Environmental Law Commons^™

Adaptive Planning For Flooding And Coastal Change In Virginia: Legal And Policy Issues For Local Government (Agenda), Virginia Coastal Policy Center, William & Mary Law School, Commonwealth Of Virginia, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science, Virginia Environmental Endowment

2013, Adaptive Planning for Flooding and Coastal Change in Virginia

No abstract provided.

Conservation Congress V. U.S. Forest Service, Katelyn J. Hepburn

Public Land & Resources Law Review

This case involves challenges to the adequacy of the United States Forest Service’s biological assessment authorizing a timber sale in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest of Northern California. The plaintiff requested an injunction under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) alleging that the Forest Service failed to adequately evaluate the effects the timber sale could have on the northern spotted owl’s critical habitat. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the District Court for the Eastern District of California, finding that the Forest Service’s actions did not violate the ESA and that the ESA imposes a lesser requirement than the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) …

Amicus Curiae Brief Of Law Professors On Issue Of Exhaustion In Support Of Petitioners. Epa V. Eme Homer City Generation, 134 S.Ct. 1584 (2014) (Nos. 12-1182, 12-1183), Amy J. Wildermuth, Sanne H. Knudsen

Court Briefs

Amici Curiae are law professors who research, teach, and write on federal environmental and administrative law. They are concerned in this case by the majority's conclusion below that issues related to the interpretation of ambiguous statutory language could be reached even though they were never raised during the rulemaking process. This conclusion is contrary to the clear language of the issue exhaustion requirement articulated in Section 307(d)(7)(B) of the Clean Air Act and contrary to the proper role of reviewing courts under Chevron. As a result, it could have far-reaching impacts for a wide array of administrative cases and …

Issue Brief: Auditing Your Town's Development Code For Barriers To Sustainable Water Management, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

This issue brief is intended for town officials who want to understand how development regulations in their community affect local water resources. Municipal development codes – the set of regulations that control the built environment – can have a great influence on the availability of clean and healthy water for drinking, recreation, and commercial uses. This in turn affects the community’s social, environmental, and economic vitality.

Comprehensive plans, zoning codes, and building standards are just a few examples of regulations that intentionally or unintentionally regulate the way water is transported, collected and absorbed. Regulations that produce dispersed development or large …

Table Of Contents

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

No abstract provided.

Masthead & Front Matter

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

No abstract provided.

A Napoleonic Approach To Climate Change: The Geoengineering Branch, Anthony E. Chavez

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

Climate change is an inevitable consequence of human greenhouse gas emissions. Without substantial changes in anthropogenic causes of climate change, there will be severe negative impacts on our planet. Complete abolition of greenhouse gas emissions, however, is not possible, nor will it necessarily stop the negative impacts of climate change. Therefore, substantial research must be done in geoengineering to understand better how we can positively act to avert significant climate change. Given the practical difficulties and potential effects, there must be comprehensive oversight. Currently, differing national laws makes this difficult. Additionally the United States laws do not properly cover climate …

Environmental Overreach: The Eu’S Carbon Tax On International Aviation, Surya Gablin Gunasekara

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

On November 27, 2012—without the fanfare of a Rose Garden ceremony—President Obama signed into law a bill that forbids United States airlines from participating in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (“EU ETS”). Environmental organizations bemoaned the President’s decision after having urged him to veto the bill. Supporters of the law hailed the passage as a win for American sovereignty, preventing an illegitimate and disingenuous environmental tax on U.S. carriers and passengers. This article addresses the aviation industry’s role in global climate change, and offers an in-depth analysis of the EU ETS and the European Commission’s decision to include international …

Is It Time To Revoke The Tax-Exempt Status Of Rural Electric Cooperatives?, W. G. Beecher

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

Rural electric cooperatives (RECs) were created with government assistance in the mid-1930s as part of a campaign to bring electricity to rural areas in an effort to improve economic output and quality of living. By the early 1950s, the entirety of America had access to electricity, fulfilling the federal government’s mission. Today, these cooperatives strongly resemble their for-profit counterparts, but remain tax-exempt under § 501(c)(12) of the Internal Revenue Code. This note will argue that, in light of the changes that RECs have undergone and the environment in which they now operate, their tax-exempt status is no longer warranted and …

Clean Air V. Electric Reliability: The Case Of The Potomac River Generating Station, James W. Moeller

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

Environmental activists considered the shutdown of the Potomac Station a victory for environmental sustainability and a victory for the cause of clean air. Additionally, citizens of Alexandria, Virginia found this to be a victory over the “outdated” polluting coal burning power plant. Looking at the history of the Potomac Station, however, shows that without significant increases in transmission capacity to the mid-Atlantic, the Potomac Station could never have been shut down. This article addresses the case of the Potomac Station and the role of the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and the …

“Turn On The Lights”—Sustainable Energy Investment And Regulatory Policy: Charting The Hydrokinetic Path For Pakistan, Nadia B. Ahmad

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

Hydrokinetic energy is an under-recognized, low-cost renewable technology that can be deployed in Pakistan through a robust national energy strategy and international investment schemes to tackle the country’s acute energy crisis. This article will show how national and local laws can be amended to favor progress in the sustainable energy sector and achieve hydrokinetic energy production in Pakistan, which if actualized, would be nothing short of a game changer—strategically and environmentally. Despite current legal regimes that disfavor small scale hydroelectric power production, Pakistan and other less developed countries can adapt and deploy hydrokinetic technology through revamped investment laws, regulatory rules, …

“To Comply Or Not To Comply?” An Argument In Favor Of Increasing Investigation And Enforcement Of Marpol Annex I Violations, Katriel Statman

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

The 1973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and the Protocol of 1978 Relating to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) seek to protect the world’s oceans from environmental harms. Traditional maritime law, principles of international law, and difficulties in detecting violations of MARPOL 73/78 have made it difficult for nations to enforce the strict requirements regarding oil pollution under Annex I. In light of these difficulties, the United States authorities have used other means under United States law to prosecute these violations. This note argues that while the United States’ …

From Consultation To Consent: Community Approval As A Prerequisite To Environmentally Significant Projects, Nicholas A. Fromhertz

West Virginia Law Review

Since the United States enacted the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1969, nations all around the world have adopted similar statutes. What started as a unique response to the American environmental movement grew to become a nearly global standard. Although the details of the regimes vary from country to country, there are two constants: (1) the regimes force the government to consider environmental impacts before conducting or authoriz- ing projects, and (2) they allow some degree of public participation. This Arti- cle focuses on the latter of these two features. Public participation in NEPA-style regimes generally means public consultation: …

Norm, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet about naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). Gives fundamental information on radiation and discusses how NORM is regulated and disposed of. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

The Meaning Of Green Growth, Michael A. Livermore

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Although the term is still rarely used in the United States, in recent years “green growth” has become part of the lexicon of global environmental policy. Unfortunately, although it is frequently cited as a public policy goal, green growth has remained vague and ill-defined, leading to conflicting interpretations and confusion over the distinction between green growth and related concepts like sustainable development. This paper seeks to clarify the meaning of green growth as a distinct concept, defining a “green growth frontier” of policies that dominate along both environmental and economic dimensions. The green growth agenda can be understood as moving …

Adaptation And The Courtroom: Judging Climate Science, Kirsten Engel, Jonathan Overpeck

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Climate science is increasingly showing up in courtroom disputes over the duty to adapt to climate change. While judges play a critical role in evaluating scientific evidence, they are not apt to be familiar with the basic methods of climate science nor with the role played by peer review, publication, and training of climate scientists. This Article is an attempt to educate the bench and the bar on the basics of the discipline of climate science, which we contend is a distinct scientific discipline. We propose a series of principles to guide a judge’s evaluation of the reliability and weight …

The Dormant Commerce Clause And California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Kathryn Abbott

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), enacted as part of the State’s pioneering Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), purports to regulate the amount of carbon emissions associated with fuels consumed in the state. Part of this scheme involves assigning numeric scores to vehicle fuels reflecting the amount of carbon emissions associated with their production, transportation, and use. The scores are part of a “cap-and-trade” scheme to lower the state’s total amount of carbon emissions associated with fuel use. Out-of-state industry groups brought a challenge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, alleging that the …

The Constitutionality Of California's Cap-And-Trade Program And Recommendations For Design Of Future State Programs, Thomas Alcorn

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Global climate change has emerged as one of the greatest challenges of our time. While action has stalled on the national stage, states have started to take action to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Confronted with the risk of severe impacts that could cost it tens of billions of dollars annually by the end of the century, California has taken the lead and developed the first comprehensive cap-and-trade program in the nation and seeks to achieve significant reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its economy. The success of California’s program will determine whether other states and the federal …

Why The Extractive Industry Should Support Mandatory Transparency: A Shared Value Approach, Julien Topal, Perrine Toledano

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The Transparency Amendment, included in the Dodd‐Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, can be an important tool in curtailing the resource curse that so heavily burdens resource‐rich developing countries by shedding light on opaque payments between the extractive sector and host countries. From the get‐go, however, extractive industry companies have fiercely opposed the new mandatory disclosure requirements as set out in this regulation. The corporate opposition is for the largest part motivated by the fear of a competitive disadvantage that derives from the fact that the amendment is housed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and thus …

Memo To The Obama Administration On The Burma Responsible Investment Reporting Requirements, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In September 2013, CCSI sent a memo to President Obama and his Administration in response to the first public reports submitted by U.S. companies in compliance with the Burma Responsible Investment Reporting Requirements. The memo applauded the U.S. Government’s efforts to encourage responsible investment in Burma, noting that robust due diligence is essential to ensuring that international investments contribute to sustainable development. Yet the memo also urged the Obama Administration to take steps to strengthen future reporting. In particular, CCSI urged the Administration to issue clarifying guidance that any U.S. investor submitting a report should (1) provide information on due …