Environmental Law Commons^™

Removing Carbon Dioxide Through Seaweed Cultivation: Legal Challenges And Opportunities, Korey Silverman-Roati, Michael B. Gerrard, Romany M. Webb

Faculty Scholarship

Scientists increasingly agree that carbon dioxide removal will be needed, alongside deep emissions cuts, to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. A wide variety of technologies and strategies have been proposed to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. To date, most research has focused on terrestrial-based approaches, but they often have large land requirements, and may present other risks and challenges. As such, there is growing interest in using the oceans, which have already absorbed more than a quarter of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, and could become an even larger carbon sink in the future.

This paper explores …

Review Of 2020 Cases Under Seqra, Michael B. Gerrard, Edward Mctiernan

Faculty Scholarship

The courts decided 47 cases under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) in 2020. Of these, in the great majority – 31 – the courts upheld, or at least left alone, agencies’ decisions that a particular action did not require the preparation of a full environmental impact statement (EIS); in seven the courts rejected such decisions; and in eight the courts upheld EISs that had been prepared. (One case was unclassifiable.) The Court of Appeals issued no SEQRA decisions in 2020.

4°C, J. B. Ruhl, Robin K. Craig

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

In March 2020, while the world's attention was focused on the coronavirus pandemic, an international team of eighty-nine polar scientists from fifty organizations reported that Greenland and Antarctica are losing ice six times faster than they were in the 1990s. Based on satellite data, the research team concluded that "if the current melting trend continues, the regions will be on track to match the 'worst-case' scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of an extra 6.7 inches (17 centimeters) of sea-level rise by 2100." One month later, in Siberia, "the small town of Verkhoyansk (67.5°N latitude) reached 100.4 …

Connecting Ecosystem Services Science And Policy In The Field, J. B. Ruhl, James Salzman, Craig A. Arnold, Robin Craig, Keith Hirokawa, Lydia Olander, Margaret Palmer, Taylor H. Ricketts

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Conservation and provision of ecosystem services (ES) have been adopted as high-level policy in many countries, yet there has been surprisingly little application of these broad policies in the field; for example, ES are rarely considered in permit issuance or other discrete agency actions. This large implementation gap arises in part because the science that drove general policy interest in ES differs from the science needed for practical application. A better understanding of the environmental policy toolkit can guide more effective research to support agency decisions. Here, we outline the framework used to teach environmental policy instruments through the “Five …

Prevention And Cure, Michael Pappas

Publications

Laws can address harms in two distinct yet intersecting ways. They may intervene to prevent harms from occurring, or they may allow harms to arise and then try to cure them.

Whether operating separately or in tandem, prevention and cure approaches pervade laws, policies, and individual actions. A landlord may exercise prevention via a "no pets " policy, or she may opt for cure by requiring pet owners to pay a damage deposit and cleaning fee. Alternatively, a combination of prevention and cure governs motorist behavior. Speed limits seek to prevent accidents while negligence liability provides compensation for accident victims. …

Environmental Law, Disrupted By Covid-19, Rebecca Bratspies, Vanessa Casado Peréz, Robin Kundis Craig, Lissa Griffin, Sarah Krakoff, Keith Hirokawa, Katrina Kuh, Jessica Owley, Melissa Powers, Shannon Roesler, Jonathan Rosenbloom, J. B. Ruhl, Erin Ryan, David Takacs

Publications

For over a year, the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about systemic racial injustice have highlighted the conflicts and opportunities currently faced by environmental law. Scientists uniformly predict that environmental degradation, notably climate change, will cause a rise in diseases, disproportionate suffering among communities already facing discrimination, and significant economic losses. In this Article, members of the Environmental Law Collaborative examine the legal system’s responses to these crises, with the goal of framing opportunities to reimagine environmental law. The Article is excerpted from their book Environmental Law, Disrupted, to be published by ELI Press later this year.

Legal And Administrative Pitfalls That May Confront Climate Regulation, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

This paper surveys the legal vulnerabilities and administrative obstacles to the rapid adoption of regulatory measures capable of achieving meaningful GHG reductions. This analysis does not purport to identify which climate policies would be the most effective in the abstract, or in the absence of administrative and legal constraints. Nor does this paper make any claims about what sorts of measures can pass Congress now or in the future. Rather, this analysis seeks to inform the choice of climate strategies by highlighting the risks faced by climate measures once they are enacted by Congress or promulgated by federal regulatory agencies. …

Flooding Their Mailbox: Recommendations For Notifying Residents Of Changes To Fema Flood Maps, Andrew Major, Alston Underwood

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

Prep Tool - Planning For Resilience: Evaluation And Prioritization, Virginia Coastal Policy Center, William & Mary Law School, Institute For Engagement & Negotiation, University Of Virginia

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

The PREP Tool is a three-step process to support local governments in establishing a set of resilience priorities informed by level of risk, resilience efforts to date, and best practices in resilience planning. The tool provides a starting point for local governments who have not yet evaluated their vulnerabilities, assessed impacts, identified resilience-building actions, or developed resilience plans to guide future resilience efforts.

A Quick Guide To Resilience, Virginia Coastal Policy Center, William & Mary Law School

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

The Virginia Coastal Policy Center (VCPC) developed this Guide as a reference for citizens and local governments in Virginia. The Guide also may be used as a resource by local governments as they use the PREP (Planning for Resilience: Evaluation and Prioritization) Tool discussed.

Wolastoqiyik And Mi’Kmaq Grandmothers - Land/Water Defenders Sharing And Learning Circle: Generating Knowledge For Action, Sherry Pictou, Janet Conway, Angela Day

Reports & Public Policy Documents

This report is a summary of the Grandmothers/Defenders’ stories and are interwoven with corresponding news articles, press releases, and other public documents. This is followed by an overview of some of the critical common issues and importantly, strategies for moving forward proposed by the Grandmothers/Defenders.

The Grandmother’s Report is a collection of stories told by Wolastoqiyik Grandmother/Defenders against the Sisson Mine in New Brunswick and Mi’kmaq Grandmothers against the Alton Gas project in Nova Scotia at the event, Indigenous Grandmothers Sharing and Learning Circle: Generating Knowledge for Action, held at the Tatamagouche Centre in Nova Scotia, January 26 to 27, …

Amicus Brief By Amnesty International And Others, Mark Gibney, Gamze Erdem Türkelli, Ashfaq Khalfan, Paula Litvachky, Ana María Suárez Franco, Sara L. Seck, Sigrun Skogly, Nicolás Carrillo-Santarelli, Jernej Letnar Černič, Tom Mulisa, Nicholas Orago, Wouter Vandenhole, Jingjing Zhang

Reports & Public Policy Documents

On September 2, 2020, six Portuguese youth filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights against 33 countries. The complaint alleges that the respondents have violated human rights by failing to take sufficient action on climate change, and seeks an order requiring them to take more ambitious action.

The complaint relies on Articles 2, 8, and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protect the right to life, right to privacy, and right to not experience discrimination. The complainants claim that their right to life is threatened by the effects of climate change in Portugal such …

Preemption: The Continuing Challenge, Richard Briffault

Faculty Scholarship

The decade of the 2010s witnessed the emergence and rapid spread of aggressive state preemption of local government actions. This “new preemption” consists of intentional, extensive, and sometimes punitive state efforts to block local action across a wide range of domains—from firearms regulation to the treatment of immigrants, workplace equity to environmental protection, the scope of anti-discrimination laws to the regulation of the sharing economy. This new preemption has roots going back to the turn of this century, and began to build decades ago, but it took off most dramatically after the Republican takeover of many state governments in 2010, …

Next Mayor Will Inherit Job Of Implementing 2019 Law Setting Building Emissions Caps, Michael B. Gerrard, Edward Mctiernan

Faculty Scholarship

Whoever becomes New York City’s next Mayor will need to pivot quickly to implementing a collection of laws adopted in 2019 and bundled together as the Climate Mobilization Act. These laws are designed to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New York City by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030 and 80% by 2050. Because 70% of the greenhouse gases emitted in New York City are generated by how New Yorkers heat, light and power buildings, the Climate Mobilization Act includes Local Laws 92 and 94, which require that new buildings or buildings undergoing major roof renovations include solar panels …

Potential Tensions Between New York’S Climate Change Laws And Historic Preservation Laws, Michael B. Gerrard, Edward Mctiernan

Faculty Scholarship

For many years, designated historic buildings have been exempt from most energy conservation codes. However, with increased attention to the perils of climate change, some cities – including New York – are adopting strong laws on building energy use that do not have this exemption. Historic preservation laws that have not caught up, and some fire codes, may pose obstacles to the installation of rooftop solar and some other methods to reduce building energy consumption.

Establishing State Responsibility In Mitigating Climate Change Under Customary International Law, Vanessa S.W. Tsang

LL.M. Essays & Theses

As acknowledged in the Paris Agreement’s Preamble, climate change is a “common concern of humankind.” To tackle the anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) at source, State governments played a pivotal role in implementing climate change policies. It thus justifies the approach of looking into the solutions to climate change from a state responsibility perspective. As mentioned by James Crawford, “[a]ny system of law must address the responsibility of its subjects for breaches of their obligations.” The finding of state responsibility in mitigating climate change will complement the treaty-based climate change regime, providing grounds for climate change litigations and policy formulation.

More …

Opportunities For Public Comments On Pending Trap/Pot Fishery Regulations To Protect The North Atlantic Right Whale, Catherine Schluter

Marine Affairs Institute Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Climate Disruption In Canadian Constitutional Law: References Re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, Jocelyn Stacey

All Faculty Publications

This analysis considers the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in References re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2021 SCC 11, in which a majority of the Court upheld as constitutional national carbon pricing legislation. The decision presents an excellent illustration of the legally disruptive nature of climate change. Illustrating that nothing is static in a climate disrupted world—including constitutional law—this article identifies three shifts the Court makes in relation to climate disruption. First, the decision represents a shift away from climate denialism toward a judicial willingness to confront the environmental, social and legal implications of climate change for Canada. Second, …

Sustainability And Waste Imports In China: Pollution Haven Or Resources Hunting, Bowen Li, Antonio Alleyne, Zhaoyong Zhang, Yifei Mu

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Motivations behind a country’s importation of waste are categorized into the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) and the resource hunting hypothesis (RHH). The importation of wastes can lead to environmental sustainability concerns, requiring governments to intervene when the market fails to reduce the negative externalities by strengthening and implementing environmental regulations. Motivated by China’s position within a rapidly growing but environmentally damaging sector of trade, this paper has three goals: (1) to classify the primary hypothesis that governs China’s flow of traded wastes; (2) to verify the heterogeneous impact of the pollution …

Removing Carbon Dioxide Through Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement And Seaweed Cultivation: Legal Challenges And Opportunities, Romany M. Webb, Korey Silverman-Roati, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

This paper explores two ocean-based carbon dioxide removal strategies – ocean alkalinity enhancement and seaweed cultivation. Ocean alkalinity enhancement involves adding alkalinity to ocean waters, either by discharging alkaline rocks or through an electrochemical process, which increases ocean pH levels and thereby enables greater uptake of carbon dioxide, as well as reducing the adverse impacts of ocean acidification. Seaweed cultivation involves the growing of kelp and other macroalgae to store carbon in biomass, which can then either be used to replace more greenhouse gas-intensive products or sequestered.

This paper also examines the international and U.S. legal frameworks that apply to …