Natural Resources Law Commons^™

Are Marine National Monuments "Situated On Lands Owned Or Controlled By The Government Of The United States?", Tyler C. Costello

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The ocean offers what may seem like endless supply of natural resources, ecosystem services, or for some, simple enjoyment. Yet, in the face of climate change and overexploitation, many of these unique ecosystems and their inhabitants face an uphill battle. A president's use of the Antiquities Act establishing a national monument is an efficient and effective method of protecting these diverse ecosystems, as long as the area to be protected satisfies one of the Act's limitations that the monument be "situated on land owned or controlled by the federal government." Prior to a 2017 lawsuit concerning President Obama's use of …

Defining Fishing, The Slippery Seaweed Slope, Ross V. Acadian Seaplants Ltd., Rebecca P. Totten

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

In Maine, the intertidal zone has seen many disputes over its use, access, and property rights. Recently, in Ross v. Acadian Seaplants, Ltd., the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, held that rockweed seaweed in the intertidal zone is owned by the upland landowner and is not part of a public easement under the public trust doctrine. The Court held harvesting rockweed is not fishing. This case will impact private and public rights and also the balance between the State's environmental and economic interests. This Comment addresses the following points: first, the characteristics of rockweed and the …

The Role Of State Planning Law In The Regulation And Protection Of Ocean Resources, Edward J. Sullivan

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

While land use planning is pervasive in the United States, legal structures for the planning and management of ocean resources are less well known or studied. The passage of the federal Coastal Zone Management Act in 1972 provided federal funds for state planning and regulation of coastal areas, with the incentive of binding federal agencies to state and regulations plans certified by the Secretary of Commerce. Most of the focus of CZMA study has been on estuaries and coastal shorelands; much less focus has been on coastal waters. Regarding coastal waters, more attention is given to the three mile ocean …

Avoiding Maladaptations To Flooding And Erosion: A Case Study Of Alaska Native Villages, Elizaveta Barrett Ristroph

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

This article offers perspective on how Alaska Native Villages (ANVs), which are small and rural indigenous communities, are adapting to changes in flooding and erosion. It considers which adaptations might be maladaptations and what might be done to facilitate adaptation short of relocating entire communities. It outlines the United States' legal framework applicable to flooding and erosion and considers why this framework may do little to assist ANVs and similarly situated small and rural communities. Findings regarding adaptation strategies and obstacles are drawn from my Ph.D. research, which involved a review of plans for fifty nine ANVs and 153 interviews …

Financial Assurance For Hardrock Mining: Epa And Cercla, Braden Murphy

Notre Dame Law Review

Hardrock mining operators are required to perform reclamation activities, primarily as a matter of state law. To ensure funds will be available to perform reclamation in the event an operator defaults on its obligations and declares bankruptcy, financial assurance requirements have emerged. Apart from limited federal regulations (which govern only federal lands), state laws and regulations comprise the universe of financial assurance requirements. In several cases, existing requirements have proven grossly insufficient, and taxpayers have been forced to bear cleanup costs. Many congressional bills have emerged in the past three decades to establish comprehensive federal legislation for hardrock mining and …

Modelling For Sustainable Development: New Decisions For A New Age, Andrea M. Bassi, Liesbeth Casier, David Laborde, Max Linsen, David Manley, Nicolas Maennling, Howard Mann, Morten Siersted, Carin Smaller, Iain Steele, David Uzsoki, Johnny West

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Books

This book outlines how next-generation models need to integrate social and environmental components in government and corporate decision-making. Traditionally, these models have focused on profits and taxes, but to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, they need to take a more holistic view. The book builds on the expanding practices of modelling complex decision making requirements and indicators. It considers the challenges of decision making in the face of incomplete and sometimes inaccurate information, the role of multiple stakeholders, and the capacity of governments and others to use models effectively.

Violations Abound: The Control Of Water Pollution Liability In Eqt Production Company V. Department Of Environmental Protection Of The Commonwealth, Christopher Regan

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Bridge Over Troubled Waters? Ninth Circuit Makes Waves Refusing To Narrow Clean Water Act In Hawaii Wildlife Fund V. County Of Maui, Allison R. White

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Fostering Adaptive Marine Aquaculture Through Procedural Innovation In Marine Spatial Planning, Robin Kundis Craig

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Worldwide, as wild-caught commercial fisheries plateau and human demands for protein increase, marine aquaculture is expanding. Much marine aquaculture is inherently adaptable to changing climatic and chemical conditions. Nevertheless, siting of marine aquaculture operations is subject to competing environmental, economic, and social demands upon and priorities for ocean space, while some forms of marine aquaculture can impose other externalities on marine systems, such as pollution from wastes (nutrients) and antibiotics, consumption of wild fish as food, and introduction of non-native or genetically modified species. As a result, governmental policy decisions to promote both marine aquaculture that can adapt to a …

“100 Percent Renewable”: Company Pledges And State Energy Law, Uma Outka

Utah Law Review

Corporate demand for clean power emerged with new force and influence in postelection energy policy. As the Trump Administration decisively reemphasized fossil fuels, leading companies countered by pledging to power their operations with renewable energy. This Article assesses recent regulatory reforms at the state level responsive to these corporate pledges and considers the barriers and opportunities the reforms present for companies, for states, and for emissions reduction goals. It traces how corporate energy purchasing has evolved and how new policy innovations are extending that trajectory across a growing number of states. With a focus on reforms expanding access to renewable …

When Industry Knocks: Ohio Department Of Agriculture's Fight To Control Pollution Permits For Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, Alexis Woodworth

Cleveland State Law Review

The Clean Water Act requires that a permit be obtained before discharging pollutants into bodies of water in the United States. In Ohio, these permits are issued by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. But in 2002, after growing pressure from agriculture lobbyists, the Ohio Legislature passed legislation to transfer permitting authority over industrial farms to the Ohio Department of Agriculture. To date, this transfer has not been approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The U.S. EPA has demanded legislative and regulatory changes before it will grant the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) permitting authority. Concerned citizens and …

Legal Mechanisms For Mitigating Flood Impacts In Texas Coastal Communities, Philip Bedford, Alexis Long, Thomas Long, Erin Milliken, Lauren Thomas, Alexis Yelvington

EENRS Program Reports & Publications

Flooding is a major source of concern for Texas’ coastal communities. It affects the quality of infrastructure, the lives of citizens, and the ecological systems upon which coastal communities in Texas rely. To plan for and mitigate the impacts of flooding, Texas coastal communities may implement land use tools such as zoning, drainage utility systems, eminent domain, exactions, and easements. Additionally, these communities can benefit from understanding how flooding affects water quality and the tools available to restore water bodies to healthy water quality levels. Finally, implementing additional programs for education and ecotourism will help citizens develop knowledge of the …

Juliana V. United States, Daniel Brister

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In 2015, a group of adolescents between the ages of eight and nineteen filed a lawsuit against the federal government for infringing upon their civil rights to a healthy, habitable future living environment. Those Plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States alleged that the industrial-scale burning of fossil fuels was causing catastrophic and destabilizing impacts to the global climate, threatening the survival and welfare of present and future generations. Seeking to reduce the United States’ contributions to atmospheric carbon dioxide, Plaintiffs demanded injunctive and declaratory relief to halt the federal government’s policies of promoting and subsidizing fossil fuels, due to the …

Appalachian Voices V. State Water Control Board, Thomas C. Mooney-Myers

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Virginia State Water Control Board certified the issuance of permits for the construction of a natural gas pipeline that traversed over 300 miles of Virginia in addition to other states. Local environmental groups and individuals petitioned the Fourth Circuit to review the certification under the Administrative Procedure Act. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals gave deference to the agency’s actions and denied the petition for review.

Reconciling Police Power Prerogatives, Public Trust Interests, And Private Property Rights Along Laurentian Great Lakes Shores, Richard K. Norton, Nancy H. Welsh

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

The United States has a north coast along its ‘inland seas’—the Laurentian Great Lakes. The country enjoys more than 4,500 miles of Great Lakes coastal shoreline, almost as much as its ocean coastal shorelines combined, excluding Alaska. The Great Lakes states are experiencing continued shorefront development and redevelopment, and there are growing calls to better manage shorelands for enhanced resiliency in the face of global climate change. The problem is that the most pleasant, fragile, and dangerous places are in high demand among coastal property owners, such that coastal development often yields the most tenacious of conflicts between public interests …

The Niobrara National Scenic River: Exploring Co-Management Through A Case Study Of The Niobrara Council, Melissa M. Mosier

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In recent decades, government staff and local citizens have increasingly employed cooperative schemes of natural resource management, in lieu of more conventional, top-down approaches of addressing user conflicts as they relate to water resources. The focus of this project was on the Niobrara Council, a partnership of local, state, and federal representatives charged with cooperatively managing the reach of the Niobrara River that was federally designated under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1991. The project's purpose was to explore the cooperative framework of the Council, using the methodology outlined by Carlsson and Berkes (2005). This methodology involved investigating …

Gold King Mine Spill: Environmental Law And Legal Protections For Environmental Responders, Clifford J. Villa

Utah Law Review

On August 5, 2015, EPA contractors working at the Gold King Mine in southwestern Colorado accidently released approximately three million gallons of contaminated mine water into the drainage of the Animas River. The water contained metals which created a bright orange plume that coursed down the Animas River and into the connecting San Juan River for many days, attracting nationwide attention and creating great concern for many local communities. The plume touched at least three states, three tribes, and numerous municipalities. The release fortunately did not prove an environmental catastrophe as many people feared at the time. However, it did …

Clean Energy Equity, Felix Mormann

Utah Law Review

Solar, wind, and other clean, renewable sources of energy promise to mitigate climate change, enhance energy security, and foster economic growth. But many of the policies in place to promote clean energy today are marred by an uneven distribution of economic opportunities and associated financial burdens. Tax incentives for renewables cost American taxpayers billions of dollars every year, yet the tax code effectively precludes all but the largest banks and most profitable corporations from reaping the benefits of these tax breaks. Other policies, such as renewable portfolio standards that set minimum quota to create demand for renewable electricity require such …

The (Next) Big Short And The End Of The Anthropocene, M. Alexander Pearl

Utah Law Review

It is incredibly difficult to imagine an event the likes of which humans have never seen before. That, in and of itself, renders the challenge to prepare for such an event even more difficult because there is no frame of reference pushing us to act. How do you prepare to avoid something which has never occurred in the history of human occupation? That is the challenge of climate change.

I argue that the Subprime Mortgage Crisis and its aftermath parallel the Climate Crisis in critical ways that should inform our tactics. Of course, there are obvious critical differences as well. …

A Call For Energy Realism: When Immanuel Kant Met The Keep It In The Ground Movement, Monika U. Ehrman

Utah Law Review

The “Keep it in the Ground” Movement (the “Movement”) is a coalition of environmental groups that seek to end fossil fuel extraction by halting oil and gas development on federal lands. Supporters of the Movement demand a safer climate future and the transition to a renewable energy economy. However, the Movement is premised on the notion that the United States can divest fossil fuels, particularly petroleum hydrocarbons, from its energy economy and terminate oil and gas development in the near-term future. The Movement disregards the possibilities of serious economic impacts with respect to domestic revenues and infrastructure framework, and geopolitical …