This Article begins with a bald and intentionally provocative claim: as we look ahead to the challenging and complex environmental problems that remain, conventional State-centric regulatory rules will turn out to be a less important part of the environmental management tool kit than is commonly supposed by legal scholars, environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and many others.
On August 2, 1996, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) promulgated rules governing its Open Market Emissions Trading (OMET) program. With a goal to provide industry with a greater degree of flexibility in meeting federal air compliance directives and simultaneously support the state's progress toward the attainment of federal air standards, this program has now been terminated following scrutiny from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), environmental groups, and a new NJDEP administration.
On September 28, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to review a case that has vast importance for land developers, private property owners, governments, redevelopment agencies, and others who are impacted by governmental redevelopment efforts: Kelo v. City of New London.
I. Introduction
In 1999, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Order 2000.1 Order 2000 gave public utilities the option to voluntarily participate in a regional transmission organization (RTO). A public utility participating in an RTO must give the RTO the right to manage its transmission system.
The beleaguered agency officials who administer the endangered species laws have been inundated with litigation challenging everything from the constitutionality of their statute to the soundness of their biological judgments. But recently, they are being challenged for relying on what they must have assumed to be an unimpeachable source of information--the classification of species by the official taxonomic organizations.
Publicly listed companies have been required to disclose "material" environmental information to investors for over 30 years. Environmental costs can be material when associated with air, groundwater, and waste site remediation, regulatory fines, and litigation that result in losses of millions of dollars, decreased shareholder value, and diminished corporate reputation. Such factors must be disclosed in a company's annual and quarterly reports that are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In 1999, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Order 2000.1 Order 2000 gave public utilities the option to voluntarily participate in a regional transmission organization (RTO). A public utility participating in an RTO must give the RTO the right to manage its transmission system.
The beleaguered agency officials who administer the endangered species laws have been inundated with litigation challenging everything from the constitutionality of their statute to the soundness of their biological judgments. But recently, they are being challenged for relying on what they must have assumed to be an unimpeachable source of information--the classification of species by the official taxonomic organizations.