Category: Printed

I. Introduction In Cook v. Rockwell International Corp., a class of property owners sought to recover damages under the Price Anderson Act (“PAA”) after a nuclear plant exposed their property to plutonium radiation.[2] Following a four-month trial and three weeks of deliberation, the jury awarded the class just over $926 million.[3] The Tenth Circuit subsequently…

I. Introduction On August 21, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (“CSAPR”) was struck down by the D.C. Court of Appeals in EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA.[2] The rule was the EPA’s most recent attempt to regulate nitrogen oxide (“NOx”) and sulfur dioxide (“SO2”) emissions under the Clean Air…

Abstract Article 6(5) of the 1997 United Nations (“UN”) Convention on the Non-Navigable Uses of International Watercourses lists “economy of use” as one of the factors to determine the reasonable and equitable use of the waters of shared international watercourses. But, as used in the Convention, the phrase is ambiguous, and a more precise definition…

I. Introduction One of the key innovations of the 1970s regulatory environmental revolution was the provision for citizen enforcement of regulatory standards. This innovation upset the previous bipolar regulatory model, which was a two-way negotiation between the regulated industries and the often captive regulatory agencies. By removing agency enforcement discretion as a means of underenforcing…

Abstract The protection of federally owned wild lands, including, designated wilderness areas, has long been a cardinal element of the American character. For a variety of reasons, designating wild lands for protection under the Wilderness Act has proved difficult, increasingly so in recent years. Thus, attention has focused on undesignated wild lands, that is, unroaded…

I. Introduction Natural gas production in the United States has steadily increased in recent years.[2] A recent study projected that natural gas development is expected to increase by forty-four percent from 2011 through 2040 and natural gas liquids are likely to see an increase of approximately twenty-five percent through 2019.[3] This upsurge in production is…

I. Introduction In 1996, two cabinet departments and scores of tribes and tribal leaders convened to enact an Order that would enhance tribal sovereignty, streamline federal and tribal coordination, and protect dozens of threatened and endangered species with habitat in Indian country. While many have examined how this Joint Secretarial Order fits with the existing…

I. Introduction Policy makers have at least three tools at their disposal to reduce carbon emissions: renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy conservation.[2] A renewable energy source promises to heat homes and power cars while emitting fewer greenhouse gases than conventional carbon-burning alternatives such as coal and oil.[3] An electric car powered by wind-generated electricity…

Figure 1: Colorado River Basins[3] I. Introduction The San Luis Valley (“the Valley”) is a broad, high-altitude valley in south-central Colorado, extending southward to the New Mexico state line. Two mountain ranges—the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east and the San Juan Mountains to the west—border the Valley. The Rio Culebra flows westward from…