Environmental Law Commons^™

Friends Of The Inyo V. United States Forest Service, Sarah J. Leopard

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Friends of the Inyo v. United States Forest Service provides necessary guidance for categorical exclusion analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the United States Forest Service wrongfully construed NEPA as permissive of applying different categorical exclusions to various components of the same mining project until the project was excluded in its entirety from further environmental review. The Court’s holding establishes two essential rules for evaluating mining proposals on public lands: (1) a categorical exclusion, when applied under § 220.6, must cover the entire scope of a proposed project; and (2) the …

Session 2: The Cases For Industry Self-Regulation And Government Regulation Of Ai, Boaz Ashkenazy, Kevin Bartholomew, Kevin De Liban, Christopher Yoo

SITIE Symposiums

In Session Two of the SITIE 2025 Symposium titled “The Cases for Industry Self-Regulation and Government Regulation of AI,” moderated by Seattle University Technology Ethics Initiative Director and Professor Onur Bakiner, the panelists discuss their perspectives and experiences with AI regulation. They share observations about the industry and delve into the topics of AI complexity, concerns around accountability, the shift to agentic AI, the current state of AI regulation, existing legal guardrails, and their outlook on AI regulation.

Session 1: Guidance From International Regulation Sources, Charlotte Tschider, Marie-Charlotte Roques-Bonnet

SITIE Symposiums

In Session One of the SITIE 2025 Symposium titled “Regulating Artificial Intelligence: From Where and When?”, Professor Mark Chinen moderated a panel featuring Professor Charlotte Tschider and Dr. Marie-Charlotte Roques-Bonnet. The discussion focused on international AI regulation, privacy, data governance, and the EU’s regulatory approach to AI oversight.

8th Annual Innovation And Technology Law Conference: Regulating Artificial Intelligence: From Where And When?, Steven Bender

SITIE Symposiums

Since 2018, the Seattle University School of Law has presented an annual late spring/summer conference on innovation and technology, shifting to a virtual conference in 2020. The virtual format fosters inclusion of national and even international speakers (as this year with Marie-Charlotte Roques-Bonnet, Data Protection/AI Consultant & Research Lead, ID side.eu, joining from France), and participation from a broad base audience, which this year included over 200 registrants who joined live or watched the recording.

Pace Financing: A Legal Guide To Energy And Water Efficiency Funding, James P. Cargas

PEEL Alumni Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Drawing Lines In The Sea: Indigenous Sovereignty Through The Coastal Zone, Tyler Hall

Washington Journal of Social & Environmental Justice

No abstract provided.

(Environmental) Justice For All: Rethinking Environmental Disaster Remedies, Alyssa Umberger

Washington Journal of Social & Environmental Justice

No abstract provided.

Arts-Based Sustainability: From New York To Malawi, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Recognizing that libraries serve multiple constituencies and subject areas, this chapter documents and advocates for development of transdisciplinary arts-based research (ABR) and culture-related projects linked to environmental challenges. Libraries contribute collections and spaces, as well as the research of library and information scientists. Libraries are currently among invisible contributors to sustainability planning and services. The chapter will link this invisibility to the value of what visual arts refer to as negative space elements in subjects ranging from traditional ecological knowledge to environmental science. Library collections, projects, and research contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD) as required to achieve the …

Humans In Nature: Creating Our New Reality Through Ecological, Cultural, Global, Ethical, And Legal Reform, John Head

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Under The Umbrella Of Water Law: Why Rainwater Harvesting Should Constitute A Valid Water Right, Jordann Krouse

Washington Law Review

Rain is a major source of water. It provides for our greatest needs, such as feeding our gardens, crops, rivers, and lakes. As global climate change continues to unfold, the impacts of water availability and water pollution simultaneously grow more urgent. Water rights are a mechanism in the United States’ legal system to allocate, regulate, and manage water as a natural resource. These rights are limited, however, in their coverage and varied in their application. For example, access to rainwater is not a recognized water right despite being a major source of water. The ecological and economic incentives of rainwater …

Are Markets Better Than Law In Achieving Sustainability And Water Security In The Face Of Climate Disruption?, Joseph W. Dellapenna

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sustainability-Competent Lawyering In The International Context, Amy L. Edwards, John C. Dernbach

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Arctic Law: Even More Sustainable? Roles Of The Us And Eu, Joseph F.C. Dimento, Jessica L. Pierucci

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Igniting Action To Reduce Gas Flaring: Real Opportunities. Real Projects. Real Results., Andrew Bernstein, Mark Davis, Thomas Mitro, Perrine Toledano

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Gas flaring is a major global challenge. Despite bold commitments from governments, national oil companies (NOCs), international oil companies (IOCs), and leading independents, global flaring levels have stagnated at around 140–150 BCM per year, emitting up to 1 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases annually, while representing as much as $30 billion per year in potential lost revenue.

Numerous studies have outlined how flared gas can be captured and monetized – through power generation, fertilizers, petrochemicals, LNG and pipeline exports, among other use cases. Substantial reductions in flaring are not only technically achievable but can often create significant commercial value …

The Role Of Advisory Opinions In International Law In The Context Of The Climate Crisis, Maria Antonia Tigre, Armando Rocha

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Between December 2022 and March 2023, three requests for an advisory opinion were submitted to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Furthermore, a request for an advisory opinion from the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCtHPR) is being prepared. As such, 2024–2025 marks an unprecedented moment in global climate litigation: as of November 2024, we are on the verge of having four of the world’s most important international and regional courts and tribunals answering crucial legal questions on the (ex …

Decommissioning Offshore Oil And Gas Infrastructure: Report Of Proceedings, May 2, 2025 Offshore Decommissioning Workshop, Martin Lockman, Ashwin Murthy, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

On May 2, 2025, Ocean Conservancy and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law organized a workshop at Columbia Law School on offshore oil and gas decommissioning in the United States. The overarching goal of the workshop was to bring together offshore law and policy experts to outline a research and policy agenda for offshore decommissioning. Within this broad goal, we sought to (1) identify key opportunities to reform offshore decommissioning law in the United States, both in the short term and over the next decade, (2) identify knowledge gaps and highlight areas for future research, and (3) begin to …

Filling The Sackett Gap: The Private Governance Option, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Elodie O. Currier Stoffel, Steph Tai

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The Supreme Court's decision in Sackett v. EPA reversed fifty years of federal Clean Water Act wetlands protections and removed federal oversight from roughly half of the wetlands in the United States. This Article proposes a viable new conceptual model and tools to close the Sackett Gap-the gap between the wetlands protected before and after Sackett. Scholars have argued for federal measures to fill the Sackett Gap, but these actions face substantial challenges. Congress is unlikely to adopt new wetlands legislation, agencies are constrained by Sackett's expansive language, the end of Chevron deference, and the 2024 presidential election, and lower …

Planning A New Paradigm: Tribal Co-Stewardship And Federal Public Lands Planning, Monte Mills, Martin Nie

Articles

Planning is a critical part of the federal government’s management of the nation’s public lands. Over the last half century, Congress has mandated that each of the four major public land management agencies; the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service, develop and rely on plans to guide their oversight of public lands and resources. Virtually every activity or decision affecting these public lands can be traced back to language in—or missing from—a plan. But, despite the importance of planning, the process by which each agency develops and …

Water Flowing Down Wall Street, Vanessa Casado-Pérez

Faculty Scholarship

Water scarcity is a perennial problem with dire consequences for the United States and governments around the world. A lack of adequate water resources is a systematic cause of environmental harm, economic damage, and societal division. Climate change has exacerbated these problems making water even more valuable and essential.

Financial actors have turned water into the new oil. These large financial actors profiteer from buying and selling water without any interest in its actual use as an input of production. Instead, they typically seek to hold these rights until dire situations, like droughts and fires, cause temporary, but large, spikes …

Opposition To Renewable Energy Facilities In The United States: June 2025 Edition, Matthew Eisenson, Jacob Elkin, Ivonne Norman, Rebecca Coombs, Chadol Kim, Rex Koenig, Suzan Michalski, Eric Quiroz, Josepi Scariano, Ava Teasdale, Victor Tong, Annabel Williams

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Increasing the amount of electricity generated in the United States to power electric vehicles, data centers, and other end uses, while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions will require deploying a massive number of renewable energy facilities at an unprecedented scale and pace. Although many renewable energy facilities are sited without a problem, local opposition often arises. The Sabin Center’s annual report, Opposition to Renewable Energy Facilities in the United States, documents legal obstacles and challenges that arise during the siting process. In particular, the report focuses on: (a) state laws and local ordinances (“restrictions”) that impede the siting and deployment …