Clean Drinking Water: A Stream Of Success And Opportunity For Reform,
2019
S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah
Clean Drinking Water: A Stream Of Success And Opportunity For Reform, Kayla Weiser-Burton
Utah Law Review
The SDWA was a major regulatory step in protecting the nation’s drinking water and the public’s health. Creating a uniform set of regulations for levels of viruses, bacteria, and chemicals ensured cleaner water for all citizens and ultimately has allowed the United States to provide some of the cleanest water worldwide. The revisions made in 1986, 1996, and 2016 have continued to expand the SDWA by listing more contaminants for regulation as well as providing more federal funding to assist water providers in meeting these objectives.
Offshore Drilling: Combating Regulatory Uncertainty With Contract Law Protection,
2019
Brooklyn Law School
Offshore Drilling: Combating Regulatory Uncertainty With Contract Law Protection, Jordan M. Steele
Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law
Offshore drilling accounts for billions of dollars in tax revenue every year. It is a pillar of the energy industry and is crucial to the economy. A recent flurry of deregulation, accelerating with the arrival of the Trump administration, highlights the tremendous impact politics has upon the profitability of this sector. The Secretary of the Interior, under the direction of the President, wields the power to regulate and make determinations into where, when, and how private companies can drill offshore. These private companies have contracts with the government for the opportunity to produce and develop oil or gas on the …
Pure As Running Water: A Constitutional Argument For Utah’S Public Trust Doctrine,
2019
University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law
Pure As Running Water: A Constitutional Argument For Utah’S Public Trust Doctrine, Brandon S. Fuller
Utah Law Review
Water rights in America, particularly in western states, have been a pervasive source of legal contention. The histories of these water rights, and the public trust doctrine more broadly, have created a tremendously complex area of law. This field of law is very old and draws on policy concerns stretching back to 100 B.C., overlapping federal and state powers and precedents, and what can only be described as one of the longest games of jurisprudential telephone in existence. As a result, anyone seeking to challenge a state statute, court opinion, or regulation, which they believe impermissibly restricts the public’s right …
Clean Energy Equity,
2019
Texas A&M University School of Law
Clean Energy Equity, Felix Mormann
Faculty Scholarship
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 …
Indigenous Environmental Network V. United States Department Of State,
2019
University of Montana School of Law
Indigenous Environmental Network V. United States Department Of State, Seth Sivinski
Public Land & Resources Law Review
Pipelines are an extremely efficient way to move large amounts of oil and gas across long distances. However, pipelines have become a lightning rod for environmentalists opposing the lines’ construction and the energy sector which considers the lines a must to achieve energy independence and security. Pipelines are massive projects often crossing interstate and international boundaries. As a result, they are subject to an extensive amount of government regulation with an accompanying assortment of legal challenges. Indigenous Environmental Network v. United States Department of State is the latest case in the Keystone XL pipeline saga, wherein the United States District …
Kloker V. Fort Peck Tribes,
2019
Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana
Kloker V. Fort Peck Tribes, Hallee Kansman
Public Land & Resources Law Review
Kloker v. Fort Peck Tribes investigates and deciphers the application of the Indian canons of construction to the congressional formation and establishment of the Fort Peck reservation in Montana. In general, courts interpret congressional acts creating reservations through the lens of the tribal-federal government trust relationship. Although this case examines different substantive models of legal interpretation and theories of water law, the ultimate dispute is textual in nature—questioning the plain language of the establishment legislation itself.
Maralex Resources, Inc. V. Barnhardt,
2019
University of Montana
Maralex Resources, Inc. V. Barnhardt, Bradley E. Tinker
Public Land & Resources Law Review
In Maralex Resources v. Barnhardt, Maralex and property owners brought an action to protect private property from BLM inspections of oil and gas lease sites. The Tenth Circuit looked at the plain meaning of a congressional statute and held in favor of Maralex, finding that BLM lacked authority to require a private landowner to provide BLM with a key to inspect wells of their property. The Tenth Circuit held BLM has the authority to conduct inspections without prior notice on private property lease sites; however, it is required to contact the property owner for permission before entering the property.
Murray V. Bej Minerals, Llc,
2019
Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana
Murray V. Bej Minerals, Llc, Brett Berntsen
Public Land & Resources Law Review
Part of a dispute some 66 million years in the making, Murray v. BEJ Minerals, LLC considered for the first time whether dinosaur fossils—specifically a one-of-a-kind specimen containing entombed “dueling dinosaurs”—qualified as “minerals” for the purposes of a property transaction under Montana law. Finding no consistent statutory or dictionary definition for “mineral,” the Ninth Circuit relied on a test previously utilized by the Montana Supreme Court to hold that the dinosaur fossils constituted minerals due to their rare and exceptional qualities and were therefore part of the property’s mineral estate. The decision was promptly nullified, however, as the Ninth Circuit …
Hoopa Valley Tribe V. Ferc,
2019
University of Montana
Hoopa Valley Tribe V. Ferc, Fredrick Aaron Rains
Public Land & Resources Law Review
In Hoopa Valley Tribe v. FERC, the Hoopa Valley Tribe challenged the intentional and continual delay of state water quality certification review of water discharged from a series of dams on the Klamath River in California and Oregon. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the states of Oregon and California, and PacifiCorp, a hydroelectric operator, were implementing an administrative scheme designed to circumvent a one-year temporal requirement for review imposed on states by the Clean Water Act. This scheme allowed PacifiCorp to operate the series of dams for over a decade without proper state water quality certification. The United States …
Appeal No. 0966: Hardesty Production V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management,
2019
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Appeal No. 0966: Hardesty Production V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission
Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions
Review of Chief's Order 2018-242
How Chevron Deference Is Inappropriate In U.S. Fishery Management And Conservation,
2019
N/A
How Chevron Deference Is Inappropriate In U.S. Fishery Management And Conservation, Charles T. Jordan
Seattle Journal of Environmental Law
Well managed fisheries represent an excellent source of sustainable food making the management of which incredibly important. The management of fisheries in the United States is governed by The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA). While the Act creates strong goals and mandates to ensure the best management of fisheries as an important natural resource, there are issues of delegation within the act. The MSFCMA ultimately delegates authority to eight regional councils which are made up of unelected and un-appointed members. The membership of these councils is at risk of industry influence with little legal protections. Critical in how …
Save Our Sound Obx, Inc. V. North Carolina Department Of Transportation,
2019
Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana
Save Our Sound Obx, Inc. V. North Carolina Department Of Transportation, Mitch L. Werbell V
Public Land & Resources Law Review
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of several governmental agencies seeking to construct a new bridge in the Pamlico Sound adjacent to North Carolina’s Outer Banks. For years, state and federal agencies have put forth a massive coordinated effort to address the constant weather damage and erosion which occurs to a section of North Carolina Highway 12. The court found the agencies properly cleared NEPA’s environmental review requirements for the bridge’s construction. Additionally, the opponent-litigants’ efforts to add claims challenging the project, based on new information about a shipwreck in the bridge’s path, were futile.
Recent Case Decisions,
2019
University of Oklahoma College of Law
Recent Case Decisions
Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal
No abstract provided.
Gaping Hole: Darning International Corporate Liability For Environmental Disasters And Human Rights,
2019
University of Oklahoma College of Law
Gaping Hole: Darning International Corporate Liability For Environmental Disasters And Human Rights, Veronica Threadgill
Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal
No abstract provided.
Give Me Disproportionate Economic Hardship Or Give Me Death: The Application Of Administrative Review To The Renewable Fuel Standard – Sinclair Wyoming Refining Co. V. Epa,
2019
University of Oklahoma College of Law
Give Me Disproportionate Economic Hardship Or Give Me Death: The Application Of Administrative Review To The Renewable Fuel Standard – Sinclair Wyoming Refining Co. V. Epa, Andrew Rasbold
Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal
No abstract provided.
There Will Be Blood: The New Rules Of Oklahoma Oil And Gas Civil Liability,
2019
University of Oklahoma College of Law
There Will Be Blood: The New Rules Of Oklahoma Oil And Gas Civil Liability, Hunter W. Mattocks
Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal
No abstract provided.
The Vicissitudes Of Life: Meier V. Chesapeake Operating,
2019
University of Oklahoma College of Law
The Vicissitudes Of Life: Meier V. Chesapeake Operating, Kelsee Kephart
Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal
No abstract provided.
Cybersecurity And Offshore Oil: The Next Big Threat,
2019
University of Oklahoma College of Law
Cybersecurity And Offshore Oil: The Next Big Threat, Jamie Crandal
Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal
No abstract provided.
Editor's Introduction And Front Pages,
2019
University of Oklahoma College of Law
Editor's Introduction And Front Pages, Collin Mccarthy
Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal
No abstract provided.
States Rise To The Front Of Climate Legislation, But Can A State-Level Carbon Tax Work?,
2019
Indiana University Maurer School of Law
States Rise To The Front Of Climate Legislation, But Can A State-Level Carbon Tax Work?, Katelyn Nicasio
Indiana Law Journal
This Note uses two recent Massachusetts carbon tax proposals to discuss the costs and benefits of such state-level climate change legislation but discusses similar regional proposals as well. Although a state carbon tax poses some limitations and concern for the increased tax burden relative to other states that have not imposed a tax, the adoption of state carbon taxes represents an important advancement in climate policy. Part I overviews legislative tactics used to combat climate change thus far, including common policy responses, and the current attitude of federal legislators toward the global climate crisis. Part II introduces the advantages and …
