Environmental Law Commons^™

Permitting Problems: Environmental Justice And The Miccosukee Indian Tribe, Charles Prior

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians is a federally recognized tribe that works and resides in the Everglades region of the State of Florida. The Miccosukee have been battling lax water quality standards through lawsuits since the 1990’s. Recent rulings in federal court held that the State of Florida has failed to comply with the Clean Water Act and ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to set nutrient criteria for the water bodies in the state of Florida until the Florida Department of Environmental Protection complies with the Clean Water Act.

This article uses the principles of environmental justice to analyze ways …

Mapping The Terrain Of Earth Jurisprudence: Landscape, Thresholds And Horizons, Anne Louise Schillmoller, Alessandro Pelizzon

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

This paper investigates central ideas in the emergent field of Earth Jurisprudence. It suggests that development of conceptual and practical frameworks for an earth justice system predicated on rights of nature is currently at a nascent stage, but such ‘creative uncertainty’ provides scholars and practitioners with opportunities to identify and articulate new conceptual frameworks which avoid some of the hazards of human exceptionalism.

Part I suggests that the concept of ‘rights of nature’ rests upon contestable epistemological and ontological claims and that an effective Earth Jurisprudence will require a continual negotiation of interpretative disagreements and frameworks for action.

Part II …

State Conservation As Settler Colonial Governance At Ka‘Ena Point, Hawai‘I, Bianca Isaki

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

This paper argues, by illustrating, that liberal multiculturalism and natural resources are interlinked strategies of settler colonial governance in political debates surrounding the construction of a “predator-proof” fence for conservation purposes across Native Hawaiian lands of deep cultural and historical significance at Ka`ena Point, a state wilderness park in Hawai`i. First, this paper shifts debates framed in terms of the seeming recalcitrance of Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners to recognize the necessity of natural resource management. Second, it considers how these political debates are repeated in the context of legal questions over the forms through which Native Hawaiian cultural claims may …

Effective Clean Air Act Enforcement In The Face Of Statute-Of-Limitations And Successor Liability Barriers, Paul Wierenga

Student Articles and Papers

The volume of NO_X andSO₂ emissions each year from unregulated, grandfathered power plants demonstrates that the goal of the CAA's PSD program, to ensure that air quality standards under NAAQS do not in effect become a ceiling, has achieved only limited success. One significant challenge under the PSD program is the difficulty associated with identifying major emitting facilities that have made major modiciations. This repeatedly results in statute-of-limitations problems for enforcement efforts. To resolve this enforcement difficulty, reviewing courts have split into two competing interpretations of the statutory and regulatory requirements of the PSD program. The proper interpretation …

International Trade And Investment Law And Carbon Management Technologies, Shi-Ling Hsu, Nigel Bankes, Anatlole Boute, Steve Charnovitz, Sarah Mccalla, Nicholas Rivers, Elizabeth Whitsitt

Scholarly Publications

Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases will require the developing carbon management technologies that are not currently available or that are not currently cost-effective. While market mechanisms, such as carbon pricing, must play a central role in stimulating the development of these technologies, governmental policy aimed at fostering carbon management technologies and lowering their costs must also play a part. Both types of policies will form part of an optimal greenhouse gas control portfolio. This article develops a framework of international trade and investment law insofar as they may affect carbon management technologies. While it is commonly perceived that international trade …

The "Positive Effect" Escape Hatch: The Eleventh Circuit's New View Of The Catalyst Theory And The Resulting Difficulty For Plaintiffs To Receive Attorney Fees, Lindsay Schafer

Mercer Law Review

Environmental plaintiffs now have fewer opportunities to receive attorney fees in the wake of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit's decision in Friends of the Everglades v. South Florida Water Management District (Friends of the Everglades II). In this case the court further narrowed what plaintiffs' civil suits must accomplish to have a "positive catalytic effect." While many circuits, including the Eleventh Circuit, have focused on what it means for a party to be a "prevailing party" under various statutory schemes, and thus receive attorney fees, this case marks the first time the Eleventh Circuit has …

Environmental Protection Agency Consultations With Indian Tribes: An Intercultural Struggle Over Process Of 'Consent', Denise Scannell Guida

Publications and Research

On November 6, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed his final executive order on

Consultation and Coordination with Tribal Governments. It was his last attempt to establish meaningful consultation processes with American Indians in the development of federal environmental policies. Based on ongoing environmental issues between the two cultures and the rising concern for environmental justice, the United States government wanted to identify the necessary improvements in communication and coordination among tribal and federal environmental programs, specifically regarding issues of information exchange, and creating partnerships among stakeholders. An analysis of the executive order, and a case study of the U.S. …

Applying Some Lessons From The Gulf Oil Spill To Hydraulic Fracturing, Heidi Gorovitz Robertson

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In this article, Robertson notes that Ohio is moving quickly towards hydraulic fracturing of horizontal wells and some argue it has insufficiently considered and managed that rush in light of the potentially disastrous, albeit unlikely, consequences of groundwater contamination, explosion at wells or drilling sites, depletion of freshwater supply as high volumes are used in fracturing, and disposal of contaminated flowback water. Similarly, although drilling for oil from deep water rigs was neither a new idea nor a new technology when the Macondo well blew out on April 20, 2010—killing 11 people, spewing tons of oil in the Gulf of …

Wetlands Regulation In An Era Of Climate Change: Can Section 404 Meet The Challenge?, Alyson C. Flournoy, Allison Fischman

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article raises the question of how we should assess the potential threat to wetlands posed by the impacts of a changing climate and considers the role that section 404 of the Clean Water Act can play both in assessing and responding to that threat. Our inquiry is two-fold. First, should we be concerned about climate impacts on wetlands? And if so, how can section 404 help us to assess and respond to this threat?

Part I surveys the scientific literature on the projected impacts of climate change of particular relevance to wetlands and the impacts anticipated for particular types …

Brief 8: International Fisheries Governance That Works: The Case For A Global Fisheries Organization, J. Samuel Barkin, Elizabeth R. Desombre

Governance and Sustainability Issue Brief Series

International fisheries are being overexploited, and the current institutional structure in place to manage them is not working effectively. Presently, two sets of intergovernmental institutions oversee global fishing. The first comprises roughly three dozen regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), approximately 19 of which are charged with regulating fishing in the areas they oversee. The second set consists of global organizations that touch on but do not directly regulate fisheries issues, such as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank, and the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This management patchwork is inadequate to …

Bad Neighbors And A Luckless Landlord: How The Clean Air Act Doomed The Environmental Protection Agency, Michael S. Weldon Jr.

Mercer Law Review

Air pollution emissions pay little deference to state borders: emissions generated in upwind State A may travel to affect the air quality of downwind State B. As a result of this inevitability and its unfair implications for the downwind state, under the Clean Air Act, upwind states have a "good neighbor" responsibility. Through the good neighbor provision, the upwind state may initially develop a State Implementation Plan (SIP) to determine its own mechanism for restricting emissions that contribute to a downwind state's nonattainment of federal regulations. In August of 2011, however, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took matters into its …

Environmental Law, Travis M. Trimble

Mercer Law Review

In 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, deciding an issue of first impression, held that a party that enters a consent order to settle potential liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) is not entitled to pursue a cost recovery action against other potentially responsible parties under section 107 of the Act, but may only seek contribution from those parties under section 113(f) of the Act. The court also affirmed a decision by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to approve an exploration plan for oil and gas drilling in the …

Food Court, Jason J. Czarnezki

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article, focusing on produce and grain, discusses the environmental and climate change impacts of food production, processing, packaging, and distribution, which ultimately contribute to both economic and social costs. The article addresses environmental energy costs in the food supply. Figure 1 shows, for example, the significant amount of energy used in various aspects of food production, transportation, and processing.

Much of this article's focus will be on commodity crops. Along with wheat and rice, corn and soybeans constitute the world's most popular planted and consumed crops. The United States is the leading producer of corn, growing nearly 40 percent …

Environmental Law, Eleventh Circuit Survey, Travis M. Trimble

Scholarly Works

In 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, deciding an issue of first impression, held that a party that enters a consent order to settle potential liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) is not entitled to pursue a cost recovery action against other potentially responsible parties under section 1073 of the Act, but may only seek contribution from those parties under section 113(f) of the Act. The court also affirmed a decision by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage- ment to approve an exploration plan for oil and gas drilling in …

Creating New Spaces For Sustainable Water Management In The Senegal River Basin, Frans J.G. Padt, Juan Carlos Sanchez

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

International Trade And Investment Law And Carbon Management Technologies, Nigel Bankes, Anatole Boute, Steve Charnovitz, Shi-Ling Hsu, Sarah Mccalla, Nicholas Rivers, Elizabeth Whitsitt

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Slides: What Does Climate Change Mean For Cold Water Fisheries, Stan Bradshaw

Water, Climate and Uncertainty: Implications for Western Water Law, Policy, and Management (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

1 page "Abstract" and 8 slides

Nonhuman Rights To Personhood, Steven M. Wise

Pace Environmental Law Review

2012 Dyson Distinguished Lecture, delivered April 26, 2012 at Pace Law School. Introduction by Prof. David N. Cassuto. Video available here.

Response To New York’S Proposed Solar Renewable Energy Market: Lessons Learned From Other States’ Srec Markets And Recommendations In Moving Forward, Joe Naroditsky

Pace Environmental Law Review

Response to comment by Jesse Glickstein.

New York’S Proposed Solar Renewable Energy Market: Lessons Learned From Other States’ Srec Markets And Recommendations In Moving Forward, Jesse Glickstein

Pace Environmental Law Review

This paper presents analysis of eight states that currently have operating solar renewable energy credit markets as part of their state’s renewable portfolio system, in order to make recommendations as to how the New York legislature should amend the pending legislation based on lessons learned from those other states. In Part II, the different SREC markets that have been implemented in different states throughout the United States are examined. In Part III, the different issues that varying SREC markets have encountered will be discussed, and several possible explanations as to the causes of these issues are presented. In Part IV, …