Volume 52 (2025)

Ecology Law Quarterly Volume 52.2 Front Matter

We are honored to introduce Ecology Law Quarterly’s 2024-25 Annual Review, presented in this 52.2 edition. The Annual Review is unique in authorship, scope, and scale: All pieces within this edition are scholarship written by Berkeley Law students and recent graduates. The range of topics analyzed reflects the wide scope ...

This Note explains how the Eighth Circuit found that EPA’s decision to ban the use of chlorpyrifos on food crops, which was based on the Ninth Circuit’s interpretation of its statutory mandate, was arbitrary and capricious. The Note then argues the reasoning employed by the Eighth Circuit to reach this ...

This Note argues that, while it is far from guaranteed, Texas v. New Mexico may present Native American tribes with a unique way to finally see their water rights addressed in water compacts.

This Note examines past failed federal legislation to investigate why the ADVANCE Act may have lost its nuclear closure communities provision. This Note also discusses why nuclear closure communities deserve support, drawing parallels between the economic devastation that nuclear closure communities experience and the similar circumstances coal communities face in ...

Offshore wind energy represents a critical opportunity for America’s clean energy transition, yet community opposition remains a significant barrier to its success. This paper introduces the concept of “social derisking,” which emphasizes stakeholder collaboration as a strategy to mitigate the risks of project delays and cancellations due to a lack ...

This Note argues that the Corner Post principle presents a transformative shift in environmental litigation, particularly under the Endangered Species Act, by extending the date for claim accrual and enabling plaintiffs to challenge longstanding agency regulations and decisions that continue to harm vulnerable species. This principle facilitates an opportunity for ...

As one of the first instances of success in American climate litigation, Navahine F. v. Hawai‘i Department of Transportation demonstrates the potential of settlement in a climate litigant’s toolbox to maximize plaintiffs’ goals. This Note argues that settlement may provide an opportunity for climate litigants to obtain more concrete commitments ...

This Note explores the environmental implications of AFFF use aboard Navy vessels, addressing both the current regulatory framework and ongoing litigation related to AFFF contamination. Analyzing the arguments for and against shipboard AFFF use, this Note recommends the Navy phase out AFFF on ships.

This In Brief explores how the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Cascadia Wildlands v. Scott Timber Co. (Wildlands) has significant implications for conservation measures, land use policies, and future Endangered Species Act (ESA) litigation.

First, this In Brief summarizes the Clean Air Act’s Renewable Fuel Standard program and small refinery exemptions, market research on Renewable Identification Number (RIN) compliance, relevant case law, and the standard of review under the Administrative Procedure Act. Second, it summarizes the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Sinclair Wyoming Refinery Co. ...

This In Brief analyzes how the Third Circuit’s decision in Boynes v. Limetree Bay Ventures, LLC demonstrates the importance of maintaining broad judicial discretion in setting the bond amounts attendant to preliminary injunctions. Absent such discretion, the interests of the movant— which the preliminary injunction is principally designed to protect—would ...

This In Brief explores the Tenth Circuit’s holding in Strawberry Water Users Association v. United States. It argues that this case underscores the urgent need for a mechanism to hold federal agencies accountable when they fail to take a proactive and adaptive approach to fire management—one that balances the ecological ...

This In Brief analyzes New Jersey Conservation Foundation v. FERC, where the D.C. Circuit found that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of a natural gas pipeline project did not appropriately weigh GHG emissions as required by the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and the Natural Gas Act (NGA). ...

This In Brief discusses the Third Circuit’s decision in Chemours v. EPA. Part I gives an overview of the relevant statutes and case law. Part II provides background on the parties and procedural history in Chemours. Part III analyzes how a court could have found jurisdiction to review the health ...

Ecology Law Quarterly Volume 52.1 Front Matter

This Article assesses key risks to state authority that could arise from regionalization: federal jurisdiction may interfere with state clean energy policy, restrict states’ control over in-state energy resources, and preempt state law. The Article analyzes each of these risks in the context of Western regionalization and concludes that none ...

This Article illustrates how the fragmentation of global climate harm into individual lawsuits, in which each local government seeks damages for its own mitigation and adaptation costs, could lead to a “first-sue, first-served” climate finance regime. This Article explores the benefits and risks of this litigation effort, the responsibilities of ...

This Article explores the burgeoning fields of artificial intelligence and bioacoustics and their potential to reshape nonhuman animal law.

This article takes a unique perspective on how the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Sackett v. EPA, which further restricted the scope of waters covered by the Clean Water Act, will impact water quantities in the arid West.