Natural Resources Law Commons^™

Proposed Federal Osha Standards For Wildfire Smoke, Keenan Layton

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

With the rise of global temperatures, climatologists predict a corresponding increase in the frequency and severity of wildfires in the Pacific Northwest. Rising temperatures are expected to create drier conditions in forests, thereby creating environmental conditions more prone to forest fires. Wildfires have become a common enough occurrence in the Pacific Northwest that summers have become synonymous with smoky conditions, but the issue is not constrained to this region. Though the Pacific Northwest has recently acted as a harbinger of increasing wildfires, environmental scientists forecast an increase in fire risk throughout the Western United States. The predicted rise in forest …

The Impact Of Cultural Heritage On Japanese Towns And Villages, Yuichiro Tsuji Dr.

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

In 1954, when historically significant clays and clay pots were found in the Iba district of Shizuoka prefecture, the city applied to the prefectural education committee for a historic site designation. The committee granted this designation to the city..

However, in 1973 the education committee lifted its permission to promote development around the location. Historians have sought revocation of this decision under the Administrative Case Litigation Act (ACLA), but the Supreme Court has denied standing. By denying standing, the Japanese Supreme Court allows the prefecture to destroy a historical site.

First, this paper seeks to discuss the doctrine of standing …

Mtsun, Llc V. Mont. Dep't Of Pub. Serv. Regulation, Ryan W. Frank

Public Land & Resources Law Review

MTSUN, LLC initiated negotiations for a power purchase agreement with NorthWestern Energy in September of 2015 for a potential solar energy facility in eastern Montana. In December of 2016, at an impasse in contract negotiations with NorthWestern, MTSUN filed a petition with the Montana Public Service Commission requesting that the agency exercise its statutory authority to set the terms of the contract for the proposed project. Following MTSUN’s petition, the PSC issued a series of orders and reconsiderations which ultimately reconfigured the entirety of the agreement, including the terms that the parties had previously agreed upon. After exhausting its administrative …

Seriously Doe: Why A Hybrid Approach To Regulating Deer Farms Is Right For West Virginia, Jordan R. Mcminn

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Nepa At 50: An Empirical Analysis Of Nepa In The Courts, John C. Ruple, Heather Tanana

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the groundbreaking 1970 statute that requires federal agencies to take a “hard look” at the environmental impacts of their actions, turned 50 this year. In this anniversary year, and with NEPA revision efforts a hot topic in environmental law, we begin by quantifying the burden imposed by NEPA compliance. We then look back on approximately 1,500 court decisions to quantify the rate at which NEPA decisions are challenged, assess how those cases are resolved, and compare NEPA cases to other environmental litigation. We then discuss efforts to “streamline” NEPA and why we believe those …

Wicked Problems, Foolish Decisions: Promoting Sustainability Through Urban Governance In A Complex World Symposium: Governing Wicked Problems, Scott D. Campbell, Moira Zellner

Vanderbilt Law Review

Why do wicked problems often give birth to bad policy choices? Put another way, why do people—in the face of complex social challenges—make misdiagnoses, ineffective decisions, or no decisions at all? Typical answers point to a plethora of suspects: impatience, myopia, political stalemate, narrow-mindedness, fear and risk aversion, hubris, greed, rational self-interest, ignorance, reliance on emotionally appealing but misleading anecdotal stories, misuse of evidence, and misunderstanding of uncertainty.

Amid these divergent explanations, two classes emerge: one lies in the shortcomings and mistakes of the problem solvers, and the other lies in the nature of the problem itself. One stance is …

“A Climate Of Lawlessness”: Upholding A Government’S Affirmative Duty To Protect The Environment Using Deshaney’S Special Relationship Exception, Katherine G. Horner

Journal of Law and Policy

The Industrial Revolution introduced an era of exceptional technological advances. However, it also led to rampant environmental pollution and degradation. The proliferation of toxic pollutants in the air, water and soil has led us to the precipice of an unimaginable future; a future defined by climate change. This Note argues for the use of the special relationship exception, affirmed by the Supreme Court in DeShaney v. Winnebago, in environmental litigation in order to uphold governments’ affirmative duty to protect the environment. As federal and state governments have the sole power to regulate environmental pollution and enforce environmental protections, individuals are …

Water Diplomacy And Shared Resources Along The United States-Mexico Border, Maria Elena Giner, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

The United States and Mexico are geographic neighbors with high economic asymmetry, but also a shared history and intense social, cultural, economic, and security relations. Over 15 million people reside along the U.S.-Mexico border and share an environment that includes many watersheds and air basins transcending political boundaries. Pollution impacts on both sides of the border have required a coordinated response at the local, state, and federal level.

At the federal level, a joint institution was created in in 1889 as the International Boundary Commission and later renamed the International Boundary and Water Commission to provide binational solutions to issues …

Recent Case Decisions

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Sovereign Lands, Brent D. Chicken, Amanda J. Dick

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Wyoming, John R. Chadd

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

West Virginia, Andrew Graham

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Virginia, Zachary H. Barrett

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Utah, Jim Tartaglia

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Texas, Don Hueske

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Tennessee, Westley A. Ketron

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Pennsylvania, Nathaniel I. Holland, Jon C. Beckman

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Oklahoma, Matt Schlensker, Sandy Fraley

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Ohio, Tim Mckeen, Melissa Grimes

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

North Dakota, William J. Black

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

New York, Nathaniel I. Holland, Benedict J. Kirchner

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

New Mexico, Kacie Bevers, Blake Jones

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Nevada, Diana S. Prulhiere

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Nebraska, Sarah Trainer

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Montana, Tom Sengewalt, Brent D. Chicken

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Missouri, Heather Graham

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Michigan, M. Vafa Barissi

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Maryland, Tia L. Churchfield

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Louisiana, Garrett Korbitz

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Kentucky, Gary Holland

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.