Environmental Law Commons^™

One Hundred Ninety-Nine Dead Birds: Review Of The Scientific Basis Of Ecological Incident Reporting Requirements For Pesticide Registrants Under Fifra § 6(A)(2), Nimish B. Vyas, Cynthia Palmer

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates pesticide use in the United States. The EPA is charged by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) with ensuring that a pesticide will not cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment. Incident reports (documentation of exposure and injury from pesticide applications) can serve as a reality check on the pesticide registration decisions made by the EPA scientists and risk managers. The EPA collects incident reports on human, domestic animal, and ecological injury. The FIFRA section 6(a)(2) rule requires the pesticide registrant (generally, the company or other entity that wishes to market …

Manatees In Hot Water: How The Florida Manatee Became Dependent On Power Plant Warm Water Outfalls, Michaela Morris

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

Each winter in Florida, thousands of manatees gather in the warm water outflows of power plants. These refuges play a crucial role for the Florida manatee: when ocean temperatures drop, manatees shelter at these artificial sources to survive. But in recent years, thousands of manatees wintering at the Florida Power & Light Company’s Cape Canaveral Clean Energy Center have died. The reason? Seagrass beds––a primary food source for manatees––are vanishing, killed off by pollution from agricultural, industrial, and residential sources.

This Article documents the historical, political, and regulatory conditions that led to manatees’ reliance on power plants. First, the political …

Greening Monetary Policy: To Expand Or Restrain? The Legal And Normative Implications Of The Federal Reserve Combating Climate Change, Jason D. D'Andrea

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

The U.S. Federal Reserve is increasingly at the center of political and scholarly debates concerning how to address climate change. This new pressure comes as other central banks have recently considered an array of regulatory, supervisory, and monetary policy tools to mitigate climate change. Yet, in contrast to some of its global counterparts, the Federal Reserve has been more tailored in its response.

The desire to proactively combat climate change with central bank tools has generated a spectrum of policy designs and legal wrangling. Focusing on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy mandate, this Article undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the …

Federal Common Law Stare Decisis And The Doctrine Of Equitable Apportionment, Eric P. Leis

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas erred in his concurrence to Gamble v. United States when he derived his “demonstrably erroneous” standard of stare decisis because he overlooked a significant portion of federal law: federal common law. In Gamble, Justice Thomas argued for a weak standard of stare decisis under which the Supreme Court would overrule any “demonstrably erroneous” precedent that is contrary to our written laws, regulations, and Constitution. This standard may be functional when applying positive law, but it simply cannot be maintained when confronted with matters of federal common law. Were Justice Thomas’ “demonstrably erroneous” standard …

Pesticide-Coated Seeds: How The Treated Articles Exemption Circumvents Regulation And Harms The Environment, Scott Hudson

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

Pesticide-coated seeds dominate the seed market for a wide range of crops, making them the primary means of delivering pesticides to many agricultural plants. Scientific research has revealed increasingly adverse effects from pesticide-coated seeds, including contamination of native plants, surface waters and groundwater, as well as causing the death of non-targeted insects and birds. Evidence also shows that pesticides from the seeds migrates to drinking water supplies and potentially imperils human health. Yet pesticide-coated seeds are not regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency due to a little-known exemption called the Treated Articles Exemption. This Article argues that EPA’s …

Sovereign Immunity & Punitive Fines Under The Clean Air Act: Common-Sense Statutory Interpretation & Clean Policy, Emily C. Thompson

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

How Existing Securities Law Authorizes The Sec To Mandate And Regulate Sustainability Reporting, Kenya Rothstein

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Adirondack Land Use Under The “Forever Wild” Clause After Protect!, Todd Thomas

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Comparing Colonial Water Legacies: Flow And Stagnation In Legal Development, Erum Sattar

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Role Of International Law In The Food–Energy–Water Nexus, Waseem Ahmad Qureshi

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

The current relationship of water, food, and energy is deeply entangled as it functions within different sectors, such as industry and agriculture, the latter of which water is essential for irrigating crops. Similarly, adequate water storage facilities are also required for hydroelectricity generation. Moreover, in many regions, electrical energy is used to operate tube wells for extracting groundwater to irrigate crops for food. Within the intricate nature of the mutual relationship of water, energy, and food, each plays its role in ensuring the security of the others. For instance, both energy security and food security are dependent upon water security, …

Lake Erie Bill Of Rights Struck Down: Why The Rights Of Nature Movement Is A Nonviable Legislative Strategy For Municipalities Plagued By Pollution, Kathleen M. Mannard

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Muddying The Waters: The Need For More Clarity Under The Clean Water Act, Georgia D. Reid

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

One Man’S Trash: Constitutional Principles Of Federalism And Privacy Implicated In San Francisco’S Mandatory Recycling Ordinance And Future Similar Legislation, J. Tyler Smith

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Coal Shines A Light On The Need For A Just Energy Transition In The United States, Patrick R. Baker, Blake Tims

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Governor Northam’S Executive Order 43: One Stone And Two Birds For Virginia Energy Policy, Antonia M. Douglas

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Climate Change And Causation: Joining Law And Climate Science On The Basis Of Formal Logic, Petra Minnerop, Friederike Otto

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Practical Alternatives To The Rule Of Joint And Several Liability: Regulatory Negligence As A Case Study, Boaz Segal

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

New York’S Clean Energy Standard: Can Renewable Energy Development Revitalize Upstate New York’S Dying Economy?, Kelsey L. Hanson

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Earth Democracy: Sustainability, Justice And Peace, Vandana Shiva

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Environmentalism Isn’T New: Lessons From Indigenous Law, Joseph Kowalski

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

The much-overlooked laws and lifeways of Indigenous people show that concepts of environmental sustainability have long been a part of the human tradition. By studying the Indigenous jurisprudence of societies that maintained these traditions into the modern era, much can be learned. Rather than making laws in regards to the land, the land itself was the source of the law, for the environmental laws were built around a relationship with the land.

Through most of human history, the western world had a similar relationship. However, the Holy Roman Empire’s interpretation of Biblical scripture, which at that time was law, forever …

Condemn(The)Nation: Holding The United States Accountable Through Inverse Condemnation Claims For Its Role In Bringing About- And Then Failing To Mitigate And Adapt To Certain Effects Of- Climate Change, Joseph Rosenberg

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Reconceptualizing Entrenched Notions Of Common Law Property Regimes: Maori Self-Determination And Environmental Protection Through Legal Personality For Natural Objects, Bridget Williams

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Dethroning State Security: Introducing A Human Security Perspective To Absorb The Dangers Of Climate Change To The Self-Determination Of Island State Inhabitants, Anemoone Soete

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

One unmistakable and indisputable consequence of Climate Change is found in the realm of oceans. Sea-levels are currently rising at a pace unknown to mankind and as a consequence island states are destined to lose habitable land territory. Whereas some may lose parts, others will lose all of it in the current business as usual scenario. This reality first begs the question as to whether an island state will continue to be a state once bereft of a territorial basis. Secondly, it must be considered how islanders might retain legal personality should this is no longer be possible through the …

The Climate Justice Movement In Western New York, Sam Magavern, Lynda Schneekloth

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

To Kill A Migratory Bird: How Incidental Takes By Commercial Industry Activity Should Be Regulated By A New Civil Penalty Regime, Not The Current Mbta, Brittany E. Barbee

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

Migratory birds are at odds with commercial industries in the United States. Industries are occasionally and accidentally killing migratory birds through their legal activity. Such actions against migratory birds are known as incidental takes. While the century-old Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) prohibits the taking of migratory birds, it is unclear as to whether it prohibits these modern-day incidental takes. The MBTA imposes criminal strict liability on those who violate its prohibitions, regardless of one's mental state at the time of the incident. Should the federal government hold commercial industries criminally liable for incidentally taking migratory birds through otherwise legal …

Policy Meltdown: How Climate Change Is Driving Excessive Nuclear Energy Investment, Ashley Hardy, Dontan Hart

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

The United States is currently experiencing what some have labeled a nuclear energy renaissance. This so-called renaissance responds in part to growing concerns about global warming and the need to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with electricity production. A growing number of policymakers and scholars view nuclear energy development as one of the most promising means of slowing climate change because nuclear energy does not produce greenhouse gas emissions. They are increasingly advocating that nuclear energy receive policy treatment at least as favorable as that afforded to renewable energy strategies such as wind and solar energy. Some state governments …

Defenders Of Wildlife V. Jewell: Environmentalists Win The Latest Battle In The Fight Over Gray Wolves, But Who Will Win The War?, Rachel Kenigsberg

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

It's Not Just The Effort That Counts: Conservation Endangerment For At-Risk Species, Robert T. Caccese

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

The listing determination factors nestled within Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act can be best described as the controversial heart and soul of the statute. Federal courts, charged with reviewing listing determinations, need specific criteria to provide better consistency and clarityfor the arbitrary and capricious judicial review standard In its current state, the standard has not been stated with any particularity, leaving adequacy to be based upon case-specific analysis by various federal judges regarding listing decisions of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Most crucial are contexts pertaining to conservation effort reliance. Federal agencies' increased reliance on agreements and …

Evaluating Hydraulic Fracturing Regulation Under A Theory Of Strict Liability, Michael R. Lieberman

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Regulation Of Greenhouse Gases And Other Air Pollutants In The First Obama Administration And Major Air Issues For The Second Term, Patricia Ross Mccubbin

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.