Environmental Law Commons^™

Liability And Compensation For Damage Resulting From Co2 Storage Sites, Michael Faure

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Article follows the economic analysis of law as the methodology for analyzing appropriate liability and compensation mechanisms with respect to damages resulting from CO2 storage sites. There are various reasons for employing this approach. One reason is that many have already discussed the design of a liability and compensation scheme for CCS-related damages. But these earlier studies have not yet approached the issue from the angle of an economic analysis of law. The advantage of thismethodology is that attention is paid to the way in which various liability and compensation schemes affect the incentives for prevention of the various …

Electric Vehicles: Rolling Over Barriers And Merging With Regulation, Mark Detsky, Gabriella Stockmayer

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Electric vehicles are merging into the mainstream of transportation. Although the technology still comprises a small fraction of the current market, it ismorewidely available due to competitivepricing, technological improvements, and available state and federal incentives. The benefits of electric vehicles include reduced fossil fuel emissions and associated climate change mitigation, new independence from oil-driven policies in foreignmarkets and international relations, and potential opportunities for increasing and complementing renewable energy electric resources. The risks of widespread electric vehicle deployment are largely thought to involve potential impacts on existingutility generation,distribution, and transmission systems and how the costs of any needed changes to …

Emerging Contaminants In Virginia, Peter L. Defur, Laura E. Williams, Sarah D. Sanford

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Article summarizes the rise of emerging contaminants in waterways in Virginia and nationwide, and how they affect ecological and human health. First, we review the scientific discovery of chemicals that alter hormone systems, reproductive and developmental processes and how these were discovered in waterways. We go on to explain the current state of emerging contaminant regulations, noting that few states have a clear understanding of what chemicals are discharged into surface waters. The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has no national effort in this area, despite congressional interest and action. Finally, we make recommendations for future emerging contaminant control and …

Coal Ash And Groundwater: Past, Present And Future Implications Of Regulation, John Daniels

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Essay – The Toxic Legacy Of Coal Ash On Southeastern Rivers, Waterways, And Reservoirs, Cale Jaffe

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

My talk focuses on what I have called the toxic legacy of coal ash pollution in the Southeastern United States, andmy goal today is to give you all an insight into how we in the environmental community—by which I mean the waterkeepers and riverkeepers—are seeing this issue. I also hope to share with you the perspective of the impacted communities and families that live downstream of these coal ash lagoons.

Message In A Water Bottle: The Call For A Tri-State Tmdl For Western Lake Erie, Lauren Coleman

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Barometer Rising: The Cartagena Protocol On Biosafety As A Model For Holistic International Regulation Of Ocean Fertilization Projects And Other Forms Of Geoengineering, Matthew Hubbard

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Waste Management Vs. Climate Mitigation: How Co2 Sparked A Clash Of Environmental Values, Wesley Dyer

Pace Environmental Law Review

The looming threats of climate change dominate global politics, national and economic security, science, and environmental policy. As such, global, national, regional, local, federal, and state strategies are being developed to slow and mitigate the devastating effects of a warming climate. One such strategy that is slowly being used on a global and national scale is geologic sequestration, where carbon dioxide (CO₂) is captured, compressed to a supercritical state, and injected underground for permanent removal from the atmosphere. At the same time, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulates the transport, storage, and disposal of solid and …

Regulating Ammonium Nitrate Fertilizer Under The General Duty Clause, Drew Levinson

Pace Environmental Law Review

This Article explores how the Clean Air Act’s (CAA) general duty clause can be utilized to prevent catastrophes such as the explosion in West, Texas.

Part II of this Article describes the dangers associated with ammonium nitrate. More specifically, it looks at prior accidents to understand the magnitude of these unanticipated explosions. Part III looks at our current approach to regulating ammonium nitrate fertilizer and the shortcomings of this regulatory regime. Part IV provides an overview of the CAA’s general duty clause. Furthermore, it describes how the general duty clause can be applied to ammonium nitrate fertilizer facilities and the …

Take It To The Limit: The Illegal Regulation Prohibiting The Take Of Any Threatened Species Under The Endangered Species Act, Jonathan Wood

Pace Environmental Law Review

Following the introduction, part II of this article will provide a brief background on the adoption of the Endangered Species Act. Part III will explain that the statute does not authorize the agencies to extend the take prohibition to all threatened species. Part IV will argue that returning to the statutory scheme would result in a fairer distribution of the costs of species protection by imposing the costs of prophylactic protection on agencies and the public generally. Burdening individuals would be a last resort, as Congress intended. Finally, Part V will identify how Congress’ policy is a reasonable way to …

Climate Change Effects On Snow Conditions And The Human Rights Of Reindeer Herders, Stefan Kirchner

Pace Environmental Law Review

By ignoring the needs of indigenous livelihoods, traditional forms of land use that have long been sustainable, new forms of land use and the construction of infrastructure threaten the right of indigenous peoples to engage in traditional livelihoods. It is the aim of this article to analyze the rights of indigenous peoples in the context of primary and secondary effects of climate change. For the purposes of this paper, the term “primary effects” will be used to describe immediate effects of climate change. This includes temperatures which move around freezing instead of being solidly below freezing.

Primary effects of climate …

Us Environmental Injustice Goes Well Beyond Flint, Lauren Carasik

Media Presence

No abstract provided.

Information As A Solution To Encroachment In Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Hugo Fraga, Dr. Brigham Young

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In many parts of the world, the accountability of public agencies to citizens is limited. Graft, corruption, and mismanagement are a way of life. Citizens have few ways to influence official decisions. Many times, the fundamental problem is information. Citizens are not well informed about the services and government policies that directly impact their lives. They also have few ways to convey information about their preferences for policy.

Come And “Take” It: Whooping Cranes, Texas Water Rights, Endangered Species Act Liability, And Reconciling Ecological Scientific Testimony Within The Context Of Proximate Causation, Brett A. Miller

Student Scholarship

Tension between science and the law is a pervading feature of Endangered Species Act (ESA) jurisprudence. Incorporating the scientific discipline of ecology within the legal landscape presents distinct challenges, particularly in comparison with more traditional laboratory sciences. Within the realm of Endangered Species Act liability, the intricacies of nature exacerbate already complicated links of causation, challenging the ability to prove violations of the “take” prohibition. Because uncertainties permeate scientists’ ability to understand complex ecosystem processes, courts should rely on the overarching practicality of common law principles when reviewing ecological testimony.

When evaluating claims that allege violations of the “take” prohibition, …

Alien Invasion! An Ocean Picture Coming To A Sea Near You: An Analysis Of International Frameworks For Aquatic Invasive Species Control, Kelly Cox

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

Aquatic invasive species are marine, estuarine, or freshwater organisms that adversely impact ecosystems they are not native to. Such impacts include long-lasting or permanent damage to habitats, ecosystem balance, and biodiversity. These impacts have a cascading effect on local economies dependent on these natural resources by impeding recreational and commercial activities. Moreover, aquatic invasive species control and management is both complex and challenging due to the lack of physical barriers in aquatic environments to abate or contain the spread of these nuisance species. The Wider Caribbean Region has been notably impacted by the introduction of the non-native lionfish (Pterois volitans) …

Resilience And Raisins: Partial Takings And Coastal Climate Change Adaptation, Joshua Ulan Galperin, Zaheer Tajani

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The increased need for government-driven coastal resilience projects will lead to a growing number of claims for “partial takings” of coastal property. Much attention has been paid to what actions constitute a partial taking, but there is less clarity about how to calculate just compensation for such takings, and when compensation should be offset by the value of benefits conferred to the property owner. While the U.S. Supreme Court has an analytically consistent line of cases on compensation for partial takings, it has repeatedly failed (most recently in Horne v. U.S. Department of Agriculture) to articulate a clear rule. The …

The Green Economy Paradox: A Critical Inquiry Into Sustainability Indexes, Oren Perez

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

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

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

A Community Development Agreement or CDA can be a vital mechanism for ensuring that local communities benefit from large-scale investment projects, such as mines or forestry concessions. In formalizing agreements between an investor and a project-affected community, CDAs set out how the benefits of an investment project will be shared with local communities. In some countries CDAs are required by domestic legislation; in others, they are entered into voluntarily. The most effective CDAs are also 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 …

Environmental Crimes And Imprisonment: Does Prison Work To Prevent And Punish Environmental Criminals?, Rafael Wolff

Dissertations & Theses

Environmental degradation is a global problem. Humans need natural resources to survive and, as those resources are limited, humans’ use of these resources should respect a sustainable pace established by law. There are many approaches to addressing environmental degradation that do not honor the legal limitations and one of them is through criminal law. The question that is posed in this thesis is whether imprisonment, one of the most severe methods of punishment, is a suitable option to repress and prevent environmental crimes.

This thesis is divided in three chapters. The first chapter discusses why environmental crimes are relevant. It …

Book Review: Earth Jurisprudence: Private Property And The Environment, F. Tim Knight

Librarian Publications & Presentations

No abstract provided.