Irrespective of the method of interpretation, the ESA is clearly designed to protect endangered and threatened species, as well as their habitats, to the greatest extent possible. Removing the definition of “harm” will prevent enforcement of the ESA against ongoing actions and render incidental taking permits nearly useless. Without effective ...

Federal courts have the tremendous power to grant stays, which temporarily stop administrative agencies from implementing and enforcing new regulations. By delaying the benefits or harms of agency actions, these stays can have wide-ranging impacts, even before courts decide the legality of those actions. But the Supreme Court infrequently adheres ...

Ecology Law Quarterly Volume 51.2 Front Matter

We are honored to introduce Ecology Law Quarterly’s Annual Review for 2023–24 presented in this 51.2 edition. The Annual Review represents a unique opportunity to highlight the academic scholarship of Berkeley Law students. This year’s selection of cases range from covering landmark decisions on our nation’s foundational environmental statutes to ...

This Note argues that Congress can and should pass new federal building electrification legislation to protect, incentivize, and accelerate local electrification efforts.

This Note analyzes and applies the Supreme Court’s reasoning in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross (NPPC) to make two arguments. First, it argues the majority’s analysis of extraterritoriality in NPPC reinforces the case for overruling the previous “garbage cases” and refocusing the Dormant Commerce Clause (DCC) on protectionism. Second, ...

This Note first examines how textualism’s plain meaning rule requires the enacted purposes canon. Next, it examines the Clean Water Act and its purposes section, which is ideal for interpretation under the enacted purposes canon because of its clarity, specificity, and comprehensiveness. Finally, it examines the conservative split in Sackett ...

This Note focuses on the Navajo Nation’s unqualified right to divert water from the Colorado River, the decreed rights of the Nation versus undecreed rights, and how administrative agencies can employ an EJ-plus lens to provide the Nation with administrative solutions.