Journal of Environmental Law & Litigation : Vol. 29 No. 3 (2014)

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https://hdl.handle.net/1794/18641

The Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation (JELL), has provided a national, unbiased forum for the discussion and presentation of new ideas and theories in environmental and natural resources law since 1985. JELL educates students for careers in environmental law, disseminates important information to the environmental community, and plays an integral role at the University of Oregon Law School's nationally and internationally recognized environmental law program. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: LAW LIB. K 10 .O425 Access the current issue of JELL at http://www.law.uoregon.edu/org/jell/articles.php

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Open Access
Fire and Ice: Regulating Methane Hydrate as a Potential New Energy Source
(University of Oregon School of Law, 2014-12-19) Jackson, Erin
On March 12, 2013, Japan announced it had successfully extracted methane gas from solid methane hydrate—an icy compound formed when methane gas mixes with water under specific temperature and pressure conditions. This achievement is thought to be the first instance of researchers extracting large quantities of methane gas from methane hydrate located directly below the seabed. Current estimates place the amount of natural gas trapped in methane hydrate as many times that of “conventional” natural gas. Given the abundance of methane hydrate in both permafrost and sediments beneath the seabed, scientists have begun looking to the compound as a prospective new source of natural gas for energy production. However, the regulatory scheme that would eventually govern extraction of natural gas from methane hydrate within the United States’ 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) remains ambiguous, and such extraction raises serious questions about safety and environmental damage.
Open Access
A Vague Invasion: The Inadequacy of Invasive Species Definitions in Reaching Federal and State Goals, Illustrated by Application of Ammophilia arenaria to Coastal Dune Preservation
(University of Oregon School of Law, 2014-12-19) Bowker, Olympia
The definition of invasive species is not consistent between federal and state laws. Current invasive species legislation overwhelmingly harbors inadequate definitions and is unable to serve enumerated environmental objectives. The lack of congruency between federal and state laws results in inconsistent classification and treatment of certain species throughout the states and contradictory enforcement with regard to bio-remedial erosion management of coastal dunes.
Open Access
Giving Landowners the Power: A Democratic Approach for Assembling Transmission Corridors
(University of Oregon School of Law, 2014-12-19) Gerstle, Brandon
As the United States systemically increases its renewable energy capacity, new approaches for acquiring land corridors are needed to develop electric transmission lines. Extensive transmission line development is needed to connect our cities to our nation’s remote but ample renewable energy resources, such as rural Nebraska’s wind. This will require developers to acquire thousands of acres of land from private landowners across the country. To minimize the risk of landowner opposition, this article provides several innovative land-assembly alternatives to the traditional eminent domain model.
Open Access
Equitable Apportionment in the Supreme Court: An Overview of the Doctrine and the Factors Considered by the Supreme Court in Light of Florida v. Georgia
(University of Oregon School of Law, 2014-12-19) Bernadett, Lauren D.
In October 2013, the state of Florida filed a complaint against the state of Georgia in the U.S. Supreme Court.1 Florida alleged that Georgia had been extracting an increasing amount of water from interstate rivers to meet its agricultural, industrial, and municipal demand for water. Florida alleged that the increasing water extraction was drying up the Apalachicola River, Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Basin, and floodplains. The Apalachicola River region hosts Florida’s largest river floodplain forest; the greatest number of freshwater fish species in Florida; over one hundred species that are endangered, threatened, or of concern under federal or state law; the second largest national estuarine research reserve; and, until recently, twelve percent of the nation’s eastern oyster harvest. Florida asked the Supreme Court to equitably apportion the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Basin water, to enjoin Georgia “from interfering with Florida’s rights,” and to cap Georgia’s water uses at 1992 levels.
Open Access
The Unlamented Demise of the Federal Defendant Rule
(University of Oregon School of Law, 2014-12-19) Goho, Shaun A.
For two decades, courts in the Ninth Circuit enforced the so-called Federal Defendant Rule, under which intervention as of right was prohibited in cases brought under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Ninth Circuit eventually abandoned this rule in its 2011 en banc decision in Wilderness Society v. U.S. Forest Service. This Article traces the history of the Federal Defendant Rule, showing how it evolved through a common law-like process from a factspecific decision in one case to a bright-line rule. It also explains how, despite the Rule’s apparent clarity, it produced confusion in the district courts of the Ninth Circuit, leading to a series of inconsistent decisions. The Article concludes that the Ninth Circuit was right to reject the Rule and uses the history of the Rule to draw more general lessons about the processes through which judicial doctrines emerge, evolve, and are abandoned.

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