Environmental Law Commons^™

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 …

Reclaiming Coal Surface Mines In Central Appalachia: A Case Study Of The Benefits And Costs, Richard C. Ausness, Alan Randall, Oren Grunewald, Sue Johnson, Angelos Pagoulatos

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Regulatory alternatives for the surface mining industry have come under intense public and political scrutiny in recent years. Recent studies have found that the impacts of federal surface mine reclamation regulations' will be noticeable, but perhaps not as substantial as some had expected. Nationwide, coal production from surface mines would be reduced by about five percent, with a similar increase in underground coal production. The federal reclamation legislation, depending on the regulations eventually adopted for its implementation, is unlikely to be a major disruptive influence in the coal industry or a substantial impediment to the long-run national goal of increased …

The Sin Of Omission: Inaction As Action Under Section 102(2)(C) Of The National Environmental Policy Act Of 1969, Arthur F. Ferguson

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Water Use Permits In A Riparian State: Problems And Proposals, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Although adequate supplies of water are generally available in Kentucky, the law governing its use and allocation is much less satisfactory. At present, Kentucky water law is a complex mixture of common law and statutory water rights. The purpose of this article is to evaluate these water rights and suggest a number of improvements. Part I will examine the common law rules as they relate to both surface water and ground water. Part II will focus upon Kentucky's present system of statutory water use regulation and will identify some of its more serious deficiencies. Part III will recommend some short-range …

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 …

Kleppe V. Sierra Club, 427 U.S. 390 (1976), Martha L. Harrell

Florida State University Law Review

Environmental Law- NEPA- REGIONAL IMPACT STATEMENT IS NOT REQUIRED IN THE ABSENCE OF FORMAL PROPOSAL FOR REGIONAL ACTIVITY.

The Economic Superpowers And The Environment: The United States, The Soviet Union, And Japan By Donald R. Kelley, Kenneth R. Stunkel And Richard R. Westcott, Jeffrey Silverman

Maryland Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Updating Eminent Domain For Environmental Control, Karl Jeffery Reynolds

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Urban Environmental Law: Emergent Citizens' Rights For The Aesthetic, The Spiritual, And The Spacious, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

While articles on the urban environment often deal with statutory and administrative action, this article presents a different perspective, that of citizen enforcement and the judicial consequences of such a development. Illustrative of the emergent role of courts in enforcing citizens' claims are the areas of historic preservation, noise regulation, and the use of environmental impact statements.

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 …

Collective Hindsight: A Review Of The Grass Roots Primer, Jenifer Robison

IUSTITIA

What do you do when the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers announces that its solution to the hurricane "problem" in New York (four major hurricanes in 200 years) is to build a wall around Coney Island? How do you fight it when a local landowner secures a zoning variance so he can open a game farm whose main access (for its projected 300,000 visitors in 100,000 cars) is the only street in your tiny village? In the days before the citizen's suit provisions of the present environmental laws there was very little recourse for people outraged by plans like …

An Introduction To Environmental Thought: Some Sources And Some Criticisms, Charles J. Meyers

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Comment On Meyers' Introduction To Environmental Thought, A. Dan Tarlock

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Environmental Interest Litigants Are Not Entitled To An Award Of Fees For Promoting Public Interests Absent Statutory Authorization. Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. V. Wilderness Soc'y, 421 U.S. 240 (1975)., Michael T. Cornacchia Iii

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The Wilderness Society and other interested groups brought suit in the district court, seeking to enjoin construction of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline on the grounds that: (1) the right of way granted the defendant violated the width restrictions of Section 28 of the Mineral Lands Leasing Act of 1920 and (2) the environmental impact statement required under Section 4321 of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was inadequate. The district court, after granting a preliminary injunction, reversed itself by dissolving the preliminary injunction and denying permanent relief. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed, holding that the …

Book Review. Federal Environmental Law (E. Dolgin And T. Guilbert, Eds.), A. Dan Tarlock

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

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 …

The Florida Environmental Protection Act Of 1971: The Citizen's Role In Environmental Management, Patricia A. Renovitch

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Law--The National Environmental Policy Act, Frederick L. Delp

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Law--Introduction, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Despite the vast mountain ranges, rivers, parks, coasts and forests within the bounds of its jurisdiction, the Second Circuit has had little occasion to decide many cases in the area of environmental law. Nonetheless, sufficient decisions do exist to indicate tentative outlines of the Second Circuit's disposition to date of such cases. On balance, the Second Circuit has carefully and conservatively hewed to the mandate of Congress in its construction of statutes, has mediated the competing demands of development and environmental protection, and has cautiously supported conservationists while sharply criticizing some of their tactics in administrative proceedings. This characterization can …

The Uses Of Scientific Information In Environmental Decision Making, Marcia R. Gelpe

Faculty Scholarship

This Article explores the response of the legal system to the uncertainty which is inherent in the scientific analysis of environmental impact. The first principle of due process is that the assignment of responsibility correspond with the actor who did in fact cause the injury. We argue that existing concepts of cause-in-fact, the foundation of liability, place potentially severe constraints on the ability of the legal system to respond to the need to minimize the risks of future environmental injury. Further, these constraints exist to some degree regardless of whether the prohibitions or restrictions take the form of adjudication, administrative …

Aspects Of A Constitutional Right To A Habitable Environment: Towards An Environmental Due Process, Ronald E. Klipsch

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

New Dimensions In Corporate Counseling In Environmental Law, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article's thesis is that attorneys cannot wait any longer to begin practicing environmental law. The bar has a responsibility to insure that our laws are obeyed and implemented. In advising a client regarding compliance with environmental laws, the legal counselor has unique opportunities to advance not only the client's interests, but also the public's interest in environmental protection.

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

Environmental Law And Construction Project Management, Michael S. Baram

Faculty Scholarship

Construction project management generally proceeds through sequential stages of project conception, planning, site acquisition, design and construction. Traditionally, citizens and public officials have relied on various elements of American common law to prevent, abate or get compensation for injuries resulting from the final construction stage of project management. Common law concepts of nuisance, negligence and trespass have been applied by the courts to situations where essentially private rights have been infringed by debris, runoff, noise, vibrations, structural damage and other byproducts of the construction process. The common law has therefore indirectly served as an environmental control on construction activities in …

Land Use Controls In Coastal Areas, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Prolonged exploitation of coastal resources has caused extensive ecological harm. The alarming decline in the condition of the marine environment has become a matter of serious public concern. This Article will examine some of the environmental problems of the coastal zone and the resulting institutional responses. The first part will delineate a number of problems in the nation's coastal areas. The second part will review the doctrines of property law associated with the ownership of littoral land and their relation to land-use control measures. The third part will evaluate recent coastal management legislation. The fourth part will consider constitutional restraints …

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 …

Electric Transmission Lines And The Environment, Alan P. Buchmann

Cleveland State Law Review

One of the significant outgrowths of the current interest in "environmental" questions is the increasing prominence of aesthetics qua aesthetics as a subject for judicial and administrative concern. A major area of litigation, and one which has by its very nature lent itself to an analysis of the significance, and viability, of purely "aesthetic" issues, has involved high voltage transmission lines.