Environmental Law Commons^™

Getting Paid In Probate Court., Robert J. Augsburger

St. Mary's Law Journal

After reviewing the Texas Probate Code, the Texas Property Code, and current case law, this Essay compiles relevant information designed to assist attorneys in obtaining payment for services provided to their clients. An attorney ad litem is an officer of the court whose “fees are assessed as costs of suit” rather than requiring the ad litem to seek “fees only from his clients’ recovered shares.” Therefore, each attorney ad litem appointed under § 34A of the Texas Probate Code is entitled to reasonable compensation for services in the amount set by the court. The attorney’s fees “must be supported by …

Deprivation And Hispanic Health Paradox: Neighborhood Effects On Children's Wheezing In El Paso, Texas, Young-An Kim

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the impact of hypothetical health determinants - including objective and relative economic deprivation, as well as foreign-born composition -at the neighborhood-level on respiratory wheezing among Hispanic children in El Paso, Texas while accounting for individual-level covariates based on hierarchical logistic modeling (HLM). Due to El Paso's majority Latino/a population, focus is placed on the so-called "Hispanic health paradox" through analysis of the impact of neighborhood foreign-born composition on Hispanic children's wheezing. Neighborhood-level variables at the census tract-level are derived from US Census data. The percent of families in poverty and the GINI coefficient for income (income inequality) …

Assessing The Equity Implications Of Greenspace Distribution In An Arid Region, Abdelatif Eldeb

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the last few decades, vegetation deterioration is receiving increased attention because of its adverse impacts on societal and human health, environmental sustainability, and quality of life. I have selected two cities in Chihuahua Desert region (El Paso and Juarez) as case study sites to develop a novel and applicable methodology for integrating remotely sensed data of different spectral and spatial resolutions into an analysis of the spatial distribution of an urban amenity. The primary objective of this research is to determine if the spatial distribution of greenspace in 2010 is equitable with respect to socio-demographics in El Paso and …

Expedited Approval Of Energy Projects: Toward Assessing The Forms Of Procedural Relief, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

If we are to prevent the worst effects of climate change, a major shift in the world’s energy systems will be needed, including the construction of a massive number of clean energy facilities. Under one well-known scenario, this will require — along with many other actions — the construction of 230 wind farms the size of the proposed Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound; 1,000 large solar generating facilities of about ten square miles each; 1,400 natural gas-fired electric generating stations; 800 carbon capture and sequestration systems at coal-fired power plants; and 850 new nuclear power plants.

The Cape Wind …

What Does Environmental Justice Mean In An Era Of Global Climate Change?, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

The 1990s saw the emergence of the issue of environmental justice – the disproportionate exposure of low-income and minority communities to environmental hazards - into the U.S. political sphere. The 2000s saw the emergence of global climate change as a political concern. Neither has led to significant legislation at the federal level, and thus old laws designed for different purposes are being utilized with decidedly mixed results.

This article addresses the confluence of environmental justice and global climate change. The two interact in complex ways, as do the approaches to dealing with them both.

The magnitude of the climate challenge …

Four Questions About Fracking, Thomas W. Merrill

Faculty Scholarship

It is difficult to think of a more timely or important topic than horizontal hydraulic fracturing and its impact on the environment. It is especially useful to have an exchange of views on this subject now, before the statutes, regulations, and court decisions start to roll in. Law professors – I cannot speak for anyone else – have a strong proclivity for backward-looking analysis, dissecting what should have been done after the basic direction of the law is set and the courts have spoken. It is much more useful to weigh the pros and cons of different approaches at an …

Michael Bloomberg's Environmental Record, Bill De Blasio's Promises, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

On Nov. 23, 2001, under the headline “Michael Bloomberg’s Environmental Agenda,” this column began, “The stun­ning victory of Michael R. Bloomberg in the Nov. 6 election means that City Hall will be occupied by a man who has no record in environmental affairs.” The column went on to summarize the promises found in Bloomberg’s campaign literature and other statements.

Now with Mayor Bloomberg’s term about to end and Bill de Blasio’s about to begin, we can compare the outgoing mayor’s accomplishments to his promises, and also look at what the incom­ing mayor has pledged.

Survey Of 2012 Cases Under State Environmental Quality Review Act, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

The courts issued 55 decisions in 2012 under the State Environmen­tal Quality Review Act (SEQRA).1 As this annual survey shows, especially important decisions concerned the necessity of supplemental environmental impact statements (EISs), and the relationship of SEQRA to various federal laws.

The State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) was also busy. On Jan. 15, 2012, DEC adopted revised short and full environmental assessment forms, which are used in determining whether full EISs are needed. The new forms become effective on Oct. 7, 2013. They will be accompanied by workbooks and by an updated web-based geographic information system search engine to …

Contested Shore: Property Rights In Reclaimed Land And The Battle For Streeterville, Joseph D. Kearney, Thomas W. Merrill

Faculty Scholarship

Land reclaimed from navigable waters is a resource uniquely susceptible to conflict. The multiple reasons for this include traditional hostility to interference with navigable waterways and the weakness of rights in submerged land. In Illinois, title to land reclaimed from Lake Michigan was further clouded by a shift in judicial understanding in the late nineteenth century about who owned the submerged land, starting with an assumption of private ownership but eventually embracing state ownership. The potential for such legal uncertainty to produce conflict is vividly illustrated by the history of the area of Chicago known as Streeterville, the area of …

An Introduction To Climate Change Liability Litigation And A View To The Future, Michael B. Gerrard, Joseph A. Macdougald

Faculty Scholarship

This article discusses the advancement of climate change litigation. It explores two approaches to climate change litigation; the first is to use the federal regulatory apparatus and the second is to use the tort system. The article explores key questions in climate change litigation such as, who is responsible for deciding the appropriate level of harmful emissions? How should courts handle the long tail effects of climate change? What are the proper forums to litigate in? And, what is the role of the federal government in climate change litigation?

Burdens On Public Access, Elizabeth Blank

Sea Grant Law Fellow Publications

No abstract provided.

Specialty Juvenile Courts In Texas: Using The Rehabilitative Juvenile Justice Approach To Reform Texas's Youngest Gang Members., Drew Darnell

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Civil Liability Approaches To The Stolen Valor Epidemic., Lauren A. Valkenaar

St. Mary's Law Journal

Over the years, civilians and members of the military have falsely claimed honors “stealing” the valor, reputation and benefits bestowed upon actual medal recipients. Lawmakers have historically addressed this problem of stolen valor with criminal prosecution. In 2005, Congress passed the Stolen Valor Act, making it illegal for an individual to lie about receiving military awards. However, the constitutionality of the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 was challenged in United States v. Alvarez. The Supreme Court of the United States found that the act violated the First Amendment because it was a content-based restriction on speech regarding military service. Therefore, …

The Strange Case Of Lieutenant Waddell: How Overly Restrictive Rules Of Engagement Adversely Impact The American War Fighter And Undermine Military Victory., Jeffrey F. Addicott

St. Mary's Law Journal

A rules of engagement (“ROE”) Review Board should be created in order to provide an impartial review process for service members facing adverse administrative action for violations of ROE. Politicians defining the ROE, rather than military experts, create rules that are so restrictive and confusing that they ultimately run counter to the military objective of victory. A violation of a ROE can be a criminal offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but violations are issued arbitrarily, and often the military does not charge the service member with a crime, instead using adverse administrative measures to impose punishment. While …

Some Pluralism About Pluralism: A Comment On Hanoch Dagan's "Pluralism And Perfectionism In Private Law", Jedediah S. Purdy

Faculty Scholarship

Hanoch Dagan is among “those who think it advantageous to get as much ethics into the law as they can,” in the phrase of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. His pluralism is a perfectionism for polytheists: There are many human goods, and each has its domain, including some portion of the law of property. Depending on where we stand on the property landscape at any time, we may be community-minded sharers, devoted romantics in marriage, or coolly rational market actors, and the local property law will smooth each of these paths for us. Property law is built on the design of …

Connecting Pixels To People: Management Agents And Social-Ecological Determinants Of Changes To Street Tree Distributions, Shawn Landry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Street trees are an important component of the urban forest that can provide direct and indirect benefits to social and ecological sustainability in cities. Temporal and spatial interactions between human and non-human management agents determine the distribution and health of street tree populations in urban areas. This dissertation seeks to enhance our understanding of the spatial patterns and processes affecting street trees by investigating the agents and social-ecological determinants of changes to street tree distributions in urban residential neighborhoods. The research was guided by three primary questions: (1) Are recent changes to the spatial distribution of street trees influenced by …

Rural Communities: How Do Individuals Perceive Change When Industry Enters The Area?, Katherine Danielle Ferrari

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the landscape of the United States changes and world resources face depletion, shale gas development has become a major social justice issue. Social workers may be called upon to help support communities undergoing change from industry as well as the environmental and social justice concerns that are arising in areas with rich natural resource supplies.

This research examines how a rural population perceives change when industry enters an area. It explores community change and social justice concerns that are occurring with shale gas development in order to help determine implications for social work practice.

Using a phenomenological approach, this …

Exploring Local Food System Practices And Perceptions: Insights From Florida's Snap-Authorized Farmers' Markets, Leslie Babiak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite heightened interest in creating local food systems that enhance health of ecologies, economies, and all members of communities, the public space of farmers' markets is far less than inherently equitable. This is particularly concerning given America's unprecedented crisis of food hardship and related disease, which disproportionately affects lower income populations. This research addresses the social justice implications of SNAP (food stamp) operations for locally oriented food systems. Pioneering practices of three of Florida's SNAP-authorized farmers' markets, and the attitudes and behaviors of one-hundred-seventy-six market patrons, were explored through customer surveys, market manager interviews, and environmental assessments. Qualitative and quantitative …

Occupational Noise Exposure In Amplified Music Venues In Leinster; An Exploratory Risk Analysis., Aoife Kelly

Doctoral

Due to transposition of the EU Directive 2003/10/EC into Irish Law, the entertainment sector was obligated to comply with the requirements of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007, Chapter 1 Part 5: Control of Noise at Work since February 2008. Despite this, there is a lack of baseline data on the adoption and appreciation of these regulations within the sector. The aim of this study was to conduct an exploratory risk analysis of occupational noise exposure in nightclubs and examine the application of occupational noise legislation in this industry.

Noise risk assessments were conducted in …

Sustainable Production Of Swine: Putting Lipstick On A Pig?, Michelle B. Nowlin

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

V.4, 2013 Masthead

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

No abstract provided.

Who Regulates The Smart Grid? : Ferc's Authority Over Demand Response Compensation In Wholesale Electricity Markets, Joel B. Eisen

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article argues that Order 745 is both justified under the Federal Power Act (FPA) and important to ensure the transition to a clean energy future. A challenge to Order 745, Electric Power Supply Association v. FERC, is currently pending in the D.C. Circuit. This Article contends that Order 745 should be upheld against this challenge because it fits within FERC’s broad authority to regulate the wholesale power markets.

Waste Not, Want Not: Landfill Gas To Energy Projects, Climate Change, And The Clean Air Act, Katherine A. Trisolini

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article aims to address this gap, proposing how the Rule could be amended to reduce methane generally and enhance LGTE specifically.

The sections discuss legal mechanisms to reduce landfill methane emissions and promote LGTE where appropriate, focusing on the federal Clean Air Act’s potential role in regulating landfill gas emissions. Section II explains the adverse effects of methane emissions generally and the potential benefits of reducing landfill emissions specifically. Section III describes federal emissions standards under the Clean Air Act and incentive programs for expanded use of LGTE. The discussion highlights potential conflicts between divergent means of regulating landfill …

Climate Changes Disputes At The World Trade Organization: National Energy Policies And International Trade Liability, Nilmini Silva-Send

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article draws attention to the different outcomes that may result when WTO law is applied to resolve climate related national energy policy disputes, signals this might send for national energy policies, and how a subtle effect of indirect state liability may arise. Several pending or unresolved complaints currently at the WTO are used to demonstrate these effects. The complaints include the greenhouse gas controversy, the wind energy subsidies complaint, and the feed-in tariffs complaint. The next section, Section II, presents the basic WTO obligations of the four countries involved in these complaints (Japan, Canada, USA, China), and ways that …

What Every Land Use Lawyer Should Know About The Emerging Use Of Health Impact Assessment And Land Use Decision Making, Patricia E. Salkin, Pamela Ko

Scholarly Works

The field of Health Impact Assessment is relatively new to the United States, but already a number of state and local governments are incorporating these assessments into land use planning and decision making. In five years, the use of HIA in the U.S. has increased dramatically with more than 100 HIAs completed or in progress in the U.S. from 2007 to 2010. This article provides a brief overview of HIA in the United States, describes how it is being used in other states with respect to land use decision making, and examines how HIA is starting to be incorporated into …

Why (And How) Conservatives Should Support Smart Growth, Michael Lewyn

Scholarly Works

Conservatives have generally been critical of the smart growth movement, because they often fear that smart growth is synonymous with overregulation of land use. This article explains why sprawl threatens conservative values, and suggests conservative-friendly smart growth policies that can both make government less intrusive and make America more walkable.

Seqra And Infill, Michael Lewyn

Scholarly Works

New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) is designed to protect the environment by requiring government to consider the harmful environmental impacts of its actions. However, SEQRA itself may create environmental harm by discouraging infill development.

Reflecting Risk: Chemical Disclosure And Hydraulic Fracturing, Sara Gosman

Georgia Law Review

In the last three years, twenty-two states have responded to public concern about high-volume hydraulic fracturing by requiring disclosure of the chemicals injected into oil and gas wells. Central to these policies is a nationwide website known as "FracFocus,"which now contains data on almost 56,000 wells. No environmental issue in recent memory has spurred such a fast and uniform policy response by the states, a response that is more remarkable given the contested nature of hydraulic fracturing. Drawing on the fields of risk science and decision science, the Article examines the virtues and perils of chemical disclosure as a policy …

The Shale Oil And Gas Revolution, Hydraulic Fracturing, And Water Contamination: A Regulatory Strategy, Thomas W. Merrill, David M. Schizer

Faculty Scholarship

The United States has surpassed Russia as the world's top natural gas producer, and according to the world's most respected energy forecaster, the U.S. will also overtake Saudi Arabia as the largest oil producer by 2020. This surge in U.S. oil and gas production would have seemed wildly improbable a decade ago. It flows from a revolution in U.S. oil and gas production. Energy companies have learned to tap previously inaccessible oil and gas in shale and other impermeable (or "tight") rock formations. To do so, they use "hydraulic fracturing" ("fracturing" or "fracking"), pumping fluid into shale at high pressure …

Getting Ahead Of The Curve: Supporting Adaptation To Long-Term Climate Change And Short-Term Climate Variability Alike, Alexis Saba, Michela Biasutti, Michael B. Gerrard, David B. Lobell

Faculty Scholarship

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been meeting since 1995, and in recent years, it has increasingly focused on facilitating and funding climate change adaptation in developing countries. Other sources of financing, from multilateral development banks to bilateral and multilateral agreements among countries, are also providing resources for adaptation. Simultaneously, climate scientists around the world are updating their forecasts on the nature of future climate change. This article seeks to examine the scope of funding available for climate change adaptation and how climate change forecasts are used to plan for and evaluate climate change adaptation. We …