Environmental Law Commons^™

Civil Liability For Damage Caused To The Environment By Hazardous Waste: Lessons For The European Union From The Us Experience, Artemis Hatzi-Hull

LLM Theses and Essays

As environmental awareness has surged over the last two decades, environmental law has rapidly developed. In both agricultural and industrial countries, the environment is a sensitive and vital area where substantial economic interests are at stake. In the United States, many social, political, and economic reasons have spawned rapid expansion of environmental law. Congress has enacted numerous statutes and empowered federal agencies, primarily the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to adopt standards and enforce these new laws. A decade ago, environmental liability was not a major concern for US businesses and was rarely dealt with in commercial contracts. However, the situation …

Criminal Enforcement Of U.S. Environmental Laws, Ramasamy Krishnan

LLM Theses and Essays

This LL.M. thesis provides a comprehensive examination of criminal enforcement of environmental laws in the United States, tracing the historical development of criminal provisions from common law nuisance origins through modern statutes such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and sentencing guidelines like the Sentencing Reform Act and Criminal Fines Improvement Act. The work analyzes the public welfare offense doctrine and its impact on mens rea requirements, examining varied standards of liability, including strict liability, "knowing" violations, knowing endangerment, and wilfulness or negligence, as well as corporate liability and individual employee liability through the responsible corporate officer …

Constitutional And Congressional Requirements Directing Public Lands Decisionmaking, Joseph M. Feller

Who Governs the Public Lands: Washington? The West? The Community? (September 28-30)

15 pages.

Contains references.

Regulatory Takings And Resources: What Are The Constitutional Limits?, Virginia S. Albrecht

Regulatory Takings and Resources: What Are the Constitutional Limits? (Summer Conference, June 13-15)

52 pages.

Contains footnotes.

The New Gold Rush: Mine Tailings In Southeast Alaska And Perversion Of The Clean Water Act, Beth Leibowitz

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this Note provides a basic explanation of the mine tailings problem. Part II of this Note discusses the evolution of the agencies' tailings decision and the statutory and regulatory context in which it occurred. Part III outlines briefly the actual decision, which involved the theory that neither the EPA nor the Corps should apply the usual CWA permit requirements to the initial discharge of mine waste. Part IV evaluates the legal basis for that decision and concludes, based on the language of the CWA, the EPA's own prior policy, and judicial precedent, that the decision was without …

Lawmaker As Lawbreaker: Enforcement Actions Against Municipalities For Failing To Comply With The Clean Water Act, G. Nelson Smith Iii

Cleveland State Law Review

The Clean Water Act makes it unlawful for anyone, including municipalities, to discharge a pollutant into navigable waters except as authorized by specific sections of the Act. To implement this prohibition, as well as the exceptions, the Act established a complex system regulating all discharges into the navigable waters of the United States. Under the Act, the discharge of pollutants without a permit or in violation of a permit condition may result in civil penalties and/or a criminal penalty per day per violation. While these penalties could be extremely costly for municipalities, the problem becomes even more severe because many …

Managing Groundwater Quality And Quantity: Comparative Approaches Of Southern California Water Basins, Susan M. Trager

Uncovering the Hidden Resource: Groundwater Law, Hydrology, and Policy in the 1990s (Summer Conference, June 15-17)

15 pages.

Contains 1 page of references.

Environmental Permits: Land Use Regulation And Policy Implementation In Texas., Wm. Terry Bray, R. Alan Haywood, David S. Caudill, Pamela S. Bacon

St. Mary's Law Journal

Real estate lawyers traditionally focused on the applicable zoning ordinances of the governing municipality. Real estate lawyers also are familiar with applicable subdivision ordinances, which typically impose additional limitations on the use of real property. Subdivision platting was originally envisioned as a procedure to ensure orderly development of property within the jurisdiction of a municipality. Many local land use regulations promulgated in recent years focus on the “environment” and purport to be necessary to conserve and protect natural resources. A complex network of federal and state statutes now exists which regulates the use of real property in order to protect …

Interstate Water Pollution: Must Upstream Permits Comply With Downstream Standards?, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

Limitations Of Sovereign Immunity Under The Clean Water Act: Empowering States To Confront Federal Polluters, Corinne Beckwith Yates

Michigan Law Review

This Note considers whether civil penalties that states impose on federal agencies for violations of NPDES permits arise under federal law and thus are covered by the Clean Water Act's waiver of sovereign immunity - an issue the Supreme Court is scheduled to address during the 1991 term. Part I outlines the history of the Clean Water Act, discussing Supreme Court decisions and statutory amendments that affect the sovereign immunity provision. Part II explains the mechanics of the NPDES state permit process and examines, through analysis of statutory provisions, the degree of control retained by the EPA over individual states …

Federal Wetlands Regulatory Policy: Up To Its Ears In Alligators, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Protecting the nation's dwindling wetland resources under section 404 of the Clean Water Act has been a persistent and discouraging proposition. Section 404 of the Act "lies like an open wound across the body of environmental law." Given the ecological and economic value of the resource, this seems puzzling--but only for a moment. An examination of the federal wetlands permitting program reveals significant problems. These problems, combined with ingrained attitudes about the sanctity of private property, lack of public appreciation of wetland values, and insufficient political will to protect them, make it easy to see why wetlands continue to disappear, …

The Viability Of Citizens’ Suits Under The Clean Water Act After Gwaltney Of Smithfield V. Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Bevery Mcqueary Smith

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

The Clean Water Act: When Dumping Dead Fish Is Not The Discharge Of A Pollutant—National Wildlife Federation V. Consumers Power Co., 862 F.2d 580 (6th Cir. 1988), Cheri Y. Cornell

Washington Law Review

The Clean Water Act defines "discharge of a pollutant" as "any addition of any pollutant to navigable waters from a point source." This Note examines National Wildlife Federation v. Consumers Power Co., in which the court held that an addition occurs only when a pollutant is introduced into water from the outside world. The Note argues that legislative history and the structure of the Clean Water Act demand an interpretation of "addition" which includes causing a pollutant to appear in water.

Interjurisdictional Relations Under Federal Water Quality Law: A Guide Through The Maze, Michael C. Blumm, Daniel Rohlf

Boundaries and Water: Allocation and Use of a Shared Resource (Summer Conference, June 5-7)

53 pages.

Contains references.

Agenda: Boundaries And Water: Allocation And Use Of A Shared Resource, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Boundaries and Water: Allocation and Use of a Shared Resource (Summer Conference, June 5-7)

Conference organizers and/or faculty included University of Colorado School of Law professors David H. Getches, Lawrence J. MacDonnell and Charles F. Wilkinson.

Boundaries and Water: Allocation and Use of a Shared Resource is the topic of the Center's annual summer program on water this June. Most of the major rivers in the western United States are shared between two or more states. Often tribal governments play an important role in water allocation and use decisions. International considerations also may be involved in some cases. These interjurisdictional issues extend to groundwater as well as surface water.

This conference will provide the …

Natural Resource Damage Valuation, Frank B. Cross

Vanderbilt Law Review

How much is beauty worth in dollars? Some people may recoil at the very phrasing of this question. Yet placing a monetary value on natural resources is not inherently destructive. Custom places a monetary value on artwork. Capitalism even values beautiful natural vistas in the form of land prices. Placing a monetary value on beauty and other features of nature may be essential if one is to protect natural resources fully.

This Article explores the proper monetary valuation under Superfund and other legislation of natural objects,' including living animals, aesthetic views, and water purity. The path to achieving valuation is …

Groundwater Quality Protection: Setting A National Goal For State And Federal Programs, David H. Getches

Publications

No abstract provided.

Foreword, Focus: Clean Water Act’S Section 404, David H. Getches

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Industry Perspective: The Pros And Cons Of Mineral Development In Indian Country, William A. White

Natural Resource Development in Indian Country (Summer Conference, June 8-10)

17 pages.

Agenda: Natural Resource Development In Indian Country, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Natural Resource Development in Indian Country (Summer Conference, June 8-10)

Conference organizers and/or faculty included University of Colorado School of Law professors David H. Getches, Charles F. Wilkinson, Lawrence J. MacDonnell and Richard B. Collins.

Indian reservations constitute about 2.5% of all land in the country and 5% of all land in the American West. During the last two decades, Indian natural resources issues have moved to the forefront as tribal governments have dramatically expanded their regulatory programs, judicial systems. and resource development activities. This major symposium will address current developments and assess likely future directions in the areas of tribal, federal, and state regulation; tribal-state intergovernmental agreements; financing; mineral …

Soil Erosion, Agrichemicals And Water Quality: A Need For A New Conservation Ethic?, Christine Olsenius

Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use and Environmental Protection (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

24 pages.

Contains references.

Federal Groundwater Quality Control: Law And Policy, Robert L. Glicksman

Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use and Environmental Protection (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

56 pages.

Contains references.

Assessment Of Water Quality Progress And Problems In The West, David H. Getches

Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use and Environmental Protection (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

32 pages.

Contains references.

Agenda: Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use And Environmental Protection, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use and Environmental Protection (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

Conference organizers and/or faculty included University of Colorado School of Law professors David H. Getches, Lawrence J. MacDonnell and Charles F. Wilkinson.

Protecting water quality is essential to preserve the many beneficial uses of western water resources. This conference addresses the dominant federal requirements in the Clean Water Act, including the important major revisions enacted by Congress in 1987, with special attention to western problems regarding nonpoint source pollution. Developments in groundwater quality regulation are considered, as are selected issues concerning the implications of state and federal water quality regulation for the traditional exercise of water rights.

Pretreatment Issues, Sue Ellen Harrison

Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use and Environmental Protection (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

28 pages.

Contains references.

The Effluent Charge Approach To Water Quality Control, Ralph W. Johnson

Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use and Environmental Protection (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

10 pages.

Contains references.

The Water Quality Legal Framework, William H. Rodgers Jr.

Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use and Environmental Protection (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

12 pages (includes illustrations).

A Practitioner’S Perspective On Section 404 Permitting—Or—How To Survive The Daze From The Hazy Maze, Marcia M. Hughes

Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use and Environmental Protection (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

17 pages.

Contains footnotes and references.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Environmental Law

University of Richmond Law Review

In the past two years Virginia has seen significant legislative changes in its laws protecting public health and the environment. This article addresses not only those changes, but also the implementation of these laws by the responsible state agencies and the court cases construing those laws.

Overview Of The U.S. System Of Environmental Law, Lawrence J. Macdonnell

Proceedings of the Sino-American Conference on Environmental Law (August 16)

25 pages (includes illustrations).

Contains 3 pages of references.