Congress allows state and local governments to legislate federal criminal law. Violating some local ordinances, for example, constitutes a federal felony under the CWA. The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet decided how to review this type of delegation. Following the Court’s decision in Touby v. United States, most circuit courts apply a “meaningful constraint” test. Statutes that place meaningful, specific restrictions on the power to legislate federal criminal law do not violate the Constitution. The CWA fails this test.

As negotiators approach a new climate change agreement in 2015, they should consider an often-overlooked category of legal provisions included in other multilateral environmental agreements: the Montreal Protocol on the Ozone Layer; the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species; and the Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes. Each include provisions committing their Parties to restrict trade with non-Parties in substances covered by the agreement.

Opponents of oil and gas exploration using hydraulic fracturing have been advocating bans or moratoria on use of the technology, beginning in Vermont and New York. In the summer of 2013, several state legislatures, e.g., California and Illinois, rejected bans. In November, however, local bans were passed in Colorado and Ohio. This Article explores the breakthroughs that account for the rapid expansion of increased oil and gas production in the United States, returning North America to the energy powerhouse it had been in the 20th century.

Among the many unresolved legal questions posed by the Deepwater Horizon well blowout are whether and to what extent maritime tort negligence remedies escape displacement by relevant federal statutes, including, principally, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. OPA jurisprudence over two decades holds that OPA displaces these remedies. Contrarily, however, the U.S.

We are in the midst of an unprecedented governmentwide focus on infrastructure permitting and development in the United States. Our nation’s energy industry is undergoing a significant expansion across our landscapes. Large, utility-scale solar and wind projects are springing up around the country, thousands of new oil and gas wells are being drilled each year on public and private lands throughout the United States, and new pipelines and electric transmission lines traversing the country are under construction, or are on the drawing boards.

President Barack Obama has directed EPA “to use your authority under §§111(b) and 111(d) of the Clean Air Act to issue standards, regulations, or guidelines, as appropriate, that address carbon pollution from modified, reconstructed, and existing power plants and build on State efforts to move toward a cleaner power sector.” EPA is to propose standards no later than June 1, 2014, finalize them within a year, and have approved state or federal plans in place by the end of President Obama’s term.

For over two decades, various think tanks, politicians, and scientists, among others, have spread misinformation about the causes of climate change and the integrity of climate scientists. Partly because this misinformation campaign has distorted the marketplace of ideas, the United States has not addressed climate change with significant new legislation. Existing causes of action provide no repercussions for climate science misrepresentation, despite the possibly catastrophic consequences that may result if the United States fails to take significant steps to address climate change.

China is now experiencing economic, social, and environmental challenges simultaneously on a massive scale. In response to the dilemma between rapid economic growth and severe environmental deterioration, China’s policymakers are considering introducing the dynamism of sustainable development into the practice of designing and implementing policies consolidated by sustainable development so as to overcome the shortcomings of traditional policies.

The vast majority of scientists agree that in the coming decades, climate change will have profound impacts on the global environment. During this same time, the world population is expected to grow, and many developing regions of the world are poised to become more affluent. These changes will result in increased demand for food and other agricultural products. Modern industrialized agriculture is particularly not well-suited to adapt to the changes that are likely to occur.

Growth-induced land development caused by highway and other projects must be considered as a significant indirect effect under NEPA. For this review, lawyers must look to the regulations adopted by CEQ specifying the causation and foreseeability tests for indirect effects. Several reports discuss procedures for deciding whether a highway could cause growth-induced land development, and recommend a prescreening process to make this decision. Case law also addresses when indirect effects must be considered.