Law and Justice

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Law and Justice

• CJUS / POLS 110
• Chapter 9 Environmental Law

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• Environmental law
• - 21st century
• - heavily populated
• - urbanized / industrialized
• a. Earths capacity pollution
• - atmosphere / water
• - major concern
• (1) Waste produced industrial society
• - continues to threaten
• - existence of human life

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• (2) Constant tension
• - business goals profits / productivity
• - need maintain / restore water / air
• (3) Past 30 years
• - statutory / administrative laws
• - enacted as a balance
• - business and environment
• (a) Referred to as
• - environmental law
• - air / water / land / vegetation

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• (b) Type of government regulation
• - important / expanding
• b. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• - created in 1970
• - established to coordinate
• - federal regulation environmental issues
• - most federal policies / statutes
• (1) Federal law
• - basis for issuing regulations
• - control pollution

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• - factories / motor vehicles
• - electrical utilities / industrial plants
• (a) Lawsuits
• - 30 states
• - numerous cities / counties
• - demanding changes
• (b) Washington state
• - Department of Ecology
• - monitors state levels
• - sets standards / procedures

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• (2) EPA
• - sets air quality standards
• - major pollutants
• (a) To protect
• - vegetation / visibility
• - certain economic conditions
• (b) Insures breath-ability of air
• - vehicle exhaust gases
• c. EPA Statement of Purpose

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• (1) Purpose is to ensure that
• (a) All Americans are protected from
• significant risks to human health
• and the environment where they
• live, learn, and work.
• (b) National efforts to reduce environ-
• ment risk are based on the best
• available scientific information.
• (c) Federal laws protecting human

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• health and the environment are
• enforced fairly and effectively.
• (d) Environment protection is an in-
• tegral consideration in US policies
• concerning natural resources,
• human health, economic growth,
• energy, transportation, agriculture
• industry, and international trade,
• and these factors are similarly
• considered in establishing
• environmental policy.

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• (e) All parts of society communities,
• individuals, business, state and
• local governments, tribal govern-
• ments have access to accurate
• information sufficient to effective-
• ly participate in managing human
• health and environmental risks.
• (f) Environmental protection contributes
• to making our communities and
• ecosystem diverse, sustainable,
• and economically productive.

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• (g) The United States plays a leadership
• role in working with other nations
• to protect the global environment.
• History of environmental protection
• a. Pre-modern 1840 to 1891
• - conservationist 1891 to 1969
• - modern 1969 to present
• (1) Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
  Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) 1947
• - pesticides / herbicides

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• - registered before being sold
• - certified / approved application
• - limited quantities food crops
• (a) Identified as harmful
• - cancel registration
• - after a hearing
• (b) May inspect factories
• - where products made
• - make recommendations
• - little authority

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• (2) Clean Air Act 1963
• - encourage states to control
• (a) Set standards 5 pollutants
• - carbon monoxide
• - sulphur / nitrogen dioxide
• - ozone / particulate matter
• (b) States implement plan (SIP)
• - meet minimum requirements
• (c) EPA enforcement 1990

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• - 30-day notice
• - 25,000 per day fine businesses - 1,000
  day individuals
• (3) Wilderness Act - 1964
• - protect designated areas
• - ensure conversation
• - logging / damns / rivers
• (4) Endangered Species Act - 1966
• - authorized land acquisition
• - 3 provisions

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• (a) Secretary of Interior
• - threatened / endangered
• (b) All federal agencies
• - seek to conserve
• - endangered species
• (c) Penalties assessed
• - forbids taking
• - harass / harm / pursue / hunt /
• shoot / wound / kill / trap /
• capture / collect

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• (5) National Environmental Policy Act 1969
• - conservationist period
• - agencies consider environment
• - important decisions
• (a) Every major federal action
• - significantly affects environment
• - environmental impact statement
• (b) Analyze impact
• - what action it will have

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• (c) Indicate alternatives
• - fish ladders
• (d) Any new facility / construction
• - requires federal license
• (e) Identify adverse effects
• - air / water pollution
• - increase in vehicle traffic
• - anything to impact environment
• (d) Alternative actions

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• - not build
• - recommend other site
• - change plant character
• (e) EIS instrument
• - private groups can challenge
• - federal agency actions
• - harm environment
• - private citizen / consumer interest
  groups / businesses / other

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• (6) Clean Water Act 1972
• - three primary goals
• (a) Waters safe for swimming
• (b) Protect fish / wildlife
• (c) Eliminate discharge of pollutants
• (i) Require permit
• - dumping refuse
• - navigable waters

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• (ii) Parties who need to dump
• - best available technology
• - minimize harmful effects
• (7) Resource Conservation and Recovery
• Act 1976
• - monitor / control
• - hazardous waste disposal
• (a) Types
• - radioactive / medical wastes
• - other contaminants

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• (8) Comprehensive Environmental Response,
• Compensation, and Liability Act 1980
• (a) Superfund
• - cleanup
• - leaking hazardous waste sites
• - created special fund
• (b) EPA can recover costs
• - who generated / transported
• - owned / operated site
• - current owner / operator

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• Legal jurisprudence (p. 228)
• - positive law / legal relations
• - impacts environmental law
• a. Positive law
• - lawmakers have a legal right
• - restrict the use
• - ones own property
• b. Legal relations
• - relationships among members of society
• - who are affected by property regulation

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• c. Historically, under common law
• - protection of environment
• - nuisance laws
• (1) Nuisance
• - form of tort
• - legal injury
• - one inflicts on another
• (a) Intentional
• - cut down trees between farms
• - used as a windbreak

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• (b) Negligent
• - fail to clear debris from stream
• - overflows
• (c) Reckless
• - use of personal property
• - endangers neighbor
• (i) Private nuisance
• - affect immediate neighbors
• (ii) Public nuisance greater area

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• (2) Standing
• - person must be impacted
• - EPA decision
• - take into court
• (a) Injury in fact
• - impacted personally
• (3) Taking clause
• - government cannot take property
• - without just compensation
• - must be justly compensated

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• (a) 5th Amendment
• - just compensation
• (b) Taking clause
• - exercise of state police powers
• - power to regulate
• - health / safety / morals
• (c) Zoning
• - limit what person can do
• - agricultural / residential /
• commercial

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• (d) Two forms of taking
• - physical government use
• - regulatory restrict / deny use
• d. Eminent domain
• - 5th Amendment private property
• - not taken without due compensation
• (1) Power of government
• - take private property
• - public use
• - following payment

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• (a) Meaning
• - can condemn private property
• (b) Law asks
• - Can the government take this
• property for this purpose, and if
• so, what the government must
• pay.
• (c) Condemnation
• - process by which disputes over
• government rights are settled

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• (d) Courts can be asked
• - if government has right to take
• - what government must pay
• (2) Eminent domain applies to
• - federal / state / local governments
• (a) Courts have ruled
• - even a private person
• - even a corporation
• - can pursue eminent domain
• - as long as of a public nature

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• (b) Example
• - privately owned public utility
• - granted eminent domain
• - maintain pipeline / transformers
• (c) Condemnation
• - required for common welfare
• - no matter how compelling
• - government must pay for use
• e. Definition of private property
• - quite broad

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• (1) Not just land
• - leases / stocks / water rights
• - anything else government wants
• - for a public purpose
• (a) Government encroaches on land
• -does not want it
• (b) SeaTac Airport
• - residents sued
• - encroach upon property rights
• - reduce property values

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• (c) Noise / accessibility
• - traffic
• (d) Port of Seattle to purchase
• - at least compensate
• (e) Right to reasonable / ordinary use
• - airspace above property
• - right that law recognizes
• f. Must be for public use
• - courts have ruled

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• - municipal civic centers
• - trade centers
• - airport expansions
• - all apply
• (1) Governments allowed to condemn
• - slum properties
• - build parks / other beautifications
• (2) Allowed condemnation
• - build a factory
• - benefited public interest jobs

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• g. Last element of 5th Amendment
• - just compensation
• (1) Fair to public
• - as well as property owner
• (2) No formula to determine
• - litigated in court
• (3) Most courts
• - side with property owner
• - offer fair market value