Journal of Environmental Law & Litigation : Vol. 39 (2024)
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Item Open Access Sustainable Housing in Three Steps Including Heat Island Overlay Zones(University of Oregon School of Law, 2024-05-01) Albertson, Thomas J.Under current models of sustainable housing, many local governments are attempting various methods to mitigate, to varying degrees, the inevitable human impact on the environment that arises from residential buildings. This Note anticipates a synthesis of these diverse approaches and, to this end, offers comparative international legal analyses of municipal ordinances designed to promote sustainable neighborhoods. This Note, however, is written for an American planning and development audience.Item Open Access A Just Solution to Port Pollution: Tailoring the Clean Ports Program to Ensure Equitable Distribution of Inflation Reduction Act Grants(University of Oregon School of Law, 2024-05-01) Hooks, Molly M.Pollution from shipping ports disproportionately harms low-income communities and communities of color. With an eye toward environmental justice, the Inflation Reduction Act will help mitigate this disparity. Specifically, its grants relating to zero-emission port equipment and technology, implemented through the new Clean Ports Program, have the potential to lessen the air pollution burden on near-port communities and further environmental justice. The government, however, must take measures to ensure this funding reaches and elevates the communities hit hardest by port pollution. These measures include targeting outreach efforts to under-resourced communities, using environmental justice research to guide decision-making, and providing transparent communication at every step of the implementation process.Item Open Access Breaking Doctrinal Silos Between Environmental Law, Disability Law, and Torts to Stop the Spread of Infectious Disease Through Contaminated Indoor Air(University of Oregon School of Law, 2024-05-01) Bard, Jennifer S.This Article introduces a practical legal strategy for immediately implementing new scientific discoveries concerning disease transmission to improve indoor air quality and reduce infectious disease spread. This strategy transcends traditional legal silos and bridges these gaps by integrating three disciplines that seldom collaborate: disability law, negligence law, and state environmental law. In so doing, it assembles a toolkit of legal instruments to alleviate the burden of infectious diseases for all Americans in their daily lives — whether they are working, traveling, shopping, worshiping, attending school, or seeking health care.Item Open Access Polluters Anonymous: How Exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act Contradict American Environmental Law(University of Oregon School of Law, 2024-05-01) Cramer, Benjamin W.The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) includes exemptions that allow agency officials to withhold certain documents on a case-by-case basis. Two of those exemptions are relevant for the environmental matters described in this Article: Exemption 3 on types of information that can be withheld per the mandates of other statutes and Exemption 9 on information about wells that are drilled on public land in search of water or fossil fuels. This Article argues that exemptions to FOIA enable secrecy that contradicts that statute’s fundamental spirit of governmental openness, and the informational and public participation ideals of environmental law.Item Open Access From Eugene to Seattle: Analyzing the Prosecution of Environmental Crimes Within EPA Region 10(University of Oregon School of Law, 2024-05-01) Ozymy, Joshua; Ozymy, Melissa JarrellCriminal provisions in federal environmental law in the United States are reserved for the worst violations involving significant harm or culpable conduct, but we know little about how these crimes have been prosecuted within EPA Region 10, which includes the states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. We use content analysis of 2,807 environmental crime prosecutions stemming from EPA criminal investigations, 1983–2022, and explore all 284 prosecutions occurring within Region 10 since 1983. We find defendants were cumulatively assessed over $196 million in monetary penalties, 947 years of probation, and 156 years of incarceration at sentencing. Forty-two percent of prosecutions focused on air pollution crimes, 19 percent hazardous substances, 13 percent water pollution, and 26 percent state-level crimes. We conclude by offering prescriptions for enhancing the criminal enforcement of the environment through structural budgetary investments, increased state-federal cooperation, and strengthening of criminal enforcement associations.Item Open Access Slaying the Minotaur: Navigating the Equitable Apportionment Labyrinth to Create an Equitable Policy to Guide Water Management(University of Oregon School of Law, 2024-05-01) Richardson, Jesse J., Jr.This Article offers a short primer on water rights in the United States, contrasting eastern riparian water rights and western prior appropriation rights. Summaries of the Supreme Court’s opinions on equitable apportionment provide a concise history of the doctrine. The Article then attempts to glean a coherent test for determining equitable apportionment from the case law. Given the dramatic differences between the riparian and prior appropriation doctrines, the cases are then categorized and discussed based on the water rights regimes used by the contesting states. Finally, the Article draws conclusions from the cases and offers recommendations to improve the process.Item Open Access A Green New Foreign Practices Act: How to Enforce Corporate Environmental Responsibility(University of Oregon School of Law, 2024-05-01) Robbins, LaurenOne of the biggest challenges facing international environmental protection is enforcement. States are called upon by agreements such as the Rio Declaration and the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change to develop laws establishing liability for environmental damage by their private actors. Even when states have strong domestic emissions standards, companies often outsource their pollution to those with lax standards or little enforcement capacity — often in the Global South.