More on Today’s U.S. Supreme Court Property Rights Decision
As fellow Legal Plant contributor, Sean Hecht, reported earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the most important environmental law case on its current docket: Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection, No. 08-1151. The Court's opinion can be found here. The issue in the Stop the Beach Renourishment case is whether a publicly-funded and implemented public works project to restore Florida beaches heavily damaged by a series...
CONTINUE READINGSupreme Court issues decision in Florida beach sand takings case
UPDATE: Rick Frank has published some insighful analysis here of the decision discussed below, including discussion of the impacts of the changing Supreme Court composition on the development of doctrine in the so-called "judicial takings" area. The U.S. Supreme Court just issued its decision in Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection (#08-1151), an important case on constitutional takings. I have only skimmed the opinion, but i...
CONTINUE READINGValuable New Resources on the Oil Spill
Given the speed with which this story is unfolding and the overwhelming number of voices being heard, it's very hard to keep up or to separate the wheat from the chaff. The Berkeley Law Library has created a new database of carefully selected resources relating to the BP spill -- government reports and hearings, white papers from think tanks, press reports, and websites from all the key players. Each is accompanied by a brief description. If you're trying to follow...
CONTINUE READINGToxic Chemicals (2)
This is the second of a series of three posts on toxic chemicals. On Monday, I discussed a recent paper that appraised the shortcomings of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Today, I turn to a paper by David Adelman (University of Texas) proposing some reforms. First, Adelman suggests that the U.S. follow the EU example and adopt a tiered system, in which most chemicals receive minimal screening before entering the market, while others receive much more seriou...
CONTINUE READINGWhat’s Really Wrong With TSCA?
As Dan Farber discussed in his recent post, David Markell 's recent paper on TSCA provides some really interesting history. John Applegate has some fascinating pieces on the history and future of TSCA as well--well worth the read also. I thought it was curious that Dan focused on cost-benefit barriers imposed by the courts as being the obstacle to effective risk regulation, though. Clearly that was a problem identified in the Corrosion Proof Fittings (CPF)...
CONTINUE READINGNewsHour Segment: Can Obama Require BP to Form an Escrow Fund?
Steve Yerrid, a Florida trial lawyers, and I discuss this with Ray Suarez on the NewsHour. Bottom line: the answer isn't very clear, although OPA sec. 1005(a) does require BP to establish a process for "the payment or settlement of claims for interim, short-term damages" that might encompass an escrow and independent decision-makers. It will be interesting to see what kind of legal argument the Administration is able to put together in support of their power to manda...
CONTINUE READINGToxic Chemicals (1)
As it happens, I saw three new papers about toxics regulation at about the same time recently. Between the three, they give a clear picture about the U.S. stance on toxic chemicals. I'll discuss the papers in separate posts this week.The first paper, by David Markell of FSU, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Supporters had high hopes for TSCA when it was passed over thirty years ago. It was designed to fix regulatory gaps in other statutes. Russell Train...
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Ocean Science Trust Releases Study Evaluating Alternatives for Decommissioning California’s Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms
Last week, the California Ocean Science Trust released a long-awaited study that synthesizes scientific and legal information to inform policymakers and stakeholders on alternative paths for the decommissioning of California’s offshore oil and gas platforms. 27 of these platforms operate off the coast of California, and eventually all of them will stop producing fossil fuel and will have to be decommissioned. (I serve on the Expert Advisory Committee that has provi...
CONTINUE READINGNew Energy Publications from the National Academy of Sciences
Assessment of Technologies for Improving Light Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy estimates the potential fuel savings and costs for three types of engines: spark-ignition gasoline, compression-ignition diesel, and hybrid. Adapting the full combination of improved technologies in medium and large cars and pickup trucks with spark-ignition engines could reduce fuel consumption by 29 percent at an additional cost of $2,200. The Hidden Costs of Energy defines and evaluates k...
CONTINUE READING“Facing Catastrophe”: A Roadmap to a Safer Future
Rob Verchick’s new book, “Facing Catastrophe: Environmental Action for a Post-Katrina World,” might help avoid future disasters like the Deepsea Horizon blowout. Verchick views wetlands, lakes, forests, and rivers as a kind of infrastructure, providing ecosystem services that are just as important as the services provided by other infrastructure such as roads and dams. For instance, Gulf Coast wetlands provide a buffer against storm surges (protecting not only p...
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