Environmental Law Commons^™

Evolving From Dominion To Communion: How Legal Rights For Nature Can Exist In Balance With Individual Property Rights In A Global Commons, Dan Leftwich

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Abstract coming soon.

Continuing The Great Work: A Tribute To Thomas Berry, Patrick E. Tolan Jr.

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Continuing the Great Work: A Tribute to Thomas Berry

by Patrick Tolan

Profound scholar and author, Father Thomas Berry, recognized and related human destiny to the destiny of the universe. In his book, The Great Work: Our Way into the Future, and in his teaching, Berry challenged humanity to enter into a new era in harmony with the universe. This article is a tribute to Thomas Berry, recognizing the importance of his contribution to a new and emerging field of Earth Jurisprudence and launching an Earth Jurisprudence and Environmental Justice Journal that will afford thinkers and scholars the opportunity to …

Epa's Iris Program: Evaluating The Science And Process Behind Chemical Risk Assessment, Rena I. Steinzor

Congressional Testimony

No abstract provided.

Possibility Of Consolidated Wetland Mitigation In A Multi-Layered Legislated State, Juan P. Correa

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Baselines Newsletter, No. 8, Summer/Fall 2011, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Baselines: The Natural Resources Law Center Newsletter (2007-2011)

No abstract provided.

The Sustainable Development Principle In United States Environmental Law, Michael P. Healy

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The American public perceives the principle of sustainable development and sustainability, the shorthand nomenclature, through green-tinted lenses. Whether the user of the term is academic, corporate, or governmental, the advocate of sustainability is understood as an advocate of protecting the environment. The international legal understanding of the principle of sustainable development, however, is more ambiguous than this popular American understanding.

Part II of this Article describes the important principle of sustainable development in modern international environmental law. It discusses how the sustainable development principle has evolved from its initial appearance in the 1987 Brundtland Commission Report through its central position …

Rough Seas For Renewable Energy: Addressing Regulatory Overlap For Hydrokinetic Projects On The Outer Continental Shelf, Amanda Righi

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Hydrokinetic energy harnesses the power of the oceans and generates renewable energy with a low carbon footprint. Because wave and tidal energy projects have not yet been initiated for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and scientific knowledge of the effects on the ocean environment is uncertain, analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act is particularly important. However, overlapping jurisdiction on the OCS creates an inhospitable regulatory environment for hydrokinetic energy developers and marine ecosystem protection. This comment will analyze these overlapping and duplicative regulations and will make recommendations to streamline the environmental review process. Programmatic environmental impact statements, adaptive management …

A Breath Of Fresh Air: Methods And Obstacles For Achieving Air Pollution Reduction In Washington Factory Farm Communities, Linda M. Thompson

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

“Animal feeding operations (AFOs),” or, if large enough, “concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs),” have become increasingly concentrated in ownership, location, and quantity of animals since the 1950s. The Yakima Valley of central Washington is one area that has been subject to an influx of these industrial farms, raising health and environmental concerns for residents. Despite scientific evidence of potential harm, citizens have had difficulty enforcing air emissions regulation. The problem is twofold: the EPA is still working with the industry to develop a methodology for emission monitoring––the effectiveness of which remains unclear––and, assuming monitoring methods existed, the statutory framework provides …

Environmental Law, Travis M. Trimble

Mercer Law Review

Relatively few environmental cases were decided in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in 2010. The court decided a case holding that the portion of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, which funded a mile-long bridge in the Everglades, repealed the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Endangered Species Act, and other environmental laws to the extent they applied to the construction project. Additionally, the court decided that the leadbased paint hazard warning required to be included in residential leases pursuant to the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act had to be reproduced in such leases …

Envisioning The Regulatory State: Technocracy, Democracy, And Institutional Experimentation In The 2010 Financial Reform And Oil Spill Statutes, K. Sabeel Rahman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Shift In The Wind: The Siting Of Wind Power Projects On Public Lands In The Obama Era, Eric S. Spengle

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Comprehensive Seagrass Restoration Planning In Southwest Florida: Science, Law And Management, Althea S. Hotaling, R. Benjamin Lingle, Thomas T. Ankersen

UF Law Faculty Publications

In coastal Florida, the development and maintenance of docks, marinas, and channels frequently cause destruction of seagrass beds. Seagrass loss is accompanied by a loss of the ecosystem services the beds provide, such as sediment stabilization, water filtration, protection from storms, and habitat and nursery grounds for fish species. The current legal framework for seagrass protection and the implementation of mitigation for seagrass loss could be improved. In this Article, the authors argue that policymakers could revise the Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method to include more assessments related specifically to the ecology of seagrass beds and their ecosystem services. Seagrass mitigation …

Legislative Control Of The Menhaden Fishery, Matthew G. Curtis

Law Student Publications

This article aims to highlight the unique stance taken by Virginia’s legislature and explain why this management is better left to the commission responsible for managing every other fishery in the Commonwealth. While there may not be a conclusive link between reduction industry practices and a decline in water quality, Virginia’s legislators should recognize the shift towards an ecosystem-based model as the most effective way to sustainably manage fisheries and all natural resources.

When Responsive Legislation Ignores The Forest For The Trees, Matthew G. Curtis

Law Student Publications

Large-scale financial disasters have resulted in equally large-scale overhauls of the system responsible for financial industry regulation. Choice over responding parties to these disasters is minimal, and the public inevitably looks to the government for assistance and explanation. The increasingly globalized economy causes any nationwide financial regulation in the U.S. to be felt throughout international markets. U.S. environmental regulation, while not felt immediately abroad, can have drastic impacts on business planning, environmental risk-management, and human rights in the developing world.

A Call For Mediated Solutions To Arctic Region Disputes, Bradley L. Roth

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note argues that the Arctic region has become a focal point of international competition due to climate change, with disputes over territorial, resource, and navigational rights among the Arctic Five (Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the United States). It advocates for a worldcentric mediation approach, emphasizing global sustainability and fairness, to resolve these disputes effectively while addressing the region's ecological sensitivity and the long-term sustainability of the planet.

Making Sand Castles As The Tide Comes In: Legal Aspects Of Climate Justice, Elizabeth Burleson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Achieving climate justice and the Millennium Development Goals (“MDGs”)2 are mutually reinforcing challenges. The achievement of both is well within the capacity of the international community. Indeed, reaching carbon neutrality in an affordable, environmentally sound way requires integrating the strategies of mitigation, adaptation, sustainable development, and disaster risk management.

Regulatory Overlap, Overlapping Legal Fields, And Statutory Discontinuities, Todd S. Aagaard

Faculty Publications

Lawmakers and scholars alike criticize regulatory overlap on the ground that giving administrative agencies overlapping jurisdiction leads to duplicative or conflicting regulation which is inefficient and unduly burdensome. This Article challenges this orthodox account of regulatory overlap through examination of six case studies in which the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have managed their jurisdictional overlap so as to create regulatory synergy rather than dysfunction. Although this Article is not the first to argue that regulatory overlap may improve the effectiveness of regulatory programs, the case studies examined here highlight two important aspects of regulatory …

Order For The Courts: Reforming The Nollan/Dolan Threshold Inquiry For Exactions, Winfield B. Martin

Seattle University Law Review

For decades prior to 2005, Fifth Amendment regulatory takings jurisprudence languished in a state of confused neglect. Rather than articulating a clearly discernable standard for determining whether a violation of the Takings Clause had occurred, Justices rebuffed government action that seemed to amount to “an out-and-out plan of extortion” and nodded in approval when they deemed the government to have “acted diligently and in good faith” or in furtherance of a “compelling interest.” In trying to parse this imprecise thicket, scholars have characterized the Court’s approach to regulatory takings as a “muddle,” in “disarray,” and “incoherent.” Professor Kent even noted …

Slides: Risk Management Strategies Of The Upper Basin: Addressing Potential Shortages, Eric Kuhn

Navigating the Future of the Colorado River (Martz Summer Conference, June 8-10)

Presenter: Eric Kuhn, Colorado River Water Conservation District

15 slides

Slides: Thinking The Unthinkable, Lawrence J. Macdonnell

Navigating the Future of the Colorado River (Martz Summer Conference, June 8-10)

Presenter: Lawrence J. MacDonnell, University of Wyoming College of Law

7 slides