Issue 2

Environmental law covers a lot of territory, intersecting with energy law and land use law. The range of topics in the Annual Review is a tribute to the diversity of the field. The contributions to this issue demonstrate that innovative legal analysis can not only advance legal doctrine, but can ...

The Court’s major questions doctrine is deeply flawed and should be renounced. There are several reasons for this conclusion: the doctrine lacks analytical rigor; it aggrandizes the judiciary at the expense of constitutionally mandated separation of powers principles; it is unnecessary, since existing mechanisms provide more than adequate judicial review ...

This Note proposes a new standard for review in the spirit of both the precautionary principle and the deference owed to agency decisions on technical matters. Such a standard is grounded in the ESA and the Supreme Court’s reasoning in Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill.

There are various possible methods for the United States to become more forward-looking, which is essential if we are going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect future generations from climate change. The United States is unlikely to follow precisely in the footsteps of France and Germany because Notre Affaire ...

The United States Forest Service (USFS) is the federal agency responsible for overseeing all national forests and grasslands. The agency’s forest management duties rest on a careful balancing of interests. This Note argues for transferring the duty to conduct such NEPA reviews to another agency entirely, the Environmental Protection Agency. ...

Climate events are only going to get worse. Water in the Pecos Basin is becoming more scarce. To apportion Pecos River water properly, Texas and New Mexico must work together to create a more comprehensive compact that delineates how to apportion losses from climate-related events. The Supreme Court need not ...

Clean Air Council is a victory for both states chafing under federal regulatory oversight and polluters seeking to reduce their compliance burdens. However, the decision creates new hurdles for the federal government’s efforts to mitigate air pollution and climate change. Working with incomplete information about air pollution, federal regulators will ...

The 2021 chlorpyrifos tolerance revocation is undoubtedly a victory for public health. However, the rule has not eliminated the risks that chlorpyrifos poses to agricultural workers, their families, and their neighbors. Many workers will continue to experience the health risks that the chemical poses, even as policymakers and the public ...

This Note sets out to evaluate the implementation problems surrounding Order No. 841 as they relate to the governance structures of RTOs. It argues that, in RTOs, poor implementation of the order roughly correlates with governance structures that prop up traditional energy interests to the detriment of alternative resources. FERC ...

The Supreme Court in Guam clarified a minor but important detail of CERCLA to ensure that states and territories, especially those impacted by U.S. military activity, that enter into settlements under environmental laws have clearcut options to recover cleanup costs. Guam’s holding maintains CERCLA’s cooperative federalism and respect for states’ ...

Knowing it will be judicially reviewed, an agency is pressured to produce well-reasoned and researched rules. This relationship creates a “lever” by which those who care about well-documented rules inside the judiciary and agencies can move those who act contrary to science or technical expertise. In Friends of Animals, the ...

The modern-day impacts of climate change on water availability suggest that the Court in Florida v. Georgia should have reevaluated the forty-year-old water reapportionment standards. The Court should have clarified ambiguous terms in the equitable reapportionment standards or, alternatively, gotten rid of the standards altogether.

This Note argues that the Clean Water Act (CWA) authorizes EPA to prohibit the Corps from approving general dredge and fill activity. Part I describes the statutory and regulatory background for dredge and fill permits and EPA’s veto. Part II establishes the statutory authority, legislative history, and practical reasons that ...

The ruling in Chernaik illustrates how the public trust doctrine’s theoretical foundation is rooted in a flawed analogy, rendering it ineffective for compelling government action to address climate change. A new or adapted doctrine is needed to convince the judiciary to push for government action on climate change.

This note discusses the role of cost-benefit analysis in environmental regulations.

This article discusses the role of Executive Orders in addressing Climate Change.