Environmental Law Commons^™

Moat Mentality: Onshore And Offshore Approaches To Wind Waking, K.K. Duvivier, Brendan T. Mooney

Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies

Wind energy developers are becoming increasingly aware of the damaging impact of wakes from turbines. To deal with the issue on land, many terrestrial developers have adopted a "moat mentality," creating buffer zones around their wind plants' to protect them from neighboring wind developments. While these "moats" may protect the investment of a particular wind developer, they render large areas that could be generating electricity into unproductive waste zones. US offshore wind development is in its nascence. This article will explore ways that offshore wind developers are addressing waking issues and whether they can find more collaborative solutions to maximize …

Note: The Weakest Link In Greenhouse Gas Emissions Regulation: A Comparative Study Of Methane Waste Law In The United States, Vienna Bottomley

Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies

In this comparative study, I will analyze the various methods employed by states for monitoring and curtailing methane leakage in comparison with approaches that have been employed at the federal level. I will juxtapose the regulatory regimes of Colorado, North Dakota, New York, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and California with the Obama Administration methane leakage regulations, including the 2016 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) "methane waste rule" regulations that the Trump Administration formally rolled back in September 2018. Finally, I will consider what the failure of the Obama Administration methane leak regulations means for climate change law in the United States …

Foreword, Peter C. Burns

Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies

There is still much work to do to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. Yet, we have made substantial progress in gaining a global understanding that using alternative energy sources will curb global warming and preserve Earth's resources. The hurdle of economic gain and political acceptance still remains a challenge. At the Center for Sustainable Energy at Notre Dame (ND Energy), we engage with faculty and associated researchers on these very issues and work to advance new technologies and energy systems in the hope of addressing these challenges and helping to attain the United Nations' …

Non-Legislative Rules Need Scrutiny Too: The Curious Case Of The Appropriate Care Standard, Ryan Mitchell

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

A Solution To Plastic Pollution? Using International Law To Shape Plastic Regulation In The United States, Allyssa Rose

UC Law Environmental Journal

The single-use plastic bag has become a prolific symbol of plastic pollution across the world. These convenient, lightweight bags may clog drainage systems or become a lethal snack for animals when not recycled properly. Due to the social and environmental harms caused by these bags, countries across the world have implemented legislation to tax plastic bags, or in some cases, ban their use all together. This paper seeks to identify the difference in approaches used by the Global North and Global South to determine the best approach for the United States to implement. Zealous advocacy on behalf of the plastics …

A Tale Of Two Portlands: How Port Cities Can Survive Dormant Commerce Clause Challenges To Fossil Fuel Shipping Restrictions, Kayla Race

UC Law Environmental Journal

Five port cities—Portland, Oregon; South Portland, Maine; Oakland, California; Longview, Washington; and Salt Lake City, Utah—have something in common: they all restricted the handling of fossil fuels at their shipping terminals. Moreover, impacted industries have responded with nearly identical dormant Commerce Clause-based lawsuits against the first four of those localities. This Article examines how much latitude cities have under the dormant Commerce Clause to restrict the handling of fossil fuels at their ports, using as case studies two recent court decisions upholding the ordinances of Portland, Oregon and South Portland, Maine under the dormant Commerce Clause. In addition, because the …

The Environmental Protection Agency Turns Fifty, Jonathan Adler

Faculty Publications

In anticipation of the fiftieth anniversary of the EPA’s founding, the Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Law and the Case Western Reserve Law Review sponsored a symposium to look at the past, present, and future of the EPA. The conference featured an array of environmental-law and -policy experts, including individuals who served in environmental-policy positions in each of the last four presidential administrations, as well as the current EPA Administrator, Andrew Wheeler.

This article is an introduction for the articles from this conference that are published in this special symposium issue of the law review.

Pioneers Of Environmental Law, Jan G. Laitos, John Copeland Nagle

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This book is intended to introduce the reader to examples of some of the persons who helped to invent and develop the field of environmental law. Some of these pioneers are well known; some are more obscure, but still have played critical roles in field of environmental law. A “pioneer” is among the first to explore a new area. And a pioneer of environmental law may be one who (1) first recognized the importance of the natural environment, (2) helped to invent the relatively new doctrine of environmental law and then ensured that it would survive, or (3) once the …

Sensitive Species Data In Colorado’S State And Local Government Decision-Making, Kevin J. Lynch, Marissa Hoffman, Katherine Klein, John Molera, Merrily Newcomb, Sarah Matsumoto, Wyatt Sassman, Natalie Norcutt

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This report addresses the use of sensitive species data in Colorado at both the state and local levels. At the state level, this research focuses on environmental statutes and regulations, permitting authority in various state agencies, and processes for identifying and dealing with sensitive species. At the local level, the focus is on the role of sensitive species data in development proposals, as well as the varying level of detail required for considering sensitive species data in in local government decision-making.

Principally, this report identifies: (1) areas where statutes and regulations require the consideration of sensitive species data; (2) areas …

Examining The Ethics Of Environmental Offsets: A Response To Biocentric Objections To Biodiversity Offsetting, Meredyth Merrow

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Asian Carp, The Chicago Area Water System, And Aquatic Invasive Species Management In The Great Lakes, Charles Lyons

UC Law Environmental Journal

Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) management is an essential component to the health, integrity, and conservation of the Great Lakes as a whole. Asian carp is the most recent AIS threat to the region. While litigation and interstate agreements have not stemmed the fear of the potential effects of the introduction of Asian carp to the Great Lakes, it has encouraged agency action to address the issue. However, the success of implementing proposed measures requires funding and congressional approval with questions regarding their efficacy remaining unknown. Due to the lack of a comprehensive overarching federal statute addressing AIS management in its …

The Growing Problem Of Space Debris, Sophie Kaineg

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Climate Change, Regionalism, And Universalism: Elegy For The Arctic And The Antarctic?, Ottavio Quirico

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Northern Plains Resource Council V. United States Army Corps Of Engineers, Liz M. Forster

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Environmental activist and indigenous rights groups have challenged the validity of the Keystone XL Pipeline since its initial approval in 2010. In April 2020, less than a month after crews broke ground, the opposing groups notched a major win when the United States District Court for the District of Montana revoked a key permit for the project on the grounds that the United States Army Corps of Engineers had inadequately assessed the pipeline’s impact on endangered species.

Land Use Strategies That Mitigate Climate Change, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article discusses techniques and strategies that municipal governments can employ to mitigate climate change, of which land use and municipal law lawyers should be aware.

Constitutionalizing Nature's Law: Dignity And The Regulation Of Biotechnology In Switzerland, James Toomey

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The Swiss Constitution was amended by referendum in 1992 to include two unique provisions: Article 119, which imposes strict limits on genetic and reproductive technologies in humans in order to protect ‘human dignity’, and Article 120, which commits the Swiss federal government to limiting genetic technologies in non-human species on the basis of the ‘dignity of the creature’. This article analyzes the role of ‘dignity’ as a limit on biotechnologies in the Swiss constitutional order. It concludes that the understanding of dignity the constitution embraces codifies a contestable metaphysical theory of value at the constitutional level. Specifically, the Swiss constitutional …

Overview: Will Great Power Politics Threaten Arctic Sustainability?, Yoon Hyung Kim, Oran R. Young, Robert W. Corell, Lawson W. Brigham, Jong Deog Kim, Arild Moe, Charles E. Morrison, David Vanderzwaag

Reports & Public Policy Documents

The eight Arctic states (Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Russian Federation, and the United States) wish to maintain a position of preeminence when it comes to dealing with matters of Arctic Ocean governance. However, major non-Arctic states, while recognizing the sovereign rights of the coastal states in their economic zones and on their continental shelves, have growing interests in the maritime Arctic relating to activities such as commercial shipping, oil and gas development, fishing and ship-based tourism. They are increasingly claiming to have a legitimate interest in being consulted when it comes to addressing matters relating to the …

Climate Change, Coming Soon To A Court Near You – Report Three: National Climate Change Legal Frameworks In Asia And The Pacific, Dena Adler, Hillary Aidun, Michael Burger, Ama Francis, Briony Eales, Maria Cecilia T. Sicango

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

National legal and policy frameworks underpin international climate action because they are the backbone of domestic responses to the climate emergency. Unless they support global objectives, local climate action stalls. Concerned by sluggish national responses to climate change or injured by its impacts, citizens are filing lawsuits, making courts central to national climate governance. To adjudicate these lawsuits, courts require current information about their climate change legal and policy frameworks. This report provides holistic syntheses of the climate legal and policy frameworks of 32 countries in Asia and the Pacific and discusses key legislative trends and climate-relevant constitutional rights.

Acknowledgement, Melanie Mcnett, Julia Shaver

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Designing Law To Enable Adaptive Governance Of Modern Wicked Problems, Barbara Cosens

Articles

In the twenty-first century, our planet is facing a period of rapid and fundamental change resulting from human domination so extensive it is expected to be visible in the geologic record. The accelerating rate of change compounds the global social-ecological challenges already deemed "wicked" due to conflicting goals and scientific uncertainty. Understanding how connected natural and human systems respond to change is essential to understanding the governance required to navigate these modern wicked problems. This Article views change through the lens of complexity and resilience theories to inform the challenges of governance in a world dominated by such massive and …