Abstract:
The purpose of this Article is to shed some light on the merits
of statutorily mandated dispute resolution in federal natural-resources
and environmental law. We begin by describing section
164(e) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), which mandates the use of
a dispute-resolution process to resolve selected types of disputes
among Indian tribes, states, and the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). We review the statutory and administrative history
of the provision and examine the only four instances in
which it was invoked. We then highlight a number of lessons
learned from the experience of the CAA that might serve as useful
guidance for other mandatory dispute-resolution processes.
Finally, we conclude by offering a few observations on the place
of mandatory dispute resolution in federal natural-resources and
environmental law.