Environmental Law Commons^™

The Brand-X Effect: Declining Chevron Deference In The 21st Century, Stephen Johnson

Articles

Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. is the most frequently cited Supreme Court administrative law decision and has generated substantial scholarship over the past thirty-four ears. Almost three decades ago, Robert Glicksman and Christopher Schroeder examined the nature of judicial review of the actions of the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") by the federal courts during the agency's first twenty years of existence, focusing, in part, on the changing nature of that review in light of the Chevron decision. Glicksman and Schroeder concluded that the courts aggressively reviewed EPA's actions during the agency's early years, interpreting the …

Indeconstructible: The Triumph Of The Environmental “Administrative State”, Stephen M. Johnson

Articles

Shortly after the 2017 Presidential inauguration, a senior advisor to the President proclaimed that a top priority of the Administration would be the “deconstruction of the administrative state.” A primary target of the Administration’s deconstruction efforts was the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and federal environmental regulations.

While the President can use a variety of tools, including the appointment power, budget power, treaty power, and executive orders, to influence the manner in which the EPA and other agencies interpret and enforce laws, the President has very little power to unilaterally “deconstruct the administrative state.” The “administrative state” is a creation …

Opening The Gates Of Cow Palace: Regulating Runoff Manure As A Hazardous Waste Under Rcra, Reed J. Mccalib

Michigan Law Review

In 2015, a federal court held for the first time that the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) may regulate runoff manure as a “solid waste” under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”). The holding of Community Ass’n for Restoration of the Environment, Inc. v. Cow Palace, LLC opened the gates to regulation of farms under the nation’s primary toxic waste statute. This Comment argues that, once classified as a “solid waste,” runoff manure fits RCRA’s definition of “hazardous waste” as well. This reclassification would expand EPA’s authority to monitor and respond to the nation’s tragically common groundwater-contamination emergencies.

Clean Air Council V. Pruitt, Oliver Wood

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia granted a motion for summary vacatur against the Environmental Protection Agency after environmental groups challenged the agency’s reconsideration of the Obama-era methane rule under the Clean Air Act. The court held that the EPA unlawfully issued a stay after it reconsidered the rule without proper authorization. The court vacated the EPA’s stay, one example of the Trump Administration unsuccessfully repealing Obama-era rulemaking.

Technology-Based? Cost Factoring In U.S. Environmental Standards, Jamison E. Colburn

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Environmental controls in the United States are often said to be “technology-based” because the polluter’s duties are determined by the available technology for controlling that pollution rather than by the social costs and benefits of doing so. Indeed, this is much of what distinguishes U.S. environmental law post-1970 from that which preceded it. But technology-based standards have in fact weighed the costs of controlling pollution in unique, often obscure ways, yielding an analysis that defies standardization and basic notions of transparency. Often lumped under an umbrella heading called “feasibility” analysis and justified on the grounds that it avoids many of …

Energy-Water Nexus, The Clean Power Plan, And Integration Of Water Resource Concerns Into Energy Decision-Making, Sarah Ladin

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Energy regulation in the United States is now at a crossroads. The EPA has begun the process to officially repeal the Clean Power Plan and currently has no plan to replace it with new rulemaking to regulate carbon emissions from the U.S. energy sector. Even though the Clean Power Plan is more or less at its end, its regulatory structure stands as a model of the way decision-makers in the United States regulate the energy sector and the environment. Since the beginning of the modern environmental legal system, decision-makers have chosen to silo the system. Statutes and agencies focus on …

Murray Energy Corporation V. Administrator Of Environmental Protection Agency, Peter B. Taylor

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Congress amended the Clean Air Act in 1977 because of public concern that enforcement of the Clean Air Act would have adverse effects on employment. Section 321(a) tasks the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency with a continuous duty to evaluate the potential employment impact of the administration and enforcement of the Clean Air Act. In Murray Energy Corporation v. Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled on whether the federal court’s authority to review and enforce non-discretionary Clean Air Act duties extended to the EPA’s Section 321(a) duty to continuously …

Fracturing Misconceptions: A History Of Effective State Regulation, Groundwater Protection, And The Ill-Conceived Frac Act, Wes Deweese

Oklahoma Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Pain In The Ash? Epa's Proposed Regulation Of Fly Ash And The Impending Economic Threat To Sustainable Concrete, Briana Novian

Oklahoma Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Do Not Forget To Wear A Hat, Michael Herz

Online Publications

President Trump’s tweets get all the attention, but those from others in the federal government can also be pretty striking. Consider how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Twitter feed is taking on global and local environmental threats.

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition V. Fola Coal Company, Llc, Emily A. Slike

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Disregarding CWA regulations, WVDEP allowed for a state coal mining company, Fola, to discharge pollutants into the Stillhouse Branch without regard for water quality violations. Fola claimed that because it held a WV/NPDES permit, it was shielded from any liability so long as the company followed the permit’s provisions, even if its discharge violated CWA water quality standards.

Whose Standards Control? Maine V. Mccanhy And The Federal, State, And Tribal Battle Over Water Quality Regulation, Joseph Paul Mortelliti

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

This Note considers the longstanding clash between the United States government and state governments over the management of intrastate waters through the lens of Maine v. McCarthy, an ongoing federal lawsuit. McCarthy confronts whether the United States Environmental Protection Agency can require state water quality standards to specifically safeguard the health and cultural practices of Maine’s Indian tribes, particularly sustenance fishing. A panoply of legal and political factors gave rise to and shaped the course of the litigation, ranging from tribal sovereignty to agency discretion and political gamesmanship. After evaluating the litigants’ arguments and examining previous regulatory collisions between …

Behavioral Public Choice And The Carbon Tax, Gary M. Lucas Jr

Faculty Scholarship

In response to the historic Paris Agreement on climate change and to the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently finalized Clean Power Plan, economists and other climate policy experts have renewed the call for the United States to adopt a carbon tax. Opposition among the public presents a major obstacle. While a majority of the public supports government action on climate change, most people favor the use of “green” subsidies and command-and-control regulations—a fact that frustrates economists of all political stripes who contend that a carbon tax would be much cheaper and more effective. This Article argues that a cognitive bias known …

Murray Energy Corporation V. Mccarthy, Sarah M. Danno

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Holding that the widespread effects of environmental regulation on the coal industry constituted sufficient importance, the Northern District of West Virginia ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct analysis on employment loss and plant reduction resulting from regulatory effects. In admonishing the EPA’s inaction, the court ruled that the Agency had a non-discretionary duty to evaluate employment and plant reduction. Furthermore, the court held that the EPA’s attempt to put forth general reports in place of required evaluations was an invalid attempt to circumvent its statutory duty.

Conference Of Soviet And American Jurists On The Law Of The Sea And The Protection Of The Marine Environment, Milton Katz, Richard R. Baxter, O. V. Bogdanov, William E. Butler, Thomas M. Franck, Richard Frank, P. P. Gureev, John L. Hargrove, L. A. Ivanaschenko, Y. Kasmin, V. A. Kiselev, B. M. Klimenko, H. G. Knight, O. S. Kolbasov, A. L. Kolodkin, V. M. Koretsky, F. N. Kovalev, V. N. Kudrjavtsev, B. A. Kuvshinnikov, M. I. Lazarev, A. L. Makovsky, Charles W. Maynes, P. A. Moiseev, John N. Moore, A. P. Movchan, T. M. Starzhina, Robert E. Stein, Grigory I. Tunkin, E. T. Usenko, A. F. Vysotsky, A. K. Zhudro

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

Included in the papers for the Conference of Soviet and American Jurists on the Law of the Sea and the Protection of the Marine Environment:

Introduction by Milton Katz and Richard R. Baxter, p. 1

Freedom of Scientific Research in the World Ocean by A.F. Vysotsky, p. 7

The International Law of Scientific Research in the Oceans by Richard R. Baxter, p. 27

Responsibility and Liability for Harm to the Marine Environment by Robert E. Stein, p. 41

Liability for Marine Environment Pollution Damage in Contemporary International Sea Law by A. L. Makovsky, p. 59

Protection of the Marine Environment …

Helping Hand Tools V. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Emily A. Slike

Public Land & Resources Law Review

When the EPA decided to treat biomass fuel sources differently within the BACT analysis, the Ninth Circuit continued Chevron’s legacy and granted the agency deference. The Bioenergy BACT may develop as science continues to evolve, but because the EPA took a “hard look” during a thorough permit review, the court held that agency issuance of new BACT guidelines was reasonable.

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.

A Legacy That No One Can Afford To Inherit: The Gold King Disaster And The Threat Of Abandoned Hardrock Legacy Mines, Kelly Roberts

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

This article begins with a description of the alarming matter of abandoned mines, mainly due to the issue of acid mine drainage. Then, it provides a detailed account of the Gold King disaster, including the current state of affairs surrounding the question of EPA liability. Next, it provides a simplified overview of some of the federal statutory hurdles that make it difficult to tackle remediation of abandoned hardrock mines. In wake of Gold King, another round of legislation has been proposed that might help, and these proposed bills center on familiar themes of reforming the General Mining Law of 1872 …

Major Questions About The "Major Questions" Doctrine, Kevin O. Leske

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

After over a decade of hibernation, the United States Supreme Court has awoken the “major questions” doctrine, which has re-emerged in an expanded form. Under the doctrine, a court will not defer to an agency’s interpretation of a statutory provision in circumstances where the case involves an issue of deep economic or political significance or where the interpretive question could effectuate an enormous and transformative expansion of the agency’s regulatory authority. While the doctrine’s re-emergence in recent Supreme Court cases has already raised concerns, a subtle shift in its application has gone unnoticed. Unlike in earlier cases, where the Court …

Reviving The Environmental Justice Agenda, Rachael E. Salcido

Chicago-Kent Law Review

During his 2008 campaign, President Obama pledged that his administration would put an emphasis on environmental justice, outlining a strategy to address the unequal burden of pollution in low-income, minority and indigenous communities. Though many criticize some of the shortcomings, such as inadequate pursuit of civil rights remedies, the administration has followed through to supply some of the most critical components of solutions to the environmental justice challenge: leadership, capacity, collaboration-in-fact, and funding. This article will examine the reinvigorated Inter-Agency Working Group on Environmental Justice, the roadmaps prepared to address EJ, and significant rules and guidance enacted by the EPA …

A Discussion With Epa's General Counsel Avi Garbow: Environmental Justice, Agency Priorities, And Employment, Avi S. Garbow, General Counsel

Environmental and Animal Law

The Center For International Law & Justice and Environmental Law Society present a discussion with Avi S. Garbow who, during his tenure as EPA General Counsel, has worked closely on the Clean Power Plan, Clean Water Rule and other initiatives.

A Tale Of Two Continents: Environmental Management-Based Regulation In The European Union And The United States, Rachel E. Deming

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Next Generation Compliance, David L. Markell, Robert L. Glicksman

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

The Private Causes Of Action Under Cercla: Navigating The Intersection Of Sections 107(A) And 113(F), Jeffrey M. Gaba

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

The Comprehensive Environmental, Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) provides three distinct “private” causes of action that allow parties to recover all or part of their cleanup costs from “potentially responsible parties.” Section 107(a)(4)(B) provides a “direct” right of cost recovery. Sections 113(f)(1) and 113(f)(3)(B) provide a right of contribution following a CERCLA civil action or certain judicial or administrative settlements. The relationship among these causes of action has been the source of considerable confusion. Two Supreme Court cases, Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Aviall Services, Inc. and United States v. Atlantic Research Corp. have identified certain situations in which the …

Michigan V. Environmental Protection Agency, Lindsay Ward

Public Land & Resources Law Review

What’s the price of clean air? The Supreme Court found that the EPA, tasked with setting limits on hazardous pollutants, unreasonably declined to consider cost when regulating power plant emissions under the Clean Air Act. 42 U.S.C. § 7412 gives the EPA the authority to regulate power plants under the Clean Air Act as long as the Agency finds that “regulation is appropriate and necessary.” In the instant case, the EPA concluded that regulation met both these requirements. Finding the agency’s decision unreasonable, the majority struck down the EPA’s rule. The minority, however, asserted that the decision was unsound; it …

Ksfr Interviews Clifford Villa On The Animas River Spill, Clifford J. Villa

Faculty Scholarship

Professor Clifford Villas offers perspective on the Animas River spill in segment entitled, "First News: N.M. Governor, Senators Seek Answers From EPA Over Mine Spill".

Animas River Spill: 0:01-2:40 Professor Villa's quotes appear at 1:27-1:51 and 2:06-2:31; KSFR First News

City Of Chicago V. Environmental Defense Fund, Inc." Making The Case For Broader Application Of Chevron, U.S.A. V. Natural Resource Defense Council, Frank Lasalle

Akron Law Review

The purpose of this Note is to examine the Supreme Court's reasoning in City of Chicago v. Environmental Defense Fund, and to explore the implications of the Court's decision. First, Section II of this Note delineates the relevant statutory and regulatory background concerning the regulation of municipal solid waste. Next, Section III presents the statement of the case. Finally, Section IV analyzes the Supreme Court's decision. Section IV(A) criticizes the Court's limited focus in interpreting the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA). Section IV(B) contends that the Court's interpretation of RCRA is incorrect because it violates one of …

Daubert And Judicial Review: How Does An Administrative Agency Distinguish Valid Science From Junk Science?, D. Hiep Truong

Akron Law Review

This broad authority to assess risk, however, leaves too much discretion to administrative agencies. Even more disturbing is the fact that different agencies assess the same risks differently, which leads to inconsistent results. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for example, in determining the cancer risks from pesticides on food, produced an estimated risk of cancer mortality ten times greater than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). To use a law and economics model, valuing equivalent (or identical) risks differently leaves open the possibility of economic misallocation. For example, if one agency has determined the proper level of risk, and assuming …

The Epa Is Only “Sort Of” Permitted To Regulate Greenhouse Gases Under The Clean Air Act: How Utility Air Regulatory Group V. Epa Shows The Supreme Court Is Still Hot And Cold On Climate Change, Kristen Curley

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Fox Is Guarding The Henhouse: Enhancing The Role Of The Epa In Fonsi Determinations Pursuant To Nepa, Wendy B. Davis

Akron Law Review

This article suggests an enhanced role for the EPA and the other agencies that have authority to protect our natural resources, including the FWS, NPS, and others. These agencies should have authority to evaluate the environmental assessments leading to a FONSI and require preparation of an EIS pursuant to NEPA. This paper also suggests that these agencies need more authority in the substantive decision of choice of an alternative action pursuant to the EIS, and the determination of whether the proposed action should proceed based on the conclusions in the EIS. This could be accomplished with an amendment to the …