cleaning Up Agricultural Water Pollution, Mary Jane Angelo, Jon Morris

UF Law Faculty Publications

This article will explore a number of legal mechanisms that could play a role in ensuring that discharges from agricultural activities do not cause or contribute to violations of water quality standards. Specifically, this article will evaluate the relative effectiveness of: (1) narrative nutrient criteria as compared with numeric nutrient criteria; (2) Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) implementation through regulatory and non-regulatory mechanisms; and (3) the relative efficacy of design-based standards such as Best Management Practices (BMPs) and performance-based standards in reducing water pollution from agriculture. The article will draw on experiences from the State of Florida, including Everglades' restoration …

Eating Invaders: Managing Biological Invasions With Fork And Knife?, Joshua Ulan Galperin, Sara Kuebbing

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

As the public, academy, government, and private sector all turn increased attention to food systems, new ideas constantly emerge for healthy, sustainable, and just innovations in growing, marketing, and eating food. “Invasivory” — eating invasive species — is one such idea. Biological invasions occur when humans transport an organism from its ecosystem of origin into a new ecosystem and that organism adapts to its new location, spreading widely from the site of introduction. Invasive species can cause significant ecological, economic, and public health damage. Crops, homes, and native species are all at risk. “Invasivores,” as the proponents of invasivory are …

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 Second Annual Environmental Law And Justice Symposium Issue, Randall S. Abate

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

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.

Corn, Carbon, And Conservation: Rethinking U.S. Agricultural Policy In A Changing Global Environment, Mary Jane Angelo

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article explores a range of issues related to both the regulatory and incentive-based federal programs that affect the crops we grow, the manner in which they are grown, and the human and environmental impacts of such programs. The Article evaluates the 2008 Farm Bill and describes how the policies contained in it influence virtually every aspect of agriculture, from the decision to grow certain crops, the amount of crops grown, the industrial manner. This Article focuses on one particular commodity, corn, which while ubiquitous and seemingly pedestrian, is perhaps one of the major environmental offenders, and for which the …

The Polluter Pays Principle In Canadian Agriculture, Marie-Ann Bowden

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Polluter Pays Principle In European Community And Its Impact On United Kingdom Farmers, Michael Cardwell

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Agriculture And The Environment: Three Myths, Three Themes, Three Directions, J.B. Ruhl

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Three very powerful and widely disseminated myths, what I call the Three Myths, have obscured the reality that agriculture is a leading source of environmental harm in our nation. Until we can divorce the dialogue on agri-environmental policy from these myths, the discussion of goals and policy instruments will remain mired.

Three Questions For Agriculture About The Environment, J.B. A. Ruhl

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This article is the third in my series studying agriculture and environmental law. It asks why agriculture has not evolved toward more environmentally responsible behavior and points to possible "green" solutions that will move agriculture into necessary transformations.

Information Based Regulation And International Trade In Genetically Modified Agricultural Products: An Evaluation Of The Cartagena Protocol On Biosafety, Michael P. Healy

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This Article considers the regulation of international trade in genetically modified agricultural products. Specifically, it addresses both products released into the environment as seeds and products intended for consumption as food. The first part of the Article describes the significance of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in modem agriculture, especially agriculture in the United States. This discussion summarizes the risks and potential benefits associated with the use of agricultural GMOs, especially the risks and benefits related to biodiversity. The Article then briefly describes the approaches to the regulation of these products adopted in the

Cartagena Protocol to the Convention on Biological …

Feedlots -- Rural America's Sewer, Marilyn Lee Nardo

Animal Law Review

Over one billion tons of animal waste is produced each year in the United States by animal feedlot operations (AFOs). In 1995 alone, 63.5 million gallons of manure spilled from AFOs. Manure spills poison rivers, lakes, and ponds, seep into groundwater, causing fishkills, human disease, and death. The United States Environmental Protection Agency, reports that AFOs are a primary factor in the impairment of forty percent of the nation's waterways. Despite these conditions, there are no federal standards for the storage, application, or management of animal waste. This Comment evaluates the existing regulation of AFOs under the Clean Water Act …

Animal Feedlot Regulation In Minnesota, Marcia R. Gelpe

Faculty Scholarship

Animal feedlots frequently are the subject of dispute between operators and surrounding landowners. In this Article, Professor Gelpe identifies the environmental problems created by animal feedlots and discusses the common-law remedies. In addition, Professor Gelpe provides valuable insights into the application and Interpretation of feedlot regulations recently enacted by Minnesota.