Environmental Law Commons^™

Annexure To Scientific Review Report, J D. Rossouw, M Musariri

Policy

Contained in the main Scientific Review report is a summary of the recommendations regarding the existing surface and groundwater monitoring sites for all the Water Management Areas (WMAs) following the nine Regional Network Design Workshops held in Nelspruit, Cape Town, Durban, King Williams Town, Bela-Bela and Bloemfontein from March to June 2016. During these workshops theoretical monitoring network considerations for each WMA were presented to various stakeholders, and the considerations were used to review the existing networks and obtain changes and improvements to the networks as recommendations. The main objectives of the workshops were to review the existing monitoring networks …

Shhh: Eighth Circuit Puts Conservationists Intervenor To Bed In Quiet Title Action In North Dakota Ex Rel. Stenehjem V. United States, Matthew K. Arnold

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Michigan V. Epa: Money Matters When Deciding Whether To Regulate Power Plants, Ruby Khallouf

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Rio’S 2016 Olympic Golf Course: City’S Last Remaining Ecosystems Left “In The Rough”, Charles Vercillo

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

The sport of golf returned as an official event at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro following a prolonged absence from the Games. To accommodate golf’s return, the city of Rio endorsed the construction of the Olympic golf course on land adjoining the Marapendi lagoon—land historically known to be ecologically valuable and environmentally protected. With the Games rapidly approaching, the city quickly passed complementary Law 125, stripping this land of its environmental protection, and instead authorizing a golf course as a sustainable use of the land.

Local environmentalists have challenged the legislation and the city’s decision, arguing …

Regional Framework For Coastal Resilience In Southern Connecticut: Legal, Policy, And Regulatory Assessment, Marine Affairs Institute (Mai), Roger Williams University School Of Law

Sea Grant Law Fellow Publications

No abstract provided.

Making The Most Of El Nino: Stormwater Collection And Rainwater Harvesting As Potential Solutions To Water Shortages In Southern California, Benjamin A. Harris

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

There's Something In The Water: The Ehb Disregards Its Mandate And Disrespects Contract Law In Robinson Coal Company V. Department Of Environmental Protection, Ryan P. Duffy

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Sorry, Access Denied: Department Of Environmental Protection V. Delaware Riverkeeper Network And The Relationship Between The Public's Right To Know And An Agency's Right To Conceal, Aya D. Samra

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Cracks' In The Court's Analysis? Court Strikes Balancing Act Between Citizens' Constitutional Rights And Government's Exploitation Of Natural Gas Reserves In Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation V. Commonwealth, Gabriella T. Soreth

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Oneok, Inc. V. Learjet, Inc.: The Supreme Court Narrows The Preemptive Scope Of The Natural Gas Act And Extracts A Win For State Courts, Alexander D. Torres

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Casenote Update: The Supreme Court Restricts Plaintiff Options For Climate Change Litigation In American Electric Power Co. V. Connecticut, Matthew R. Weiss

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Reaching For Environmental And Economic Harmony: Can Ttip Negotiations Bridge The U.S.-Eu Chemical Regulatory Gap?, Ashley Henson

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Water, Water Everywhere, But Just How Much Is Clean?: Examining Water Quality Restoration Efforts Under The United States Clean Water Act And The United States-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, Jill T. Hauserman

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Providing For Environmental Safeguards In The Development Loans Given By The World Bank Group To The Developing Countries, John W. Kindt

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Concept Of Compensation In The Field Of Trade And Environment, Shadia Schneider-Sawiris

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice And Community-Based Reparations, Catherine Millas Kaiman

Seattle University Law Review

This Article seeks to illuminate the lack of adequate legal remedies that are available for low-income, predominantly minority communities that have suffered historic environmental injustices. The Article not only discusses the lack of adequate legal remedies, but also proposes the use of local, state, and federal reparations programs for communities that have previously suffered environmental injustices; are still living with the effects of environmental injustices, by way of disease, air, soil, and water pollution; or are suffering current and ongoing environmental injustices. As has been recently illustrated by Michigan’s state action of providing lead-contaminated water for over a year to …

Laudato Si’ And Care For Our Common Home: What Does It Mean For The Legal Professional?, Lucia A. Silecchia

Seattle Journal of Environmental Law

No abstract provided.

Article Iii Standing For Private Plaintiffs Challenging Greenhouse Gas Regulations, Bradford C. Mank

San Diego Law Review

An important unresolved question is whether non-state plaintiffs have standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution to sue in federal courts in climate change cases. In Massachusetts v. EPA, the Supreme Court held a state government could sue the U.S. government to address climate change issues, and suggested, but did not decide, that private litigants might have lesser rights than states. In Washington Environmental Council v. Bellon, the Ninth Circuit held that private groups did not have standing to challenge Washington State’s failure to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from five oil refineries, and implied that private plaintiffs may …

Ocean Acidification And The Unfccc: Finding Legal Clarity In The Twilight Zone, Ellycia R. Harrould-Kolieb

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Ocean acidification—the rise in ocean acidity due primarily to the absorption of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere—is often thought of as a consequence of climate change; however, it is a separate, albeit very closely related, problem. Despite their common driver, the processes and impacts of ocean acidification and climate change are distinct and it should not be assumed that policies intended to alleviate climate change will simultaneously benefit the oceans. Indeed, some proposed climate change policy interventions, such as geoengineering schemes or the reduction of non-CO₂ greenhouse gases, either do nothing to alleviate increasing ocean acidification …

Continuing To Lead: Washington State's Efforts To Address Ocean Acidification, Amanda M. Carr

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The world’s oceans have become approximately thirty percent more acidic since the Industrial Revolution and are currently acidifying at a rate ten times faster than anything the earth has experienced over the last fifty million years. Washington State is undertaking a groundbreaking effort to address ocean acidification, a global issue that has serious implications for the world’s oceans, marine ecosystems, and the individuals and communities that depend upon the services that they provide. These localized actions, in isolation, will be insufficient to effectively combat and adapt to the acidification of marine waters. While acknowledging this generally accepted premise, Washington has …

Environmental Law, Travis M. Trimble

Mercer Law Review

In 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided novel issues in two cases under the Clean Water Act (CWA). In Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Inc. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the court held remand of a Corps of Engineers permitting decision for reconsideration without also vacating the permit is a remedy within the court's discretion and was appropriate under the circumstances. In Riverkeeper v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the court held appellate review of a non-final response by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to a petition to withdraw Alabama's authority to administer the …

Ocean Acidification Through The Lens Of Ecological Theory, Brian Gaylord Et Al.

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Ocean acidification, chemical changes to the carbonate system of seawater, is emerging as a key environmental challenge accompanying global warming and other human-induced perturbations. Considerable research seeks to define the scope and character of potential outcomes from this phenomenon, but a crucial impediment persists. Ecological theory, despite its power and utility, has been only peripherally applied to the problem. Here we sketch in broad strokes several areas where fundamental principles of ecology have the capacity to generate insight into ocean acidification’s consequences. We focus on conceptual models that, when considered in the context of acidification, yield explicit predictions regarding a …

Ocean Acidification: The Other Co2 Problem?, Scott C. Doney, Victoria J. Fabry, Richard A. Feely, Joan A. Kleypas

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂), primarily from human fossil fuel combustion, reduces ocean pH and causes wholesale shifts in seawater carbonate chemistry. The process of ocean acidification is well documented in field data, and the rate will accelerate over this century unless future CO₂ emissions are curbed dramatically. Acidification alters seawater chemical speciation and biogeochemical cycles of many elements and compounds. One well-known effect is the lowering of calcium carbonate saturation states, which impacts shell-forming marine organisms from plankton to benthic molluscs, echinoderms, and corals. Many calcifying species exhibit reduced calcification and growth rates in laboratory experiments …

Ocean Acidification: Legal And Policy Responses To Address Climate Change's Evil Twin, Eric V. Hull

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Much attention has been devoted to the problem of global climate change, but the effects of carbon dioxide on the world’s oceans has been largely underappreciated. Oceanic absorption of carbon dioxide is working fundamental changes on ocean chemistry, increasing the acidity of the oceans, and threatening the stability of the oceans’ ecosystems. The United States has responded to these emergent threats with a policy agenda heavily oriented toward data production, but light on action that might reverse the course of ocean acidification. This Article contends that this policy approach is ill-suited to the known risks of intensifying ocean acidification. The …

Federal Treaty And Trust Obligations, And Ocean Acidification, Robert T. Anderson

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Ocean acidification will have profound effects on the entire human population and natural resources that depend in any way upon Earth’s oceans and lakes. In turn, those effects will be even greater, and potentially catastrophic, for indigenous populations who rely on the seas for physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance. While most research on carbon dioxide absorption from the atmosphere has focused on oceans and the resulting acidification, many believe that acidification levels also will also increase in the Great Lakes. Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes regions share reliance on marine and freshwater resources, and many …

"Fed" Up With Acidification: "Trusting" The Federal Government To Protect The Tulalip Tribes' Access To Shellfish Beds, Jacqueline M. Bertelsen

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Part I of this paper discusses the threat ocean acidification poses to the Tulalip Tribes’ ability to practice and preserve its way of life. Part II examines the laws and legal structures, especially the Clean Water Act, that can simultaneously protect the Tulalip Tribes’ right to harvest shellfish at “usual and accustomed” shellfish beds and the health of Puget Sound’s waters as a whole. Finally, Part III proposes actions that can be taken at the state, tribal, and federal levels. First, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should develop criteria and water quality standards relevant to ocean acidification that can be …

Using The Clean Water Act To Tackle Ocean Acidification: When Carbon Dioxide Pollutes The Oceans, Miyoko Sakashita

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Carbon dioxide is an invisible pollutant that threatens water quality and entire marine ecosystems. The oceans absorb carbon pollution from the atmosphere, which reacts with seawater causing it to become more acidic. Ocean acidification impairs the growth, survival and reproduction of marine animals, and if unabated will massively disrupt entire ecosystems. One of the most powerful tools that we have to combat ocean acidification is the Clean Water Act—a law that has successfully solved difficult water pollution problems for decades. This article will discuss how the Clean Water Act can be leveraged to address ocean acidification and to protect our …

Ten Ways States Can Combat Ocean Acidification (And Why They Should), Ryan P. Kelly, Margaret R. Caldwell

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The ocean is becoming more acidic worldwide as a result of increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (“CO₂”) and other pollutants. This fundamental change is likely to have substantial ecological and economic consequences globally. In this Article, we provide a toolbox for understanding and addressing the drivers of ocean acidification. We begin with an overview of the relevant science, highlighting known causes of chemical change in the coastal ocean. Because of the difficulties associated with controlling diffuse atmospheric pollutants such as CO₂, we then focus on controlling smaller-scale agents of acidification, discussing ten legal and policy …

The Revival Of Climate Change Science In U.S. Courts, William H. Rodgers Jr., Andrea K. Rodgers

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Science never has been the obstacle to the recognition of climate change. Since Arhennius did his original calculations in 1896, the scientific world was quite aware of the prospect that industrial-age levels of carbon dioxide pollution would result in increasing global temperatures and acidification of the world’s oceans. The brilliant—and striking—graphical display that we know today as the Keeling Curve started in 1957, and year after year it records the relentless upward march of these atmospheric pollutant loadings. Through the years, necessarily, a vast number of scientific warnings, publications, findings, and predictions would be offered to the public at large, …

Atmospheric Trust Litigation And The Constitutional Right To A Healthy Climate System: Judicial Recognition At Last, Mary Christina Wood, Charles W. Woodward Iv

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

This Article spotlights a recent Washington case, Foster v. Washington Department of Ecology, which breaks new judicial ground in forcing governments to control dangerous GHG emissions. The case is part of an urgent global litigation campaign known as Atmospheric Trust Litigation (ATL). The Article begins by summarizing the actions deemed necessary by scientists to avert climate catastrophe, and describes the ATL campaign that formed in response. Part II explains the public trust framework, which provides the legal foundation for this climate litigation. Part III examines the three stages of atmospheric trust cases and describes the litigation up until the …