Editors' Summary: Although NEPA has been with us for nearly two decades, the precise extent of the statute's application remains cloudy. The courts continue to struggle with the scope of "Federal action," particularly where proposed federal conduct with little direct environmental effect will make possible nonfederal activities of great environmental consequence. Mr. Ellis and Mr. Smith examine the case law on this issue, identifying two different analytical trends reflected in the various decisions.

Editors' Summary: The public trust doctrine is an amorphous legal concept that generally provides that states hold certain submerged land and tidelands in trust for their citizens. In Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Mississippi, the Supreme Court held that state ownership of lands subject to the public trust includes nonnavigable lands that are subject to the influence of the tide. This Comment analyzes the Court's decision, which could bring millions of acres of wetlands within the reach of the public trust.

Editors' Summary: With virtual certainty, one of the two Dialogues that follow is the environmental views of the next president. Choosing between them is one of the most important environmental decisions that Americans collectively will make over the next several years.

I am privileged to be able to address the interaction between real property and environmental law as both a government employee and a private citizen. Too often, we are inclined to burrow in to the provisions of CERCLA, SARA, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, RCRA and other environmental statutes without considering how they fit into the universe of the law.

In a case now in litigation, United States v. Chemical and Pigment Co., the United States is for the first time attempting to establish a federal rule imposing liability for CERCLA cleanup costs on successor corporations (those that acquire the assets of another). The proposed rule attempts to codify a policy that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has enforced under CERCLA for several years.

JIM SINCLAIR: I handle environmental matters for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. We have about 11,000 corporate members, and we represent the breadth of New Jersey industry. We also represent a special fraction of that industry: manufacturers that are covered by New Jersey's ECRA. I have received many phone calls over the last two years about this law. From company environmental specialists to chairmen of the board, they have all called to express their dismay and disbelief at what ECRA requires of them.

Editors' Summary: As environmental regulations and litigation grow in complexity, the debate surrounding pollution control issues becomes more technical and specialized. As a result, the fundamental questions and assumptions that underlie pollution control problems sometimes go unarticulated.

Editors' Summary: Wetlands protection is at once one of the most important environmental needs as well as one in which the workings of federal environmental law are most intricate. Wetlands are fragile ecosystems that serve important roles in bringing together water, groundwater, soil, and the life that lives in and depends on this unique combination.

Editors" Summary: Congress is a body often at conflict with itself, and disputes between its authorizing committees and its appropriating committees are among the most pervasive and antagonistic. To administer their programs, executive branch agencies need both authorizing legislation from the authorizing committees and appropriated funds from the appropriating committees. Often, political realities are such that the two sets of committees disagree about the proper way to run the executive agencies.

Editors' Summary: The 100th Congress closed out its term with a flurry of activity, enacting several environmental bills and introducing a number of bills that will set the stage for the 101st Congress. A FIFRA reauthorization bill passed, and the Endangered Species Act was reauthorized after three years' delay with few significant changes. Yet, in many respects the session that just ended was disappointing, and resulted in more form than substance.