Environmental Law Commons^™

Private Governance Response To Climate Change: The Case Of Refrigerants, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Shannon Vreeland, Ted Atwood

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Refrigerants are promising targets for private green- house gas (GHG) emissions reduction initiatives. Air conditioning units, fire extinguishers, aerosols, and solvents all contain chemical refrigerants that absorb and release heat. Refrigerants are used to chill food, buildings, and vehicles. Among commercial buildings, office space, health care, food service, and retail sales and service comprise well over 50 percent of all buildings in the United States and contribute a comparable amount of refrigerant emissions. Air Conditioning, Heating, & Refrigeration Insti- tute, AHRI Releases December 2017 U.S. Heating and Cooling Equipment Shipment Data 4 (2017). Certain refrigerants have been identified as ozone …

Mitigating Malheur's Misfortune: The Public Interest In The Public's Public Lands, Sandra B. Zellmer

Faculty Law Review Articles

The Article begins its inquiry with an in-depth look at the forty-one-day long standoff between armed militants and law enforcement officials at Malheur, which means "misfortune" in French. The occupation of the Refuge ended with one death and the prosecution of over two dozen individuals for trespass, destruction of government property, conspiracy, and related charges. It all began when the Hammonds, who held grazing permits on Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") land adjacent to the Refuge, were prosecuted for starting fires on federal land.1 The Hammonds' conviction for the incident might have been the end of the story, but another …

Congress, Let Bicycles Back In, Andrew Applegate

BYU Law Review

The Wilderness Act of 1964 protects certain federal lands in the United States, called “wilderness areas,” from human habitation and development. When the Wilderness Act was first passed, nonmotorized bicycle travel was allowed in wilderness areas. However, in 1984, the United States Forest Service altered its interpretation of the statutory text of the Wilderness Act and banned nonmotorized bicycle travel in wilderness areas. Seeking to reverse the Forest Service’s blanket-ban on bicycles in wilderness areas, bicycle activists sought a legislative remedy. In March of 2017, House Federal Lands Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock introduced House Bill 1349 to the United States …

Balancing Act: Water Quality Protection And Flood Resilience, Samatha Becker

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

Flood resilience efforts and laws designed to protect water quality may not always be compatible under current Virginia law. This paper will discuss two examples in particular. First, there can be tensions between the water quality goals under the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act and efforts to conduct flood resilience projects within 100 feet of the shoreline in Tidewater Virginia. Second, there are significant challenges faced by localities seeking to comply with the Virginia Stormwater Management Program, while also continuing to mitigate the impacts of flooding. These two examples stem from the larger question facing Virginia: as flooding increases, how does …

Beneficial Use Of Dredged Material: Role Of State Permitting Programs And Regulations, Samantha Becker, Sashenka Brauer

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

Beneficial use projects that utilize dredged material will involve several steps: dredging operations, storage of the dredged material, and placement of the dredged material for shoreline resiliency or restoration purposes. Each of these steps implicate different state permitting programs and regulations. Determining which permit programs are applicable will depend on the activity’s impact on the surrounding environment, based on factors such as water quality, and land erosion and degradation. This paper will focus primarily on three questions:

1. Which Virginia permitting programs may apply to the storage of dredged material on an upland site?

2. Which Virginia permitting programs may apply to …

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Dredged Material Ownership: Rights And Reuse, John Bobka, Beth Pindilli

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

This research paper explores ownership rights at sites with material from completed dredging projects, supplying a general overview of this issue. This paper also explores the question of whether quality dredged material stored on a publicly-owned upland site can be used later for other applications.

This abstract has been taken from Section I of the report.

Water Supply Management In Virginia: Lessons From The West Coast, Kristin Mccarthy

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

This paper first provides a brief overview of the two main water rights doctrines: riparian rights in the east, and prior appropriation in the west, with special emphasis on Virginia’s and California’s water laws. This paper next looks at particularly relevant water supply solutions, including bringing the agriculture industry to the table, implementing aquifer storage and recovery and groundwater trading programs, embracing “One Water” plans, and expanding water budgeting laws in the state. Each section first examines the actions that Virginia has already undertaken, before highlighting examples of success in the west and making recommendations for ways in which Virginia …

Phase Ii Ms4 Permit Requirements: A Survey Of Public Education And Outreach & Public Involvement And Participation Efforts, Connor Jennings, Donnie Autry

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

Under the Clean Water Act (CWA), various types of stormwater discharges must be regulated through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program, since the water often flows untreated into local waterways and potentially could contain high levels of pollution and contaminants. Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) consist of any conveyance designed to collect or convey stormwater (e.g., storm drains, underground pipes, gutters, curbs) that are not part of a combined sewer system or water treatment plant. Generally, these systems are owned by municipalities but can also include large users such as public universities, hospitals, and military bases. …

Planning For The "New Normal": Using Build One Portsmouth To Address Flood Resilience, Alison Wrynn, Sarah Simonetti

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

Sea level rise, recurrent flooding, and increasingly severe storms are ever-present threats to coastal Virginia. As climate change becomes the “new normal”, creative solutions are needed to adapt to these stark realities.

In response to these climate-related challenges, Governor Ralph Northam issued Executive Order 24, “Increasing Virginia’s Resilience to Sea Level Rise and Natural Hazards,” on November 2, 2018. The Executive Order designated the Secretary of Natural Resources as the Chief Resilience Officer of the Commonwealth, and set forth various actions intended to increase statewide resilience to natural hazards and extreme weather. Later that same month, Portsmouth released its 2018 …

The Creation Of A Virginia Coastal Resilience Development Authority: An Inventory Of State Coastal Resilience Authorities And Funding Mechanisms To Help Guide Virginia, Kristi Gennette

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

In June 2018, Governor Ralph Northam signed legislation creating a cabinet-level position, the Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection, to lead efforts in addressing coastal resilience and flooding mitigation in Virginia. The following November, Governor Northam signed Executive Order No. 24, which directed the state to increase statewide resilience to natural hazards and extreme weather. This Executive Order directed Virginia to develop a Coastal Resilience Master Plan (CRMP). In order to implement the projects proposed in the CRMP, the Commonwealth will need funding. This paper provides an inventory of various states’ programs for funding coastal resilience …

Tribes, Cities, And Children: Emerging Voices In Environmental Litigation, Nina A. Mendelson

Articles

an environmental nongovernmental organization ("NGO") on behalf of a neighbor or hiker.1 The NGO would allege that the individual faced health risks, that her property was contaminated, or that she could no longer hike, fish, swim, or view wildlife such as the endangered Nile crocodile, as in the well-known case of Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife.

Shareholder Activism And Stakeholder Engagement Strategies: Promoting Environmental Justice, Human Rights, And Sustainable Development Goals, Erika George

Faculty Scholarship

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an ambitious "plan of action for people, planet and prosperity" which seeks to promote peace and eradicate poverty. The Agenda's goals cannot be reached without private sector participation and changes to certain business practices that contribute to adverse environmental and human rights impacts. When natural resources are managed responsibly the resulting economic development can help to eradicate poverty. However, when natural resources are managed poorly, certain extractives industry sector practices can generate or exacerbate human rights abuses, environmental degradation, corruption, and conflict. Fossil fuels are connected to the changing climate. The …

The 2018 Agreement To Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries In The Central Arctic Ocean: A Critical Analysis, Valentin Schatz, Alexander Proelss, Nengye Liu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Following almost ten years of negotiations, the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO F Agreement) was concluded on 3 October 2018 in Ilulissat, Greenland. The CAO F Agreement is the first regional fisheries agreement adopted prior to the initiation of fishing in a specific area, and it has already been lauded as a science-based measure and a manifestation of the precautionary approach by representatives of States and Non- Governmental Organizations. This article provides a critical analysis of the content of the CAO F Agreement. It gives an overview of the negotiations which led …

Public Utilities And Environmental Justice: Electric Restructuring And Deregulation And Low-Income Communities, James W. Moeller

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Thirty years ago, Potomac Electric Power Company ("PEPCO") sold electric power generated by coal-burning power plants located in the Washington region. Today, PEPCO can sell electric power generated by coal-burning and nuclear power plants located in West Virginia, Pennsylvania,and Illinois. By importing electric power from those states, PEPCO can, in effect, export to those states the environmental impact of coal-burning and nuclear power plants that generate power for affluent PEPCO consumers in the District of Columbia and Maryland.This "outsourcing" of electric power generation was made possible by seismic changes in the structure of the electric utility industry wrought by Congress …

The Case For A Mandatory Renewable Portfolio Standard In Virginia: A Case Study Examining Virginia’S Potential For A Mandatory Renewable Portfolio Standard By Comparing Virginia To Maryland And North Carolina, Rebecca Wescott

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Since the early 1980s, states have utilized Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards (“RPSs”) as policy mechanisms to “promote broader investment in renewable energy without requiring passage of a comprehensive energy policy measure that includes a pricing mechanism for carbon.” RPS policies can be drafted in one of two ways: (1) as a mandatory RPS, a legal mandate on what percentage of a state’s power portfolio must come from specific eligible renewable energy sources by a specific date in the future, or (2) as a non-binding or voluntary RPS, a policy goal that recommends that a certain percentage of a state’s power …

How Science Has Influenced, But Should Now Determine, Environmental Policy, Jan G. Laitos

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This is an article about science and environmental law. More specifically, it is an article about two different versions of science, and how each has affected environmental law and the development of environmental policy. The emergence of science-driven environmental law has significantly affected how humans view and respond to the natural world that makes up the biosphere, which is the thin envelope surrounding the Earth that permits the human species to exist. This Article argues that humans, and law-makers, should embrace a different role for science. Instead of science answering “what is” questions, it should also explain the universal laws …

Taking On Water: Winters, Necessity And The Riparian East, Jacqueline Goodrum

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

In the eastern United States, a natural abundance of water has historically satisfied regional water needs. However, rapid population growth and expansive development, as well as changing climate conditions, threaten to deplete and diminish regional water resources. Riparianism, the reigning water rights regime in the American East, is insufficient to address concerns arising from these emerging forces because it assumes sufficient water will be available for all users. Recent interstate disputes, such as Virginia v. Maryland and Florida v. Georgia, highlight a new hydrological reality characterized by not only increased consumption of eastern water resources, but also by increased …

Galactic Preservation And Beyond: A Framework For Protecting Cultural, Natural, And Scientific Heritage In Space, Matthew Rosendahl

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

In July 2017, Moon Express, a private spaceflight company, announced plans to build an outpost on the South Pole of the Moon by 2020. The goal? To mine the Moon for minerals and water that could then be sold for profit. Indeed, the Moon has been found to possess resources with lucrative uses, both in space and here on Earth. The potential for huge rewards has incentivized several private and governmental actors to launch planned expeditions to the Moon, with China becoming the third nation to land a spacecraft there in 2013. Both China and India have since announced plans …

International Law Instruments To Address The Plastic Soup, Luisa Cortat Simonetti Goncalves, Michael Gerbert Faure

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

The problem of plastic pollution in the oceans has been increasingly evident after 1997, when the great concentrations of plastics in the oceans were initially publicized. Still, there is a substantial lack of scientific data and research about the sources of plastic pollution, destinations and consequences to nature and human life. The only certainty is that the amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean is alarming and likely will not decrease anytime soon because of its durability and large range of use. Estimates show that, each year, at least 8 million tons of plastics leak into the ocean …

When All Else Fails, Look To The Courts: Using Hybrid Tribunals To Build Judicial Capacity And End Environmental Destruction In Post-Conflict Countries, Reeana Keenen

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

A news report from April 2017 that compiled data from South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, and Yemen stated that each country is either experiencing famine or on the brink. These countries and their link to famine is not coincidental: each country is either in the midst of current armed conflict or trying to piece itself back together following an armed conflict. For example, in South Sudan, violent clashes between South Sudan’s army and a rebel militia resulted in the “razing and burning [of] entire villages.”

Famine and other environmental harms are common in pre- and post-conflict countries, often worsened by the …