Environmental Law Commons^™

Osha After Ten Years: A Review And Some Proposed Reforms, Mark A. Rothstein

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Article reviews the first ten years of rulemaking, enforcement, and adjudication under the Act. The Article identifies various problem areas that have developed in these activities and for each area discusses whether past and present efforts to meet the problems have been adequate. In light of the Act's troubled history, the Article suggests several amendments to the Act, as well as administrative reforms, to facilitate the Act's implementation. The Article does not, however, attempt to address all of the myriad legal and policy issues or all of the Act's provisions that would benefit from congressional redrafting. Instead, the Article …

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion: The Codification Of A Potential Technology, Maureen O`C. Walker, Murray A. Bloom

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Rapid technological advancement has been the hallmark of post-industrial societies for more than a quarter of a century. This progress is forever disrupting our established legal systems. Nowhere is this tension more evident than in the discoveries of the developing energy industry. An exception to this process is the infant industry of ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC). The United States Congress recently enacted legislation establishing the legal framework for the OTEC process, which has not yet been proven on a commercial scale.

OTEC is a form of solar energy that takes advantage of the vertical temperature differentials in those regions …

The Role Of Unilateral State Action In Preventing International Environmental Injury, Richard B. Bilder

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This discussion suggests that unilateral state action to prevent international environmental injury is likely to play an important and continuing role in efforts to deal with international environmental problems. It also suggests the futility of attempting to characterize unilateral action as inherently either desirable or undesirable. While multilateral actions seem generally preferable to unilateral action, effective multilateral arrangement in many cases may not be practically attainable. Unilateral action may be the only feasible alternative to inaction. Under these circumstances, a respectable argument can be made for the propriety of unilateral action on at least an interim basis pending achievement of …

Acid Precipitation In North America: The Case For Transboundary Cooperation, Douglas M. Johnston, Peter Finkle

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Long-range air pollution has emerged as a serious environmental problem in Europe and North America since the early 1950s. The most critical aspect of this problem is the movement over very long distances of airborne pollutants which eventually are deposited in harmful acid compounds. These pollutants originate in a multiplicity of stationary and mobile emission sources. Because the original pollutants undergo chemical changes during the atmospheric transport, the pollutants which ultimately cause damage are chemically different from the original emissions. Moreover, the pollutants, which are usually deposited in the form of rain or snow, cause harm only in special physical …

Land Trusts: An Alternative Method Of Preserving Open Space, Randee G. Fenner

Vanderbilt Law Review

In an effort to provide the background necessary to maximize the land trust's potential, this Article undertakes a three-part analysis, focusing on (1) the steps necessary to organize the land trust; (2) the techniques that may be used to accomplish the transfer of property to the land trust; and (3) the tax consequences associated with the land trust's conservation activities-consequences that may dictate the form that the transfer will take and upon which the success or failure of the preservation effort may hinge.

Book Reviews, Robert Belton, Dr. Nasrollah S. Fatemi, Ann L. Hollick

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Book Reviews ================

Equal Employment Policy for Women: Strategies for Implementation in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe

Ronnie Steinberg Ratner, ed.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press. Pp. xxii, 520

Reviewed by Robert Belton

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The Host State of Transnational Corporations

Juha Kuusi

England: Saxon House. 1978. Pp. 117. $25.25

Reviewed by Dr. Nasrollah S. Fatemi

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The Enclosure of Ocean Resources: Economics and the Law of the Sea

Ross D. Eckert

Stanford: Hoover Institution. 1979.Pp. xvi, 390. $16.95

Reviewed by Ann L. Hollick

The Extraterritorial Application Of Nepa Under Executive Order 12,114, Sue D. Sheridan

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

On January 5, 1977, President Carter issued Executive Order No. 12,1142 (Executive Order) describing the scope of United States federal agencies' obligations to consider the environmental consequences of proposed agency actions abroad. In so doing, Carter purported to establish the sole legal authority governing agency response to the concern for the global environment. Moreover, the Executive Order was intended to resolve a heated debate over the extraterritorial applicability of the National Environmental Policy Act [NEPA] which had concerned federal agencies, courts, Congress, and the Executive Branch during three successive administrations.

The controversy focused on whether NEPA's requirement that an environmental …

The Negative Commerce Clause And State Environmental Legislation-Externalities Suggest Application Of The Tax Standard To Environmental Regulations, Douglas K. Stewart

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Note advocates judicial application of this tax analysis not only to tax environmental legislation, but also to regulatory environmental legislation. The theoretical justification for this thesis is provided by the economic concept of externalities. Externalities are elements used in the production of a marketed item without cost to the producer, but at a cost to others. The term "externality"stems from the fact that the use of the element of production is not included in the market price of the item. Undesirable environmental impact has been recognized as an externality -- a cost to those people adversely affected by it …

The Toxic Substances Control Act: A Regulatory Morass, Kevin Gaynor

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA or the Act),' which was signed into law in October of 1976, originated in a 1971 report by the Council of Environment Quality (CEQ). The CEQ report reviewed the problems presented by toxic chemicals and concluded...

that existing regulation was fragmented and inadequate. The report pointed out the need for authority requiring the testing of chemicals to determine their health and environmental effects, restricting the use and distribution of some chemicals when necessary to protect human health and the environment, and providing for development of adequate data on the environmental and health effects of …

Recent Cases, Cornelia H. Boozman, R. Preston Bolt, Jr., Kenneth L. Stewart

Vanderbilt Law Review

Administrative Law--Ripeness--Agency Head's Informal Opinion Letters Held Unripe for Review When No Substantial Hardship Placed on Parties

Cornelia H. Boozman

The basic premise of the ripeness doctrine is that judicial machinery should operate only on concrete problems that are present or imminent, not on problems that are abstract, hypothetical,or remote... The Supreme Court articulated a more definitive standard for determining ripeness in "Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner." Espousing what it considered to be the basic rationale of the ripeness doctrine, avoidance of premature adjudication of discretionary administrative policies, the Court established a procedure for evaluating the ripeness issue in challenges to …

Judicial Policy-Making And Information Flow To The Supreme Court, Charles M. Lamb

Vanderbilt Law Review

This article is intended as an exploratory step toward filling the gap in the literature by synthesizing the fragmentary knowledge relating to judicial information flow. It attempts to advance the dialogue initiated by Professors Miller and Barron by providing a number of components necessary for an adequate model; it seeks also to suggest additional considerations necessary for a more useful model and thus for a continuing systematic inquiry into the information flow process. Results of the Miller-Barron article supply the background for the work reported here. Times, Roe, and Doe and the Miller-Barron findings are considered in the first two …

Footnote To The Nuclear Test Cases: Abuse Of Right--A Blind Alley For Environmentalists, Jerome B. Elkind

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In a recent article entitled "French Nuclear Tests and Article 41: Another Blow to the Authority of the Court," the author questioned the approach of the learned Judges of the International Court of Justice to article 41 of the Court's Statute. The title of that article was intended to deplore the recent tendency of States (most particularly France, but also Iceland) who are parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice to arrogate to themselves the right to determine whether the Court has jurisdiction...

The judgment of December 20, 1974 is but one more example of the extremes …

Recent Developments--Recent Decisions, Philip B. Barr, Jr., Michael Stukenberg

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

All nations recognize the enormous problem of marine pollution. The sources of marine pollution are definable, and there are methods by which these sources may be restricted. Virtually all mankind would prefer less pollution to more. Prevention, however, becomes less attractive in light of its costs, which assume both political and economic characteristics. Varying political and economic climates coupled with problems of sovereignty and national self-interest render agreement on the imposition of standards difficult. This Recent Development will chart past and present efforts at the preservation of the marine environment, consider the issues confronting the United Nations Third Conference on …

Book Reviews, Richard A. Frank

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

THE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF POLLUTION

By James Barros and Douglas Johnston

New York: Free Press, 1974. Pp. xvii, 476. $12.95.

Richard A. Frank

Book Reviews, Garrett Power, Joseph M. Boyd, Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Environmental Law Reporter in the Classroom

The Environmental Law Reporter' is a cumulative monthly loose-leaf service devoted chiefly to the environmental issues confronting private attorneys, governmental officials, and teachers. During the fall semester of 1971, the Reporter was employed as a text for the University of Maryland's basic course in environmental law. This review will attempt to measure its potential as a teaching tool.

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Guidebook for Litigation

The common law is still the most useful and flexible weapon in the arsenal of those who care enough about the quality of our environment to do something about it. This …

The Tennessee Water Quality Control Act Of 1971: A Significant New Environmental Statute, Julian C. Juergensmeyer

Vanderbilt Law Review

Tennessee's new Water Quality Control Act' is one of the most significant pieces of environmental legislation to be produced in recent years. It is destined not only to revamp water pollution control in Tennessee but also to serve as a model for legislation in other states. The Act and commentary written by its drafter, Professor Frank E. Maloney, are printed following this article. Consequently, no attempt will be made to summarize the entire Act or to provide a detailed guide for its use. The purpose of this introductory article is to examine the salient, often innovative, features of the Act …

The Tennessee Water Quality Control Act Of 1971, Frank E. Maloney

Vanderbilt Law Review

The text of the Act and commentary that follows is the product of a larger study undertaken by Professor Maloney at the request of the 87th General Assembly of the State of Tennessee. This study was the subject of a seminar on environmental protection at the Vanderbilt University School of Law. Four of the participating students--Elbert E. Edwards, III, Thomas H. Graham, Robert D. McCutcheon, and Paul L. Sloan--drafted the proposed statute and commentary under Professor Maloney's supervision with the research assistance of the other members of the class. For many sections of the statute, the drafters drew heavily from …

Judicial Protection Of The Environment: A New Role For Common-Law Remedies, Frank E. Maloney

Vanderbilt Law Review

There is a tendency today to look to the legislatures to provide the cure for all environmental maladies,' and to overlook or underrate the potential of common-law remedies to assist in the proper solution of these problems. Although it is undoubtedly true that in some jurisdictions the common-law remedies have been interpreted so restrictively as to make them practically useless as tools for environmental protection, a number of forward-looking courts are developing and applying the law in a way much more favorable to the environment. Other courts that have remained uncommitted may be in a position to follow current trends …

The Delaney Anticancer Clause: A Model Environmental Protection Law, James S. Turner

Vanderbilt Law Review

In October 1969, the artificial sweetener cyclamate was banned from sale in the United States by Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Robert Finch. To justify his action legally Finch chose to rely'on the so-called Delaney Anticancer Clause of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938. Consequently, the Delaney Clause, with its requirement that any substance producing cancer in animals be removed from the American food supply, became an immediate center of controversy. The Secretary himself criticized the Clause as an undue restriction on administrative decision making and as an unscientific limitation on scientific discretion.

Population Control: Multidimensional Task, Joseph J. Spengler

Vanderbilt Law Review

For several thousand years two demographic problems have periodically dogged man, population explosion and population implosion or, in less rhetorical terminology, too many people and too many people concentrated at points in space. The ineffectiveness of the solutions proposed for each of these problems has demonstrated that man's propensity for "progress" has continued to swamp his capacity to adapt to the changes he has produced. In sum, man remains confronted with the need to achieve balance between the costs of change and the costs of arresting change. Attempts at solving population problems are conditioned by the means believed available, by …

Coastal Zoning, James H. Ewalt, Robert H. Deaderick

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In today's atmosphere of environmental awareness, protection of the coastal wetlands seems appropriate for many reasons. The wetlands include much of the most aesthetically pleasing areas in the United States, while also being a source of recreation and enjoyment. Man has long had an economic interest in the valuable natural resources, minerals and fish which the wetlands yield. The result is a conglomerate of conflicting demands upon the wetlands. The situation begs for definition and control of these interests so that the full potential of the coast can be realized.

Zoning has often been suggested as a means to protect …

On Dissent, Violence, And The Intellectual, Page Keeton

Vanderbilt Law Review

If I have properly assessed the meaning of Dean Forrester's comments, he stated that: (1) America is now in the midst of an attempted revolution, an attempt to create a new society by force and violence; (2) war, race relations, poverty, environment, and the other festers in our society, while great problems, are not the real causes of the discontent; (3) the attempted revolution is the product of a generation of university teaching and writing which has created the intellectual atmosphere and the state of mind that sustain the conflict. I respectfully dissent while recognizing at the same time the …

Jurisdiction--Territorial Waters--Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, Gilbert T. Davis

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

On June 17, 1970, Canada passed the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act which asserts jurisdiction over Arctic waters 100 miles off her coasts for the purpose of pollution prevention regulation. The Act proscribes any discharge of waste into Arctic waters, and prohibits navigation in certain "shipping safety control zones" in Arctic waters unless regulations pertaining to structural, equipment, navigational aid, cargo, and personnel qualification standards are met. Given the conflict between the traditional freedom of the seas and the seriousness of the ocean pollution problem, the Canadian action is likely to provoke much controversy.

Artificial Islands Constructed On United States Continental Shelf Denied Status Of Independent Sovereignty, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The United States brought injunction and trespass claims in the federal district court against three private persons to prevent the unauthorized construction of artificial islands atop several submerged coral reefs located about four and one-half miles off the southeast coast of Florida. These reefs were composed of the skeletal remains of coral organisms and lay at a depth of 600 feet. The reefs continued to grow laterally, but had reached their maximum height and were completely submerged at all times except at low tide when their highest projections were momentarily visible. The reef area, which harbored countless varieties of marine …

Weather Modification Legislation -- A Survey, T. E. Watts Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

Mark Twain's oft-quoted assertion that "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it" was first disputed by reputable scientists during the mid-forties, when General Electric Corporation, in conjunction with the Armed Forces, began serious attempts at weather modification by "seeding" cumulus cloud formations with solidified carbon dioxide or "dry ice."' Now, after a decade of experimentation, scientists still cannot agree on the effectiveness of major weather modification attempts. However, it is generally conceded that under certain atmospheric conditions, precipitation can be artificially induced with a relatively high degree of success and accuracy in a given local area, …

Air Pollution: Its Control And Abatement, Harold W. Kennedy, Andrew O. Porter

Vanderbilt Law Review

The law has been concerned with air pollution for centuries. Smoke and fumes were considered a nuisance at common law, but not a nuisance per se. Thus, each case stood on its own facts. Very early in our history special statutes were enacted to give more adequate protection from air contaminants. As early as 1306 the use of "sea-coal" (as distinguished from charcoal) was forbidden on penalty of death. Queen Elizabeth is said to have forbade the burning of coal in London during sessions of Parliament. In 1661 John Evelyn wrote a book on air pollution; his plan was to …