Environmental Law Commons^™

The Rise Of Rights-Based Climate Litigation And Germany's Susceptibility To Suit, Marc A. R. Zemel

Fordham Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Toward A National Conservation Network Act: Transforming Landscape Conservation On The Public Lands Into Law, Robert B. Keiter

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

The United States has made a remarkable commitment to nature conservation on the federal public lands. The country’s existing array of national parks, wilderness areas, national monuments, wildlife refuges, and other protective designations encompasses roughly 150 million acres, or nearly 40 percent of the “lower 48” federal estate. A robust land trust movement has protected another 56 million acres of privately owned lands. Advances in scientific knowledge reveal that these protected enclaves, standing alone, are insufficient to protect native ecosystems and at-risk wildlife from climate change impacts and unrelenting development pressures. Abetted by existing law, conservation policy is now focusing …

Law Professor Amicus Brief In Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association V. Ross Regarding The Legality Of The Northeast Canyons And Seamounts Marine National Monument, Robin Kundis Craig

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

This amicus brief discusses how, under domestic law, the President can establish national monuments, pursuant to the Antiquities Act, in the ocean. It focuses on the seabed's status as "land owned or controlled by the federal government" under U.S. law, as the Antiquities Act requires, and on the President's authority to regulate fishing within marine national monuments.

Front Matter, Michigan Journal Of Environmental & Administrative Law

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Front matter for Volume 7, Issue 2 of Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Wilderness, Luck & Love: A Memoir And A Tribute, Neil Kagan

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

In 1984, Congress preserved 8.2 million acres of roadless federal lands as "wilderness," nearly matching the acreage set aside in the Wilderness Act of 1964. Congress also created the most new wilderness areas ever in a single year, by far. Wilderness Connect, Number of Wilderness Areas Designated by Year, https://wilderness.net/practitioners/wilderness-areas/summary-reports/wilderness-areas-designated-by-year.php.

I brought two lawsuits in 1983 that proved to be the catalyst responsible for breaking the years-long impasse that had previously stymied the protection of these pristine wildlands. The lawsuits also pushed Congress to preserve more wildlands as wilderness than it would have otherwise.

This article describes the lawsuits, …

Tiny Things With A Huge Impact: The International Regulation Of Nanomaterials, Dario Picecchi

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Mounting evidence demonstrates that nanotechnology and nanomaterials impose severe environmental risks. To minimize these risks, the usage and handling of certain nanomaterials could be addressed under existing treaties such as the Rotterdam Convention, the Stockholm Convention, and the Basel Convention. However, even if existing treaties govern the handling of certain nanomaterials, no treaty effectively regulates all the specific challenges that nanomaterials pose to the global environment. Consequently, a completely new regulatory instrument is required. An international organization could take responsibility for developing and promoting such a nanospecific international legal framework. By incorporating the precautionary principle, a technology transfer, research cooperation, …

Protecting Cultural Rights In The South Pacific Islands: Using Unesco And Marine Protected Areas To Plan For Climate Change, Elizabeth Thomas

Fordham Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Take This Job And Shove It: The Pragmatic Philosophy Of Johnny Paycheck And A Prayer For Strict Liability In Appalachia, Eugene "Trey" Moore Iii

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

Judge Merhige's Environmental Decisions: Expert Handling Of Groundbreaking Environmental Rulings And Complex Federal Jurisdictional Questions, Jim Vines

University of Richmond Law Review

It is a special privilege for me to contribute to this edition of the University of Richmond Law Review honoring Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr. Here, I seek to highlight his contributions to United States environmental law. In 1988 and 1989, I was one of two recent law school graduates who clerked for Judge Merhige (“please call me by my first name; it’s ‘Judge’”). The Judge was a larger than life figure. As a federal trial judge, historically important and intellectually challenging cases seemed to find their way into his court in a volume not matched in many other federal …

Lessons From Ten Years Of Household Recycling In The United States, W. Kip Viscusi, Joel Huber, Jason Bell

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Recycling is perhaps the most prevalent pro-environmental activity at the household level. House-holds undertake recycling on their own initiative, though recycling efforts may be influenced by supportive nudges and, in some cases, laws that mandate recycling behavior. However, unlike pro-environmental efforts such as decreasing household energy usage, the success of the household's intention to recycle also hinges on governmental support. People cannot engage in recycling behavior on their own, as there must be some mechanism for collecting the recycled materials and converting them into useable commodities. The availability and nature of the recycling opportunities affect the household's ability to recycle …

Asarco Llc V. Atlantic Richfield Company, Ryan L. Hickey

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liabiltiy Act, commonly known as CERCLA, facilitates cleanup of hazardous waste sites and those contaminated by other harmful substances by empowering the Environmental Protection Agency to identify responsible parties and require them to undertake or fund remediation. Because pollution sometimes occurrs over long periods of time by multiple parties, CERCLA also enables polluters to seek financial contribution from other contaminators of a particular site. The Ninth Circuit clarified the particuar circumstances under which contribution actions may arise in Asarco LLC v. Atlantic Richfield Co., holding non-CERCLA settlements may give rise to CERCLA contribution …

V.2 No.4

Conservation Law Center Newsletter

No abstract provided.

California V. U.S. Bureau Of Land Management, Oliver F. Wood

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction against the Bureau of Land Management from implementing the Suspension Rule, which would delay the requirements of the Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation Rule. Additionally, the court denied the BLM and intervening third parties’ motion to transfer venue to the District of Wyoming. The court held the plaintiffs were entitled to a preliminary injunction because the BLM did not provide a reasoned analysis for the Suspension Rule. This failure to provide meaningful notice and comment was an arbitrary and capricious abuse …

"Un-Designating" Marine Sanctuaries?: Assessing President Trump's America-First Offshore Energy Strategy, Kevin O. Leske

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Climate Change Litigation And Narrative: How To Use Litigation To Tell Compelling Climate Stories, Grace Nosek

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Reframing Humans (Homo Sapiens) In International Biodiversity Law To Frame Protections For Climate Refugees, Jullee Kim

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Currently, application of international environmental law assumes that humans are separate from nature. Yet, the terminology commonly adopted for persons displaced as a result of climate change, “climate refugees,” represents the ultimate expression of the nexus where impacts from both natural and human systems coalesce. “Climate” represents the physical conditions appearing as a result of climate change and altering a person’s home to render it no longer habitable. While suitability of the term “refugees” in the climate change context is debated, it represents the political and societal conditions forcing the person to flee from their home, potentially across national borders, …

Requiescat In Pace: The Cemetery Dedication And Its Implications For Land Use In Louisiana And Beyond, Ryan M. Seidemann

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Incentive Compatible Climate Change Mitigation: Moving Beyond The Pledge And Review Model, Gabriel Weil

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Climate change represents a global commons problem, where individuals, businesses, and nation-states all lack sufficient incentives to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to levels consistent with meeting their collectively agreed upon mitigation goals. The current “pledge and review” paradigm for global climate change mitigation, which many see as a major breakthrough, relies primarily on moral pressure, reputational incentives, and global public opinion to foster cooperation on mitigation efforts over and above those driven by maximization of narrow conceptions of national interests. Given the scale of the emissions reductions required to meet stated mitigation goals, the substantial economic costs of deep …

The Environment And Nafta Policy Debate Redux: Separating Rhetoric From Reality, Linda J. Allen

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Hawai'i Wildlife Fund V. County Of Maui, Lowell J. Chandler

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In Hawai’i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui, the Ninth Circuit held that the plain language of the Clean Water Act provides jurisdiction over indirect discharges of pollutants from a point source into groundwater that is shown to be connected to navigable waters. The court found that studies confirmed pollutants entering the Pacific Ocean were fairly traceable to the County of Maui’s sewage disposal wells. In affirming the district court’s ruling, the Ninth Circuit held that Maui County violated the Clean Water Act by discharging pollutants into a navigable water without the required permit. The court also concluded the …