Environmental Health and Protection Commons^™

Navigating Murky Waters: State-Level Strategies For Wetland Preservation And Tile Drainage Regulation After Sackett V. Epa, Caleb M. Swanson

Honors Thesis

Wetlands are some of the world’s most valuable ecosystems, serving as provisioners of species habitat, carbon sequestration, flood mitigation, water quality purification, and other ecosystem services. Human development has resulted in substantial wetland loss the world over. In the 1970s, the United States Congress passed the Clean Water Act, giving the EPA broad authority over wetland protection. However, in the summer of 2023, the United States Supreme Court decided Sackett v. EPA, limiting the EPA’s jurisdiction over wetlands to those indistinguishably connected to generally recognized “Waters of the United States” and removing federal protection for millions of acres of wetlands, …

Environmental War, Climate Security, And The Russia-Ukraine Crisis, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

This Article addresses the Russia-Ukraine conflict’s broad implications for energy security, climate security, and environment protections during wartime. I assert that in the short-term the Russian-Ukraine war is poised to hinder much-needed international climate progress. It will stymie international decarbonization efforts and cause greater uncertainty in other climate-destabilized parts of the world, such as the Arctic. While Russia has become a pariah in the eyes of the United States and other Western nations, it has forged new partnerships and capitalized on new, lucrative energy markets outside the West and Global South. But in the long term, the global renewable energy …

Maurer Environmental Law Expert Is Lead Author On Science Insights Policy Forum Article, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Environmental champions and conservationists will mark the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act later this month. That is the law requiring federal agencies to use all methods necessary to prevent extinctions and ensure that federal actions not jeopardize the continued existence of species on the brink of disappearing from the face of the Earth.

In the leadup to the December 27th anniversary, several publications have begun examining the Act’s history and impact over five decades.

Science, the world’s third-most influential scholarly journal based on Google Scholar citations, invited experts from around the country to look ahead as well …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Maurer Environmental Law Expert Is Lead Author On Science Insights Policy Forum Article, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

The Indiana University Maurer and McKinney Schools of Law jointly will convene leading scholars and practitioners to discuss the implications of the 2023 United States Supreme Court case of Sackett v. EPA. The event, “Sackett v. EPA: What the Supreme Court’s Decision Means for Regulation and Wetlands Conservation,” will take place November 10 in the Wynne Courtroom and Steve Tuchman and Reed Bobrick Atrium at IU McKinney in Indianapolis.

Organizing And Communicating Health: A Culture-Centered And Necrocapitalist Inquiry Of Groundwater Contamination In Rural West Bengal, Parameswari Mukherjee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As a discursive point of praxis, this dissertation project seeks to record knowledge from below around the overlaps between health, water and health interventions emerging from rural communities located in North 24 Parganas and Purulia in West Bengal that are disproportionately impacted by water-insecurity. My dissertation also documents how multiple-stakeholders such as local NGOs, international NGOs, non-profits, and donor agencies organize access to safe water and health interventions for the water-insecure communities located in North 24 Parganas and Purulia. The integration of the CCA and necrocapitalism afford theoretical and methodological guidance in this dissertation to help document the localocentric stories …

Environmental Justice Mapping In The U.S. Pacific Island Territory Of Guam, Ben Rocha

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

Academics, regulators, and the public currently use geospatial analysis tools to identify locations that may be candidates for further environmental justice review in the continental United States (U.S.). However, current environmental justice geospatial analysis tools overlook a small but significant portion of the U.S. - the U.S. Pacific Islands. This study analyzes environmental justice within the U.S. Territory of Guam using existing geospatial analysis methods and publicly available environmental, climate, and socio-economic data to: (1) Spatially map relevant demographic and environmental data and (2) determine the correlation, if any, between the exposure to environmental hazards and the socio-economic status of …

Environmental Racism In Baltimore: A Geographical Study Into The Connections Between Environmental Toxins And Public Health, Genevieve Block

Honors Theses

An investigation into the relationship between environmental toxins and environmental racism in Baltimore City, Maryland.

Can Environmental Law Solve The "Forever Chemical" Problem?, Mark P. Nevitt, Robert V. Percival

Faculty Articles

Although federal environmental law purports to provide the public with comprehensive protection against chemical risks, the U.S. chemical industry is characterized by self­ regulation. This self-regulation is exemplified by the dangers posed by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (''PFAS'')­ broad classes of persistent toxic substances that have now entered nearly every American's bloodstream and hundreds of public drinking water systems. Despite data linking exposure to these "forever chemicals" to cancer, infertility, and a host of other public health harms, environmental law has failed to safeguard the American people from PFAS' toxic legacy. How did this occur? And what should be done …

The Water Is On Fire: Current Circuit Approaches To Fee-Shifting In Citizen-Suits Under The Clean Water Act And The Need For Clearer And More Uniform Standards, Charles Kinley

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Note will start by providing a short explanation of the origins of and congressional goals for the fee-shifting provision in the CWA [Clean Water Act]. It will then offer a brief summary of how Supreme Court precedent has both clarified and confused this issue. Then, it will dive into an examination of how the different circuits and their district courts have interpreted the CWA’s fee-shifting provision and how these interpretations have struggled with past Supreme Court decisions. Finally, this Note will explore the costs and benefits associated with these fee-shifting standards and offer a potential solution to this problem. …

Bolstering Juliana: Enforceability Of Environmental Claims Through International Treaty Obligations In U.S. Courts, Lindsey Laielli

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming.

Research On Legal Problems In And Countermeasures For Prevention And Control Marine Environment Pollution By Ships, Dapeng Sun

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

Final 2021 Residential Metals Abatement Program (Rmap) West Elementary School Soil Remedial Action Work Plan (Rawp), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Associations Between Exposure To Air Pollution After A Dust Event And Hospitalizations., Estrella De Jesus Herrera-Molina

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Southwestern region has been identified as one of the most persistent dust producing regions of North America. Exposure to inhalable particulate matter (PM10) originating from desertic landscape during dust events/dust exposures (DEs) can reach hazardous levels. El Paso, Texas’s ambient air has reached hazardous levels of PM10 above 4000 μg/m3 with near zero visibility due to these natural events. There are very few prior studies in the southwestern United States pertaining to the associations between exposure to atmospheric aerosol after DEs and hospitalizations, nor are there many epidemiological studies globally in dusty environments where most of the atmospheric aerosol …

Environmental Rhetoric And An Ecology Of Transcendence: A Rhetorical Criticism Of Awake, A Dream From Standing Rock, Alyssa Kahn

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

My project blends Burkean theory with Indigenous rhetoric to argue that the counter- story of Awake proposes an ecology of transcendence to make sense of human-nature relationships. I wanted to analyze Awake A Dream From Standing Rock. The documentary is explicitly about Indigenous peoples. This documentary tells the story of the peaceful protests and resistance led by Native people at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation or Lakota Tribe in North Dakota. The activists were protecting the water otherwise known as water protectors/warriors from the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The assembly of DAPL is intended to carry perforated …

Final 2021 Residential Metals Abatement Program (Rmap) School Soil Sampling Field Sampling Plan (Fsp) Submittal #3 [Covering Emerson Elementary, Headstart (Former Lincoln School), Headstart (Former Monroe School), & Margaret Leary Elementary], Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Final 2021 Residential Metals Abatement Program (Rmap) School Soil Sampling Field Sampling Plan (Fsp) Submittal #2 (Covering Highland View Christian School, Hillcrest Elementary, Kennedy Elementary, Silver Bow Montessori, & West Elementary), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Final 2021 Residential Metals Abatement Program (Rmap) School Soil Sampling Field Sampling Plan (Fsp) Submittal #1 (Covering Ramsay Elementary School), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Too Little, Too Late: Congress's Attempt To Regulate Forever Chemicals Through Military Appropriations, Michael Heard Snow

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, shortened to “PFAS,” are a broad class of approximately 4,000 to 6,000 industrial chemicals characterized by a carbon chain saturated with fluorine molecules. This structure, dominated by carbon-fluorine bonds, is one of the most stable known chemical structures—and it is this stability that lies at the core of both the usefulness and the greatest issues surrounding PFAS. They are generally non-reactive except at tailored “active sites” and they never break down naturally—leading to the nickname “forever chemicals.” The persistence of their structures creates a plethora of desirable characteristics: PFAS are grease-resistant, waterproof, fireproof, stain-proof, and chemically …

How A Low-Cost Method For Cumulative Water-Sampling Shows Need For Improvement Of Legal Public-Contact Standards In The United States, Samuel C. Kessler

Grawemeyer Colloquium Papers

Across the world, it is estimated that 4.5 billion people live near water sources “impaired” for use or contact. Standards for human-interaction are established by international organizations such as the WHO, and legislative bodies from national to local levels with jurisdiction over the quality of our waterways to ensure public & environmental health. Standards are often assessed from “grab-samples” taken from a waterbody at a certain time, with a minimum number analyzed. Water-quality standards in the United States are enforced under the Clean Water Act (CWA) via the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), applying to “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). …

Draft Final Solid Media Management Program Plan, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

From Emission Trade Sysytem To Carbon Offset: Status And Progress Of Emission Control In Shipping Industry, Zhili Yao

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Community-Driven Climate Solutions: How Public-Private Partnerships With Land Trusts Can Advance Climate Action, Jessica Grannis

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

In 2018 and 2019, several landmark developments demonstrated the failings of past efforts to address climate change and the need for new and more ambitious solutions. In October 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”) released a dire report indicating that the window is rapidly closing for countries to dramatically reduce emissions in order to avoid the worst consequences of climate change and predicting dramatic consequences to the environment and public health if countries fail to take action; young activists started taking to the streets to demand more ambitious action to address climate change; and, at the 25th Conference …

Shifting Public Perception: Climate Change Means Living With Fire And Smoke, Robert Froembling

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

The urgency to prepare for the climate crisis has never been greater. We are currently living in the sixth mass extinction and the effects are only going to accelerate. We will inherit more wildfires, larger wildfires, and more frequent wildfires.

This piece is not meant to stoke fear in its readers or be depressing, but to shift public perception on what our future holds by evaluating the laws and science presented to us. This piece will look at regional and federal regulations and assess the increased rate of forest fires and the grave public health concerns from stagnant smoke specifically …

The Lasting Impacts Of Mass Consumerism And The Disposable Culture: A Proposition For The Development Of Plastic Shopping Bag Bans In Texas Law, David Brewster

St. Mary's Law Journal

This Article addresses the developing state of plastic bag bans in Texas municipal and state jurisprudence. The Article recites the history of plastic bag bans and their impacts on the environment, the issues pertinent to municipal powers as regulatory devices, and analyzes the most recent case regarding bag bans in Texas, which is the Texas Supreme Court’s opinion in City of Laredo v. Laredo Merchants Association. The Article makes suggestions about how to move forward in developing municipal plastic bag bans for the benefit of the environment, and addresses the immediate impacts of bag ban litigation and legislation in …

Governance Of Arctic Shipping: Rethinking Risks, Human Impacts And Regulation, Aldo Chircop, Floris Goerlandt, Claudio Aporta, Ronald Pelot

OER Texts

This open access book is a result of the Dalhousie-led research project Safe Navigation and Environment Protection, supported by a grant from the Ocean Frontier Institute’s the Canada First Research Excellent Fund (CFREF). The book focuses on Arctic shipping and investigates how ocean change and anthropogenic impacts affect our understanding of risk, policy, management and regulation for safe navigation, environment protection, conflict management between ocean uses, and protection of Indigenous peoples’ interests. A rapidly changing Arctic as a result of climate change and ice loss is rendering the North more accessible, providing new opportunities while producing impacts on the Arctic. …

Texas Landfills: The Need For Administrative Reform Of The Texas Commission On Environmental Quality’S Permitting Process, William Todd Keller Jr.

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming

Remaking Environmental Justice, Clifford Villa

Faculty Scholarship

From movements for civil rights in the 1960s and environmental protection in the 1970s, the environmental justice movement emerged in the 1980s and 1990s to highlight the disparate impacts of pollution, principally upon people of color and low-income communities. Over time, the scope of environmental justice expanded to address concerns for other dimensions of diversity. New and continuing challenges tell us that we need to reframe our understanding of environmental justice to ensure better protection for people going forward. One way to reframe this understanding may be to apply the heuristic of vulnerability analysis as proposed by legal theorist Martha …

An Exploration Of Zero Waste Policies And Recommendations For Missoula, Sarah Blyth Lundquist

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

“Zero Waste” is a concept and community goal that has arisen to challenge the current consumerist economic system and offer solutions for a number of environmental issues. In adopting this goal, individuals and communities pledge to reduce and divert at least 90% of their waste in a certain number of years. These goals can be reached by employing policies, programs, and other intervention tactics which establish Zero Waste infrastructure, ensure equitable and widespread access to Zero Waste services, and provide educational outreach and resources to the community. Missoula adopted a Zero Waste goal in 2016 and created a Zero Waste …

Compensation For Marine Environmental Damage From Ship-Source Pollution, Sinhyok Pak

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.