Environmental Law

This lesson was written as a review of the material covered in Chapter 3 of the CALI e-book, Wetlands Law: A Course Source. The lesson reviews basic principles of administrative law, including the nature of agencies, limits on agency authority, procedural requirements for agency action (rulemaking and adjudication), and basic principles of judicial review of agency action.

This lesson presents the basics of administrative law for students taking Environmental Law or Natural Resources Law who have not taken Administrative Law.

Focusing on the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, this lesson gives a brief overview of the ways in which federal environmental and natural resources law can raise issues regarding the federal government's constitutional authority to regulate pursuant to the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. In particular, it looks at the possible limitations on the federal government's Commerce Clause authority as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1995 decision in United States v. Lopez and as a result of federalism and land use considerations.

This lesson introduces students to one of the constitutional issues that can arise as a result of environmental and natural resources regulation: regulatory takings under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It begins by giving students an overview of regulatory taking claims, their distinction from physical takings of private property, and some of the rules that apply in evaluating whether a regulatory taking has occurred.

This lesson was written as a review of the material covered in Chapter 11 of the CALI e-book Wetlands Law: A Course Source. The lesson reviews the regulatory takings challenges that may be raised when a wetlands permit is denied or the government imposes conditions on the permit.

This lesson discusses the role of federal preemption in the implementation of environmental law. Specifically, when do federal environmental and natural resources statutes preempt, or displace, state laws on similar subjects? When are states free to enact their own environmental protections? What is the relationship between federal environmental law and state torts?

This lesson provides a review of the constitutional requirements for standing in federal courts that citizen plaintiffs must fulfill in order to bring environmental citizen suits in the federal courts.

This lesson will introduce you to, or allow you to review, the major provisions of the Federal Endangered Species Act: section 4, 16 U.S.C. section 1533, which governs listings of endangered and threatened species; section 7, 16 U.S.C. section 1536, which imposes obligations on Federal agencies to protect endangered and threatened species; and section 9, 16 U.S.C. section 1538, which prohibits all persons from "taking" or trading in endangered and threatened species.

This exercise provides a comprehensive review of federal environmental citizen suits, focusing on the citizen suit provision of the Clean Water Act. The student is presented with a series of hypothetical violations of the Clean Water Act and is asked questions regarding whether judicial review is available under the citizen suit provision of the Act for those violations, the jurisdictional or procedural limits that are placed on review, and limits on the type of relief that is available.

This lesson can serve as either a comprehensive introduction to, or a comprehensive review of, the elements of Clean Water Act jurisdiction. It refers to cases that you may have studied in your Environmental Law course, but knowledge of the cases is not required in order to complete the lesson.

This lesson is an introduction to the types of Clean Water Act permits, the terms of a permit, and the effect of a permit. It can function either as an initial introduction to this subject or as a review of material covered in class.

The following exercise is designed to reinforce your understanding of some of the basics of wetlands regulation and the wetlands permitting process under the Clean Water Act. Knowledge of the basic structure of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act is necessary to complete this exercise.

This lesson was written as a review of the material covered in Chapter 1 of the CALI e-book, Wetlands Law: A Course Source. The lesson reviews some basic wetlands science, including the values and functions of wetlands, types of wetlands, and wetland delineation methodology.

This lesson was written to correspond to the first part of Chapter 4 of the CALI e-book, Wetlands Law: A Course Source.

This lesson was written as a review of the material covered in the second part of Chapter 4 of the CALI e-book, Wetlands Law: A Course Source. The lesson reviews the regulations, policies, and case law interpreting the scope of federal jurisdiction over "waters of the United States" under the Clean Water Act.

This lesson was written as a review of the material covered in Chapter 5 of the CALI e-book, Wetlands Law: A Course Source. The lesson reviews whether activities such as landclearing, ditching, draining, sidecasting, and deep ripping are regulated as "discharges" of dredged or fill material, and reviews the relationship between the Clean Water Act section 402 permit program and the Section 404 wetlands permit program.

This lesson was written as a review of the material covered in Part 1 of Chapter 6 of the CALI e-book, Wetlands Law: A Course Source. The lesson reviews the exemptions from the Clean Water Act Section 404 permitting process and the general permits issued by the Corps under Section 404.

This lesson was written as a review of the material covered in Part 2 of Chapter 6 of the CALI e-book, Wetlands Law: A Course Source. The lesson reviews the procedures for the issuance of individual Section 404 permits and the application of the Clean Water Act section 404(b)(1) guidelines.

This lesson was written as a review of the material covered In Chapter 7 of the CALI e-book, Wetlands Law: A Course Source. The lesson reviews the compensatory mitigation requirements for Section 404 permits.

This lesson was written as a review of the material covered in Chapter 8 of the CALI e-book, Wetlands Law: A Course Source. The lesson reviews EPA's role in the section 404 permitting process and EPA's veto authority.

This lesson was written as a review of the material covered in Chapter 9 of the CALI e-book Wetlands Law: A Course Source. The lesson reviews the federal/state relationship in wetlands regulation under the Clean Water Act, with a focus on state programs, state programmatic general permits, state assumption of the Section 404 permitting program and the use of the Clean Water Act Section 401 certification program as a tool to protect wetlands.

This lesson was written as a review of the material covered in Chapter 10 of the CALI e-book Wetlands Law: A Course Source. The lesson reviews the administrative appeals process for Corps' actions implementing Section 404, judicial review of the actions of EPA and the Corps under the Clean Water Act, and federal and citizen enforcement of the Clean Water Act.

This lesson reviews the basic regulatory framework of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act. The lesson can serve either as a review of the statute or as an introduction to it.

This lesson reviews the basic components of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). It works best as a review of materials covered in a Hazardous Waste or Toxic Torts class, but it can also serve as an introduction to the statute.

This lesson will introduce you to the technology-based emissions limitations for the criteria air pollutants that apply to stationary sources regulated under the Clean Air Act.

This lesson will introduce you to the technology-based emissions limitations that apply to stationary sources regulated under the Clean Air Act that emit hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). It can act as an introduction to the subject, or you can use this lesson as part of your review of Clean Air Act stationary source regulations at the end of your studies of the Clean Air Act or before your final exam.

This lesson will introduce you to the categories of sources of air pollution that the Clean Air Act regulates, including stationary sources, mobile sources, and indirect sources. You will learn about the statutory definitions for each of these sources and how to distinguish among these sources.

This is an overview of the ways in which wastes become designated as "hazardous wastes" under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), emphasizing the EPA's regulations governing RCRA hazardous wastes. Students should complete the CALI lesson on RCRA "Solid Wastes" before completing this lesson.

This short lesson explores the definition of "solid waste" for RCRA purposes. The lesson does not require any prior knowledge of RCRA, but it can also serve as a review of RCRA's primary trigger after that topic has been covered in an Environmental Law or Hazardous Waste course.

This exercise provides a review of the liability scheme and defenses under CERCLA and briefly reviews the CERCLA cleanup process. The exercise begins when EPA discovers phenol contamination in drinking water wells of several residents of Springfield, Ames. Through a series of multiple choice questions, the student helps EPA choose a response action, identify potentially responsible parties, and decide which liable parties the agency should sue, for what damages, and under what authority.

This lesson provides students in a Water Law, Natural Resources, or Advanced Property with a basic review of the subject of water law and the two main water law systems in the United States.

Riparianism is the system of water law used in most eastern states in the United States to govern property rights in water. This lesson provides a review of the basic concepts of the doctrine of riparianism for students in Water Law or Property classes. It covers both common law riparianism and regulated riparianism.

This lesson provides a review of the doctrine of prior appropriation, the water law system that dominates in the western part of the United States.

This lesson provides a review of the five major doctrines that states have employed to decide who has what rights in ground water.

One of the more interesting doctrines in Water Law is the public trust doctrine, which preserves public rights in the nation's waters and limits states' abilities to destroy the public's interests in these waters.

This lesson provides a review of the equitable apportionment doctrine for students who have studied this doctrine in a Water Law, Advanced Property, or Natural Resources course.

This lesson provides a review of federal reserved rights for students who have covered that doctrine in a Water Law, Natural Resources Law, or Advanced Property course.

This lesson looks at the modern form of riparian rights, known as regulated riparianism, through the lens of Florida's Water Resources Act.

While most of the states in the country choose between the water law doctrines of prior appropriation and riparian rights, California applies both. This approach to state water law is called, appropriately, the California system.

This exercise reviews the basic structure and requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, the first major federal environmental law.

Climate change is the major emerging environmental law problem of the 21st century. However, understanding the legal issues surrounding climate change, both internationally and domestically, will be easier if you have a basic comprehension of what climate change is.

This lesson looks at the international framework for addressing climate change mitigation, as established in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its protocols.

This lesson is the third in the climate change series. It is designed to introduce students to the concept of climate change adaptation -- that is, the processes whereby humans respond to the ecological changes that climate change is causing.

As of the beginning of 2010, Congress had not enacted comprehensive federal legislation to address climate change. Nevertheless, a number of plaintiffs--mostly non-governmental organizations, or NGOs--have been using litigation to attempt to educate the public and prompt effective responses.

This lesson will introduce American environmental law students to general principles of international law, with some examples of how such principles create and influence international environmental law.

International environmental law covers many subjects. For the most part, however, international agreements on environmental subjects, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) must be implemented through the domestic law of signatory countries. For example, the United States implements CITES through the federal Endangered Species Act.

The lesson reviews the historical development of the federal laws governing wetlands, including regulatory laws and the laws that provide incentives for preservation of wetlands, and the federal agencies that are involved in administering those laws.

This lesson introduces the student to the doctrine and processes involved in interpreting state and federal statutes. Statutes are a critical part of every substantive area of the law, so this is important background for every student, legal professional, lawyer and judge.