Natural Resources Law Commons^™

The Role Of The Courts In Guarding Against Privatization Of Important Public Environmental Resources, Melissa K. Scanlan

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Drinking water, beaches, a livable climate, clean air, forests, fisheries, and parks are all commons, shared by many users with diffuse and overlapping interests. These public natural resources are susceptible to depletion, overuse, erosion, and extinction; and they are under increasing pressures to become privatized. The Public Trust Doctrine provides a legal basis to guard against privatizing important public resources or commons. As such, it is a critical doctrine to counter the ever-increasing enclosure and privatization of the commons as well as ensure government trustees protect current and future generations. This Article considers separation of powers and statutory interpretation in …

Up For Grabs: The State Of Fossils Protection In (Recently) Unprotected National Monuments, John C. Ruple, Michael Henderson, Caitlin Ceci

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

On December 4, 2017, President Trump removed 2 million acres of land from the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. President Trump justified the reductions in part by claiming that many of the objects contained in the original monuments were already protected by other federal laws, and that the protections previously afforded to sixty-three percent of the land in the two original monuments were “unnecessary for the care and management of the objects to be protected within the monument[s].” This article explains why, contrary to the President’s assertions, plant and invertebrate fossils on the more than two million acres …

Muddying The Water: Tiered Water Rates After San Juan Capistrano, Travis Kaya

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

In the face of chronic drought, water utilities across California have turned to tiered water rates to promote conservation and curb consumer demand. However, recent legal challenges have called the constitutionality of tiered- rate schemes into question, threatening to deprive utilities of a critical conservation tool.

A patchwork of recent court decisions—the landmark Capistrano Taxpayers Association v. City of San Juan Capistrano most notable among them—have exposed an unresolved conflict between the California Constitution’s water rights and taxation provisions. Namely, how does Proposition 218’s restrictions on assessments for “property related services” apply to tiered water rates set by public water …

Take This Job And Shove It: The Pragmatic Philosophy Of Johnny Paycheck And A Prayer For Strict Liability In Appalachia, Eugene "Trey" Moore Iii

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

Navajo Nation V. Department Of The Interior, Jaclyn R. Van Natta

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In Navajo Nation v. Department of the Interior, the Navajo Nation challenged the Department of the Interior’s 2001 and 2008 water allocation guidelines and asserted that under NEPA and the APA the guidelines violated the Navajo Nation’s water rights. The Navajo Nation also asserted a breach of trust claim against the United States. After nearly a decade of attempted settlement negotiations, the Navajo Nation reasserted its complaints. The District Court for the District of Arizona denied the Navajo Nation’s motions, and the Navajo Nation appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which determined the Navajo Nation lacked standing, …

Asarco Llc V. Atlantic Richfield Company, Ryan L. Hickey

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liabiltiy Act, commonly known as CERCLA, facilitates cleanup of hazardous waste sites and those contaminated by other harmful substances by empowering the Environmental Protection Agency to identify responsible parties and require them to undertake or fund remediation. Because pollution sometimes occurrs over long periods of time by multiple parties, CERCLA also enables polluters to seek financial contribution from other contaminators of a particular site. The Ninth Circuit clarified the particuar circumstances under which contribution actions may arise in Asarco LLC v. Atlantic Richfield Co., holding non-CERCLA settlements may give rise to CERCLA contribution …

Hawai'i Wildlife Fund V. County Of Maui, Lowell J. Chandler

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In Hawai’i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui, the Ninth Circuit held that the plain language of the Clean Water Act provides jurisdiction over indirect discharges of pollutants from a point source into groundwater that is shown to be connected to navigable waters. The court found that studies confirmed pollutants entering the Pacific Ocean were fairly traceable to the County of Maui’s sewage disposal wells. In affirming the district court’s ruling, the Ninth Circuit held that Maui County violated the Clean Water Act by discharging pollutants into a navigable water without the required permit. The court also concluded the …

Atlantic Richfield Company V. Montana Second Judicial District Court, Molly Kelly

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Landowners in Opportunity, Montana sought restoration damages from ARCO, Anaconda Copper Mining Company’s successor, to their property from over a century of processing ore at the Anaconda Smelter. ARCO argued that CERCLA preempted and barred any claim for restoration damages. The Montana Supreme Court held: landowners could bring their state common law claims seeking restoration damages; the state district court had subject matter jurisdiction; and landowners’ proposed restoration fund did not challenge EPA’s selected remedy under CERCLA.

Reply Brief For The Petitioner - Washington V. United States, Docket No. 17-269 (138 S.Ct. 735 (2018))

Washington v. United States, Docket No. 17-269 (138 S.Ct. 735 (2018))

No abstract provided.

Recent Case Decisions

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Neil Gorsuch: On Energy And Environmental Law, Benjamin Warden

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Murr V. Wisconsin: A Necessary Evil?, Sha’Kera Trimble

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Interpreting The Oil Pollution Act Of 1990 (Opa 90) As Inapplicable To The Natural Gas Industry And Deepwater Lng Ports, Patrick R. Pennella

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Frac Sand, Hydraulic Fracturing, And Implied Covenants: The Potential For Liability, Slate Olmstead

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Quaking In Their Boots: Oklahoma Landowners And Regulators Left With An Uncertain Future After Murr V. Wisconsin, Collin Mccarthy

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Oil States Energy Services V. Greene’S Energy Group: The Future Of Inter Partes Review And Its Impact On The Energy Sector, Megan Douglah

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

The Death Of The Joint Venture Exemption In Oil And Gas Securities Regulation, Megan Conner

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor's Introduction, Mason W. Smith

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Brief Amicus Curiae On Behalf Of Pacific Coast Federation Of Fishermen’S Associations, Alaska Trollers Association, Institute For Fisheries Resources, Fly Fishers International, Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, Northwest Guides And Anglers Association - Washington V. United States, Docket No. 17-269 (138 S.Ct. 735 (2018)) Association Of Northwest Steelheaders, And The Conservation Angler In Support Of Respondents

Washington v. United States, Docket No. 17-269 (138 S.Ct. 735 (2018))

No abstract provided.

Survey Of Legal Mechanisms Relating To Groundwater Along The Texas-Mexico Border, Jessica Foster

EENRS Program Reports & Publications

The purpose of this study is to present a factual picture of the multiple groundwater governance frameworks that cover the same transboundary aquifers on the Texas-Mexico border. The study can then serve as a foundation to support future research and as a reference for those sharing groundwater resources on the border to use in considering whether and how to coordinate management. Currently, Texas A&M School of Law, the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, and the Texas Water Resources Institute are collaboratively pursuing a larger interdisciplinary project, and the study presented in this report is …