Disaster Law Commons^™

Climate Change Impacts On Municipal Negligence Liability In Rhode Island, Manta Dircks

Sea Grant Law Fellow Publications

No abstract provided.

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Litigation: Proof Of Concept For The Manual For Complex Litigation And The 2015 Amendments To The Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure, John C. Cruden, Steve O'Rourke, Sarah D. Himmelhoch

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

On April 20, 2010, the oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven people and injuring seventeen more. Efforts to stop the spill failed. For the next eighty-seven days, hundreds of millions of barrels of oil poured into the Gulf. This catastrophe not only changed the lives of the families of the dead and injured and the communities who experienced the economic and social disruption of the spill – it challenged the survival of the ecosystem of the ninth largest water body in the world. The oil spill extended fifty miles offshore from Louisiana in the …

Weather Modification: A Modest Proposal, Lawrence A. Weirs

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Proactive Natural Disaster Recovery And Resilience In The Northeast: Should Governments Exercise Buyout Programs And, If Necessary, Eminent Domain, To Prevent Disaster?, Stellina Napolitano

Pace Environmental Law Review

In light of the devastation left behind by the three most recent natural disasters in the northeast region—Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, and Superstorm Sandy—local and state governments are now implementing “buyout programs” in order to protect the future of beachfront and flood-prone communities. These programs may not be a perfect solution, so, while positions differ on whether to pursue taking private properties by use of eminent domain, it may be a favorable option in order to attain the ultimate goal of safety and resilience against future disaster. Section II of this paper will analyze the background and impacts that …

Flint Drinking Water Contamination: Frames Of Reference, Clifford J. Villa

Faculty Scholarship

Presentation given at Harvard Law School on Flint, Michigan, lead toxicity and what we can do as a matter of law.

Lessons For New York: Comparative Urban Governance And The Challenge Of Climate Change, Andrea Mcardle

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Submerging Islands: Tuvalu And Kiribati As Case Studies Illustrating The Need For A Climate Refugee Treaty, Rana Balesh

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Climate change will significantly impact vulnerable populations. Included in those populations are island indigenous peoples. Small island developing states are particularly vulnerable to the rise in seal level. Loss of territory due to rising sea levels is not the only problem however, infrastructure and food supplies are also at risk. As such, this article addresses the need for a comprehensive climate change refugee treaty using Tuvalu and Kiribati's circumstances to illustrate the situation.

Droughts, Floods, And Wildfires: Paleo Perspectives On Disaster Law In The Anthropocene, Ryan Stoa

Faculty Publications

Humanity’s impact on the earth has become so pronounced that momentum is building toward adopting a new term for the modern geological age — the “Anthropocene.” The term signifies that human activity has reached a scale that it is now a planetary force capable of shaping ecosystems and natural processes. And yet, anthropocentric natural resources management and environmental lawmaking in the United States reveals a lack of control in managing natural systems and fostering resilience to extreme events. These systems do not easily conform to the whims of reactionary environmental policies. Droughts, floods, and wildfires, in particular, are often conceptualized …

What To Do With America's Nuclear Defense Waste: The Hanford Effect, Joseph A. Cohen

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Climate Change Adaptation And Land Use: Exploring The Federal Role, 47 J. Marshall L. Rev. 509 (2013), Alice Kaswan

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

After The Spill Is Gone: The Gulf Of Mexico, Environmental Crime, And Criminal Law, David M. Uhlmann

Articles

The Gulf oil spill was the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, and will be the most significant criminal case ever prosecuted under U.S. environmental laws. The Justice Department is likely to prosecute BP, Transocean, and Halliburton for criminal violations of the Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which will result in the largest fines ever imposed in the United States for any form of corporate crime. The Justice Department also may decide to pursue charges for manslaughter, false statements, and obstruction of justice. The prosecution will shape public perceptions about environmental crime, for reasons that are …

Crimes On The Gulf, David M. Uhlmann

Articles

The explosion that rocked the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20, 2010, killed 11 workers and triggered the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. After six weeks of failed efforts to stop the gushing oil and protect the fragile ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico and the communities along its shores, President Obama pledged on June 1 that “if our laws were broken . . . we will bring those responsible to justice.”

Returning To New Orleans: Reflections On The Post-Katrina Recovery, Disaster Relief, And The Struggle For Social Justice, Susan L. Waysdorf

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Tale Of Two Cities: Lessons Learned From New Orleans To The District Of Columbia For The Protection Of Vulnerable Populations From The Consequences Of Disaster, Laurie A. Morin

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Like Paris before the French Revolution, New Orleans is a city of extremes. Visitors from around the world visit "the Big Easy" to sip chicory coffee and eat beignets in the French Quarter, listen to some of the country's best music at the jazz festival, and join one of the world's most famous parties during Mardi Gras. When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in August 2005, it exposed the soft underbelly of New Orleans-the other side of the city where thousands of people, mostly African Americans, live in pockets of concentrated poverty unable to escape the consequences of decades of …

Letter From The Editor-In-Chief, John Brian White

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Disaster Mitigation Through Land Use Strategies, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The persistent question this book raises is who should decide whether and how to mitigate the damages caused by natural disasters. Our understandable preoccupation with response, recovery, and rebuilding makes it hard to focus on this question as a central, even relevant, one. But it persists, nonetheless. The high-profile “blame game” played following Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of the Gulf Coast is emblematic. In pointing fingers first at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), then at the city of New Orleans, and then at the state of Louisiana, public officials exhibited an appalling lack of understanding of the roles that each …

Disasters First: Rethinking Environmental Law After September 11, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

Many environmental statutes were enacted, or at least spurred along, in direct response to disasters. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 followed from the Santa Barbara Oil Spill; the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) resulted from the chemical gas disaster in Bhopal, India; the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) was sparked by the Love Canal incident; and the Oil Pollution Acte was a reaction to the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have led to the Homeland Security Act and to several other enactments. The collapse of the …

Prescriptive Treaties In Global Warming: Applying The Factors Leading To The Montreal Protocol, Jasmine Abdel-Khalik

Michigan Journal of International Law

In order to combat the ever-increasing problem of global warming, developing nations need technology that will limit emissions while allowing for economic growth. This paper will first examine the problem of global warming. In Part II, the paper will explore the reasons developing nations currently are unable to reduce their emissions. In Part III, the paper will look at the factors leading to the success of the Montreal Protocol and examine the global warming debate in light of these factors.

Racing The Rising Tide: Legal Options For The Marshall Islands, J. Chris Larson

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note first describes the threat posed by accelerated sea-level rise. A review of scientific data shows that global warming causes ocean levels to rise and that RMI may need to be evacuated. The current diplomatic efforts to decrease global warming offer few assurances to RMI. In fact, the countries that have obligated themselves to reduce global warming are actually increasing emissions of gases that cause global warming.

The Transboundary Movement Of Hazardous Waste A Comparative Analysis, Els Reynaers

LLM Theses and Essays

An analysis of the transboundary movement of hazardous waste requires a comparative examination of three main regulatory entities. First, the international Basel Convention on the Control of the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal will be covered. More particularly, an inquiry of its raison d'etre, will be followed by a critical examination of its goals and mechanisms. The relationship the United States has with the Convention and its national approach towards the export of hazardous waste will be covered next. A brief investigation of the real situation impacts of the Basel Convention will finalize this chapter. The second …

"Green Helmets": A Conceptual Framework For Security Council Authority In Environmental Emergencies, Linda A. Malone

Michigan Journal of International Law

Although 1995 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the birth of the United Nations, the year also marks the fifth anniversary of a newly revitalized Security Council. In this period of five years, scholarly debate on the Security Council has shifted from what it might do if it could act to what substantive limits, if any, exist on the Security Council's authority to act under the Charter. The legitimacy of the Security Council's authority under the Charter arises both in its initial determination of when it can act and in its determination of the appropriate scope of its actions once it …

Mapping--The Missing Link In Reducing Risk Under Sara Iii, Ute J. Dymon

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Dr. Dymon explains how maps can, e.g., hasten effective community responses to natural and artificial hazards and laments widespread failure to prepare and use hazard maps more extensively.

Multidisciplinary Perspectives On The Improvement Of International Environmental Law And Institutions, Linda C. Reif

Michigan Journal of International Law

Review of Environmental Change and International Law: New Challenges and Dimensions (Edith Brown Weiss ed.), Institutions for the Earth: Sources of Effective International Environmental Protection (Peter M. Haas, Robert O. Keohane, & Marc A. Levy eds.), and The Uncertain Promise of Law: Lessons from Bhopal. by Jamie Cassels

The Role Of Risk Analysis In The 1992 Framework Convention On Climate Change, Martin J. Lalonde

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note examines the role that risk analysis played in fashioning the Framework Convention on Climate Change and argues that risk analysis should play a significant part in implementing the Convention.

Stratospheric Ozone Depletion: A Challenge For International Environmental Law And Policy, Ved P. Nanda

Michigan Journal of International Law

The first part of the article addresses the phenomenon of stratospheric ozone depletion, noting significant recent developments, and discussing their ramifications. This is followed by an inquiry into pertinent international and U.S. responses to ozone depletion. Recent developments in international environmental law provide an appropriate context for this inquiry. The adequacy of these responses is assessed in the next section. Recommendations follow in the concluding section.