A district court granted summary judgment for nonprofit groups in a challenge to an Iowa statute aimed at preventing them from recording images or videos of conditions in slaughterhouses and other animal facilities. The groups argued that the statute impermissibly restricted their First Amendment fr...
Superfund practitioners are waiting to see whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will designate perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate, two chemicals in the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) group, as CERCLA hazardous substances. Such a designation may lead to selected remedies being modified and further work being required at Superfund sites where remedies were believed to be complete. This Article explores potential future liability by reviewing provisions of the 2021 Remedial Design/Remedial Action (RD/RA) Model Consent Decree.
This Comment provides a basic introduction to the Superfund removal program, a program through which millions of dollars are allocated through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 10 regional offices each year for cleaning up contaminated sites that are not designated “Superfund” sites, and particularly encourages consideration of Superfund removals to address growing concerns for environmental justice.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s dismissal of a lawsuit concerning a 2019 Texas law that allows only owners of existing transmission lines in the state to build, own, or operate new lines that connect to existing lines. A company seeking to enter the state...
While the environmental justice movement has gained traction in the United States, the relationship between agri-food systems and environmental injustices in rural areas has yet to come into focus. This Article explores the relationship between U.S. agricultural exceptionalism and rural environmental justice through examining right-to-farm laws.
This Comment responds to an article published in the February 2022 issue of ELR by Jaclyn Lopez. It discusses the significant agricultural benefits afforded by phosphate fertilizers; summarizes the U.S.
The D.C. Circuit vacated a district court's grant of summary judgment to EPA in a challenge to the Agency's approval of a permitting program for coal ash disposal facilities in Oklahoma. Environmental groups challenged EPA’s approval on several grounds under RCRA and the APA, and the district cour...
The D.C. Circuit held, 2-1, that an agency must provide notice and an opportunity for public comment when withdrawing a rule that has been filed for public inspection but not yet published in the Federal Register. In January 2017, USDA announced it had finalized a rule designed to protect show horse...
This Article, adapted from Leo E. Strine Jr., Kirby M. Smith, and Reilly S. Steel, Caremark and ESG, Perfect Together: A Practical Approach to Implementing an Integrated, Efficient, and Effective Caremark and EESG, 106 Iowa L. Rev. 18853 (2021), and used with permission, proposes a way of thinking about "EESG" that promotes ethical, fair, and sustainable behavior without heaping additional work on already-stretched employees and directors.
This abstract is adapted from Victor B. Flatt, Holding Polluters Accountable in Times of Climate and COVID Risk: The Problems With “Emergency” Enforcement Waivers, 12 San Diego J. Climate & Energy L. 1 (2021), and used with permission.