Environmental Law Commons^™

Are Some Polluters More Equal Than Others? A Critique Of Caselaw Establishing Preferential Treatment Of Federal Potentially Responsible Parties (Prps) Under Cercla, Dianne K. Leverrier

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Tale Of Three Markets: Comparing The Renewable Energy Experiences Of California, Texas, And Germany, Felix Mormann, Dan Reicher, Victor Hanna

Faculty Scholarship

The Obama administration has repeatedly identified the large-scale build-out of clean, renewable energy infrastructure as a key priority of the United States. The President’s calls for a cleaner energy economy are often accompanied by references to other industrialized countries such as Germany, hailed by many as a leader in renewable energy deployment. Indeed, the share of renewables in Germany’s electricity generation mix is twice that of the United States, and the ambitious “Energiewende” commits the country to meeting 80% of its electricity needs with renewables by 2050. While some praise the German renewables experience as successful proof of concept, others …

Coastal Conservation Association V. United States Department Of Commerce, Taylor R. Thompson

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Eastern Louisiana District Court upheld Amendment 40 to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s Reef Management Plan. The court held that the Gulf Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s proposed rule establishing fishing quotas for the red snapper met all of the statutory guidelines imposed under the Magnusson-Stevens Act.

A Plan To Strengthen The Paris Climate Agreement, Bryan H. Druzin

Res Gestae

Sustainable use of common-pool resources is extremely tricky to maintain. Indeed, the failure of the Kyoto Protocol is a stark testament to this challenge. This short discussion offers a potential solution to this crisis of coordination. This Article proposes a mechanism to mitigate the impact of the tragedy of the commons and help ensure that the world’s nations live up to their commitments under the Paris Agreement. The challenge to international cooperation that the tragedy of the commons creates is pernicious. The question of how to tackle the tragedy of the commons—and I say this without a trace of exaggeration—is …

Industrial Accidents, Natural Disasters And "Act Of God", Michael Faure, Liu Jing, Andri G. Wibisana

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

When Self-Policing Does Not Cut It: Cruising, Rcra, And Hazardous Waste On The High Seas, Chris Ryan, Michelle Bedoya

Barry Law Review

No abstract provided.

Easement Come, Easment Go - The Cemetery Access Easement: The Exemption To The Right To Exclude Whose Time Has Come To Facilitate The Preservation Of Nineteenth-Century Texas Family Cemeteries, J. Dwight Tom

Student Scholarship

This Article discusses the cemetery access easement and access agreements under the lens of an emerging modern theoretical approach—the Social Morality Theory of Property Law. Part II reviews the history of public and private memorials in Texas, preservation efforts of nineteenth-century cemeteries, and other significant Texas historical sites. Part III discusses the cemetery access easement under current Texas law and regulatory schemes. Part IV discusses the obstacles of awareness and access as the greatest threats to the current and future status of nineteenth-century Texas family cemeteries on rural private land. Finally, Part V proposes incentives, approaches, and recommendations to strengthen …

Conservation Easements As A Way To Preserve Wisconsin’S Farmland: Why Wisconsin Should Adopt A Transferable Tax Credit Program, Jennifer E. Krueger

Marquette Law Review

Conservation easements are a tool landowners can use to protect their land and preserve it for generations to come. Given the new emphasis society places on preserving the environment, many states have enacted some form of a conservation easement program where landowners who encumber their property with a conservation easement can receive a benefit for doing so. Wisconsin and Virginia are two states with this type of program. Wisconsin’s conservation easement program allows a landowner to donate his land and the state pays him the difference in the market value. Virginia’s program, on the other hand, allows a landowner to …

Our Corrosive Oceans: Exploring Regulatory Responses And A Possible Role For Tribes, Weston R. Lemay

Washington Law Review

The world’s oceans act as a carbon sink, absorbing roughly twenty-five percent of humanity’s carbon dioxide emissions. As a result, ocean acidity has increased sixty percent since the beginning of the industrial era. Acidification is a burgeoning ocean health crisis—present levels of acidity already threaten species of oyster, plankton, and salmon. Disturbingly, the capacity of the American legal system to respond is unclear: the complexity of climate change-related harms typically precludes a remedy at common law. With respect to mitigating near-shore acidification, this Comment argues that a regulatory strategy utilizing the Clean Water Act’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) regime …

Corporate Agricultural Investment And The Right To Food: Addressing Disparate Protections And Promoting Rights-Consistent Outcomes, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Anna Bulman

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Over the past decade, the world has witnessed heightened corporate interest in large-scale land-based agricultural investment. While such investments can potentially have positive effects for local communities, they also can have wide-ranging negative impacts on human rights, including through forced displacement and the loss of livelihoods. This Article examines the impact of large-scale corporate agricultural investment on the right to food, as well as on human rights more generally. It considers the protections offered by the investment and human rights legal regimes to both corporations and individuals, including recent international developments relating to transnational corporate accountability and efforts to integrate …

Sustainable Development Goals: How Can The Mining Sector Contribute?, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In September 2015, the heads of 193 United Nations (UN) Member States adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030. The agenda provides a successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals, which were adopted in 2000, with a view to ending poverty in all forms and dimensions, protecting the planet, and ensuring prosperity for all.

Land Deals And The Law: Grievances, Human Rights, And Investor Protections, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Lise Johnson, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Land-based investments can create significant grievances for local individuals or communities, and host governments seeking to address those grievances must navigate a complicated landscape of legal obligations and pragmatic considerations. This briefing note, funded by UK aid from the Department for International Development, focuses on practical solutions for governments confronting grievances that arise from large-scale investments in agricultural or forestry projects. It accompanies a more in depth report on similar issues, entitled "Land Deal Dilemmas: Grievances, Human rights, and Investor Protections."

The briefing note considers such solutions in the context of governments’ legal obligations, particularly those imposed by international investment …

Land Deal Dilemmas: Grievances, Human Rights, And Investor Protections, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Lise Johnson, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Land-based investments can create significant grievances for local individuals or communities, and host governments seeking to address those grievances must navigate a complicated landscape of legal obligations and pragmatic considerations. This report, funded by UK aid from the Department for International Development, focuses on practical solutions for governments confronting grievances that arise from large-scale investments in agricultural or forestry projects.

The report considers such solutions in the context of governments’ legal obligations, particularly those imposed by international investment law, international human rights law, and investor-state contracts. Understanding the implications of this diverse range of legal obligations is particularly important in …

Transparency In Land-Based Investment: Key Questions And Next Steps, Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Large-scale investments in agriculture and forestry are often shrouded in secrecy. In many cases, they are negotiated without the involvement of affected communities, approved through opaque decision-making procedures, and governed by legal agreements that are difficult both to access and to understand. This systemic lack of transparency impedes accountability and exacerbates ongoing disagreements about the real costs and benefits for investors, host countries, and their citizens.

Jointly authored by CCSI and the Open Contracting Partnership, this briefing note examines why contract disclosure and a contracting process that is open, accessible, and inclusive are important; what such transparency entails; and how …

Recommending Transparency In Land-Based Investment: A Summary Of Relevant Guidelines And Principles, Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

An emerging consensus on the need for greater transparency in land-based investment is increasingly evident across various forums. This document consolidates recommendations regarding transparency featured in guidelines and principles published by international organizations, government agencies, and multilateral or multi-stakeholder groups. Viewed together, these recommendations offer insight on the evolving narrative on transparency in land-based investment, assist stakeholders in addressing the issue of transparency, and provide an informed starting point for further analysis.

Emerging Practices In Community Development Agreements, Jennifer Loutit, Jacqueline Mandelbaum, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Community Development Agreements (CDAs) have the potential to facilitate the delivery of tangible benefits from large-scale investment projects, such as mines or forestry concessions, to affected persons and communities. To be effective, however, CDAs must be adapted to the local context, meaning that no single model agreement or process will be appropriate in every situation. Nonetheless, leading practices are emerging which can be required by governments, voluntarily adopted by companies, and demanded by communities. These practices are grounded in ensuring that all parties are sufficiently informed, capacitated, and prepared to engage in meaningful negotiations regarding how the investor’s operations should …

Thawing Out: The Role Of The Arctic Council Service In A Melting Arctic, Taylor J. Enos

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

With the changing natural and political climate of the Arctic, conflicts over resource extraction and navigation will become inevitable. Empowering an intergovernmental institution like the Arctic Council Service may be the only solution. This paper analyzes the importance and history of the Arctic as a political environment, which is prone to abuse in the very near future at the hands of Russia and the United States.

Recapturing Water For Sustainability Through Redefinitions Of Navigability And Ownership, Shelby D. Green

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In Defining "Navigability": Balancing State Court Flexibility and Private Rights in Waterways, 36 Cardozo L. Rev. 1415 (2015), Maureen Brady explains that over the last two centuries, state courts have broadened the concept of navigability, and applied the new definitions to alter existing land titles. As a consequence, many non-navigable waterways have become navigable waterways, increasing public ownership and extinguishing private rights.

Has Blue Overshadowed Green?: The Ecological Need To Eradicate Hunting Blue Laws, Allie Humphreys

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

The Oso Landslide: Disaster Management Law In The Space Age, Paul B. Larsen

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.