In April, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed new regulations governing land management decisions on public lands. Dubbed the “conservation rule,” this rule seeks to protect intact landscapes, restore degraded habitat, and manage for ecosystem resilience.
This Comment argues that the False Claims Act (FCA) can now be used to enforce the Inflation Reduction Act's waste emissions charge and its royalties on vented and flared gas. It first explains why, unlike with other environmental violations, dodging either of these fees can trigger FCA liability. It then examines how two possible groups of plaintiffs—industry employees and outside observers—might discover unreported methane emissions and use the FCA against companies that dodge each of the IRA’s methane fees.
This Comment argues that what is needed to make sustainability work for business is a National Business Sustainability Council that would develop and promulgate sustainability criteria, be able to evaluate whether specific small businesses are meeting those criteria, and be able to “certify” that a small business is, in fact, meeting these criteria, and is therefore “sustainable.” It asserts the Council’s criteria and evaluation methodology should be both rigorous and transparent, such that when the Council awards a sustainability certification to a business, the federal and state governmen
Plastic pollution is a global environmental problem with a disproportionate impact on marginalized communities and other vulnerable groups. On June 27, 2023, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), ELI’s Women in Environmental Law & Leadership initiative, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and WilmerHale co-hosted a panel of experts who explored the environmental justice implications of continued production and disposal of plastics, and addressed key domestic and international policy efforts.
The fashion industry continues to grow exponentially, along with marketers’ use of false and misleading claims about “sustainability” and other environmental attributes of fashion garments. This Article explores recent instances of greenwashing in the industry and other countries’ efforts to address the issue, and proposes specific ways that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) should improve its guidelines for environmental marketing claims and expand enforcement.
Since 2017, 115 North Atlantic right whales (NARWs) have been documented dead, seriously injured, or sporting sublethal injuries and illnesses. Scientists refer to this phenomenon as an unusual mortality event, and assert that entanglement and vessel strikes are the leading causes. Fewer than 350 NARWs remain, and it is estimated that only one-third of their deaths are documented. Experts claim that only “quick and decisive action from humans” can ensure the species’ survival. Some proposed regulations will affect where and how the relevant fisheries are able to operate.
James O. “Jim” McDonald was the first director of enforcement in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Midwest regional office. His privately published autobiography, Holes in My Shoes: Tales of Growing Up in the Great Depression, provides a candid account of his impoverished childhood and his memorable experiences as a soldier, student, journalist, amateur athlete, and public health official.
This abstract is adapted from Justin R. Pidot & Ezekiel A. Peterson, Conservation Rights-of-Way on Public Lands, 55 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 89 (2022), and used with permission.
In How Algorithm-Assisted Decisionmaking Is Influencing Environmental Law and Climate Adaptation, Ziaja provides a useful framework to analyze whether an algorithm-assisted decisionmaking (AADM) tool and its design process is procedurally equitable. Ziaja’s framework contains several different questions advocacy groups can use to analyze the AADM tools that are increasingly used for environmental resource governance, such as the INFORM and RESOLVE algorithms discussed in the article, which guide the allocation and distribution of water and energy resources.
Environmental, natural resource, and energy planning will continue to rely on increasingly complex algorithms. Are these processes then also doomed to be inaccessible to key stakeholders? Hopefully not. There are multiple steps to ensuring process and participatory equity. There is ease of access to the process, access to necessary information, and then there is the matter of having the right information to be able to meaningfully impact outcomes of algorithm-assisted decisionmaking processes.