A decade of unraveling the effects of regulation on water innovation 

By Michael Kiparsky, with Dave Smith, Nell Green Nylen, Luke Sherman, Alida Cantor, Anita Milman, Felicia Marcus, David Sedlak, Bernhard Truffer, Christian Binz, Sasha Harris-Lovett, Jeff Lape, Justin Mattingly, Dave Owen, Lars Tummers, Buzz Thompson

In a recent post, my colleagues and I reported on our most recent research output in a long series of projects examining the effect of regulation on water innovation. The post describes a new framework for understanding and, ultimately, improving relationships between regulators and wastewater utility managers who are seeking to implement novel technical solutions, and is well worth a read. That research caps a decade of empirical work, and gives us a framework on which ...

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Has the Supreme Court Declared Open Season on Interstate Commerce?

How to read a baffling Supreme Court ruling.

If you’re a lawyer or a lower court judge, you know you’ve got a problem when the Supreme Court’s opinion begins with a list of parts of the opinion that do or don't have a majority, along with a list of what different permutations of judges said what about the issues.   The Pork Producers case is a Grade-A prime example of this. In that case, the Supreme Court upheld California’s ban on selling pork from pigs that are treated inhumanely, despite claims that...

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“Fully Protected” No More?

Newsom’s infrastructure package makes a big change for California species protection

Last week, the Newsom administration announced a budget trailer bill package it said was designed to facilitate the deployment of historic federal infrastructure funding for climate-friendly projects. The package consists of 11 separate trailer bills, dealing with a variety of topics ranging from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to state contracting rules. Unsurprisingly, the two CEQA reform bills—one relating to administrative record preparation and...

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A Climate Trial in Montana Sets the Scene for More

Held v. Montana is the first of many climate lawsuits by youth plaintiffs to go to trial. Big Sky Country is a fitting forum for this phase of climate change litigation.

Young people who have the most to lose from climate change have filed lawsuits in all 50 states, but the first of these cases to go to trial will be in Montana—unofficially nicknamed “the Last Best Place”—which may be the perfect venue for a landmark trial about government culpability for the global climate crisis. Starting June 12, reporters and television crews from across the country will converge on a quaint courthouse overlooking Helena, one of the sm...

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The role of regulatory relationships in wastewater innovation

Five boxes are shown, one for each of the 5 characteristics. Arrows connect some of the boxes to one another. The first box is for “clarity.” It says “The relationship establishes explicit and mutually understood expectations regarding the utility’s and regulator’s respective responsibilities and goals.” The second box is for “capacity building.” It says “The relationship builds knowledge and abilities for both the utility and the regulator.” The third box is for “continuity.” It says “The relationship begins early and continues throughout project development and implementation.” The fourth box is for “trust.” It says “The relationship fosters willingness by the utility and regulator to take risks in exchange for the other party’s capability and willingness to deliver on commitments, as well as public confidence in both.” Finally, the fifth box is for “bounded flexibility.” It says “The relationship maintains the ability to adjust and adapt over time, including by (1) supporting project refinement, learning, and adjustment and (2) exploring the appropriate use of regulatory discretion.” Three arrows point from the clarity box to other boxes. One arrow points to the capacity building box and says “Helps parties identify their information needs.” A second arrow point to the trust box and says “Helps parties understand one another’s goals, responsibilities, and constraints + identify areas of alignment.” The third arrow points to the bounded flexibility box and says “Helps parties identify where flexibility may be possible and beneficial.” Two arrows point from the capacity building box to other boxes. One points to the trust box and says “Builds project-specific knowledge + builds ability to deal with innovation.” The other points to the bounded flexibility box and says “Supports project refinement and adjustment.” Four arrows point from the continuity box, one to each of the other four boxes. The arrow to the clarity box says “Maintains understanding of parties’ goals and expectations.” The arrow to the capacity building box says “Supports developing and maintaining the parties’ institutional and project-specific knowledge.” The arrow to the trust box says “Demonstrates a pattern of good-faith interactions.” The arrow to the bounded flexibility box says “Enables ongoing engagement around adaptive management + regulatory discretion.” Finally, an arrow points from the trust box to the bounded flexibility box. It says “Increases willingness to use adaptive management + supports exploring regulatory discretion.”

by Nell Green Nylen, Michael Kiparsky, and Anita Milman

Public water and wastewater utilities are increasingly struggling to meet society’s expectations.  Their basic infrastructure is aging, budgets are tight, and they face a barrage of stressors, from population growth to climate change and shifting regulatory expectations.  What's more, in addition to performing their traditional function of protecting human health and water quality, many wastewater utilities are being asked to contribute to meeting other goals.  Fo...

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The Biden Power Plant Rule and the Major Question Doctrine

The new rule has hardly any of the features that caused the Supreme Court to strike down the Obama rule.

We’ve already started to hear claims that the Biden power plant rule falls under the major question doctrine, which the Supreme Court used to strike down Obama’s Clean Power Plan. Are those claims plausible? Consider the aspects of the Clean Power Plan that the Supreme Court found objectionable. I’ve identified eight factors that the Court seemed to find significant. The Biden power plant rule gets 1.5 points out of a possible  9 on this scale. That's a score of 1...

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Environmental Law Again Front-and-Center at California Supreme Court

Local Government's Authority to Limit Oil & Gas Development To Be Argued Before Justices

For the first two decades of this century, and under the able leadership of former Chief Justices Ronald George and Tani Cantil-Sakauye, the California Supreme Court was quite active in interpreting and shaping California environmental law.  That trend had abated in the last few years--coincidentally or not during the height of the COVID epidemic--with only a couple of relatively minor environmental law decisions being issued by the Supreme Court. Well, break's o...

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Local Authority Over Oil Drilling Heads to California Supreme Court

Oil derrick in Bakersfield, California.

Cities and counties have long held authority to decide where and whether to allow oil and gas exploration and extraction. The state’s high court can make that crystal clear.

If California residents decide by voter initiative to limit land uses for oil and gas extraction in their county, can fossil fuel businesses turn around and claim state preemption to overturn the voice of the voters? That’s what is at issue in a case that’s headed to the State Supreme Court. Oral arguments in this case (Chevron v. County of Monterey) come at a crucial time in two separate, but related, campaigns: to phase out oil drilling operations near homes...

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New York’s New Environmental Justice Law

Unless amended or carefully implemented, there's a risk the law could hurt the communities it’s meant to serve.

New York has enacted what may be the country’s most stringent environmental justice law.  The state deserves credit for its commitment to remedying the unfair pollution burdens placed on disadvantaged communities. The law is so broadly worded, however, that it  may have the potential to prevent economic development that would aid those communities, or even new facilities like hospitals that are urgently needed by the community. It might also impede New York’s clean...

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Air Quality Watchdog Agrees to Get Tougher on Refineries

Los Angeles' coastal bike path passes several large-scale energy infrastructure projects, including the Chevron Refinery in El Segundo, CA.

There’s a favorable settlement in the case brought by Earthjustice on behalf of EYCEJ with help from UCLA law students.

Last year, the South Coast Air Quality Management District was accused of not properly enforcing a state law that requires petroleum refineries to install air-quality monitoring systems around their perimeter. Essentially, the air quality watchdog exempted smaller refineries from having to follow the rules. Now, the SCAQMD has agreed to reverse course and move to close that loophole.   The accusation came in a petition filed in LA Superior Court by Earthjustice ...

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