1. US Environmental Law Aubrey Baldwin Associate Clinical Professor of Law Lewis & Clark Law School

2. The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena…like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. - Carl Sagan, American Astronomer 1994 - Carl Sagan

3. Common Law Could not Protect Us Torts Nuisance - Public or Private Trespass Personal Injury - Negligence

4. A wealthy society could turn its attention to current events in the mid to late 1960s.

5. CAA MBTA CWA Wilderness Act RCRA FLPMA ESA CERCLA NFMA SDWA FIFRA NEPA

6. CAA Clean Air Act

7. First major US environmental protection statute 1970 Administered by The Environmental Protection Agency Sets out the "cooperative federalism scheme" common to US environmental statutes Authorizes "citizen suits" that allow ordinary people to enforce the act, and recover their attorney fees and costs from the other side when they win.

8. Regulates Air Quality Health-based standards for ambient air quality Comprehensive planning to meet those standards Permitting and pollution limits for factories and power plants Pollution limits for cars, trucks and other mobile sources Ban on ozone depleting substances Emission allowance trading program to control acid rain and smog

9. CWA Clean Water Act

10. Absolute prohibition on discharging pollutants into waters of the United States without a permit. Permits (called the National Pollution Discharge Ellimination System or NPDES) contain technology based standards and water quality based standards. The Act contains an antidegradation policy to prohibit worsening water quality in each water body. Authorizes Citizen Suits and attorney fees and costs.

11. RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

12. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Regulates discharges to land (dumping), and sets out the requirements for the disposal of solid and hazardous wastes. Adopted in 1976 to "close the gap" left by the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts - that is, to ensure that pollution captured from discharges to air and water did not just end up dumped on the ground.

13. Four primary parts of RCRA - hazardous waste regulation, solid waste regulation, underground storage tank regulation and regulation of used oil

14. Hazardous Waste RCRA contains a "cradle to grave" system for regulating the disposal of hazardous wastes. Regulates generators, transporters, and "treatment, storage and disposal facilities" known as "TSDs." The goal is to ensure the wastes are not dumped along the way, but rather make it to a permitted facility. Current issues focus on "beneficial reuse" of hazardous wastes - begging the question: when does something become a "waste"?

15. Solid Waste Includes material that is solid, semi-solid, liquid and contained gas that is discarded. Regulations for landfill structure. Bans open dumping of solid waste.

16. Enforcement EPA can order a generator, transporter or TSD operator to cleanup where they "cause or contribute to" an "eminent or substantial endangerment." Citizens can sue to compel any person to cleanup in the same circumstance. Whether the party is complying with RCRA is irrelevant.

17. CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Recovery, Cleanup and Liability Act

18. CERCLA Also called "SUPERFUND" because it created a trust fund to finance government cleanups of toxic sites. Does not impose regulatory requirements on anyone! No permits, no reporting. Gives the government the power to compel cleanup, or to cleanup sites and then demand contribution from the responsible parties. Also allows businesses that cleanup a site to recover the costs from other responsible parties.

19. Brownfield Redevelopment CERCLA has enabled the redevelopment of dirty, abandoned industrial sites. The Pearl District in Portland, Oregon is an example. The entire area was contaminated from decades of industrial use. It was cleaned up, a concrete cap was placed over the area, and it was redeveloped as a residential and commercial area. Real estate in the Pearl is now some of the most expensive in the city!

20. The Pearl A CERCLA success story

21. NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NEPA National Environmental Policy Act

22. Requires every federal agency to complete an Environmental Assessment for every major federal action. This includes funding. If the Environmental Assessment indicates that there may be significant impacts on the human environment, the agency must complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The EIS is subject to public notice and comment.

23. National Environmental Policy Act The EIS must include thorough disclosure and analysis of impacts : to water, land, air, recreation, traffic, plants, animals, etc; the whole of the human environment. The EIS must examine cumulative impacts - the impacts of this action combined with all past and all reasonably foreseeable future actions by the government or private parties. The EIS must contain alternative actions - including a no action alternative. NEPA is a procedural statute- does not require the agency to choose the least harmful alternative, just to do the analysis.

24. ESA Endangered Species Act

25. All these species were near extinction or extinct at the time the ESA was passed by Congress.

26. The endangered species act of 1973 The ESA's primary goal is to prevent the extinction of imperiled plant and animal life, and secondly, to recover and maintain those populations by removing or lessening threats to their survival. The government must not take actions that jeopardize the survival of an endangered species - no matter the cost. (with a few exceptions) The government "lists" species as threatened or endangered.

27. The Endangered Species Act Once "listed," the government must make sure that it's actions do not jeopardize the survival and recovery of the species. It is illegal for any person to "take" an endangered or threatened species. "Take" means "to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap or capture." It also includes modifying the species habitat, if the modification results in actual death of a member of the species. Violators of the ESA can be prosecuted in either civil or criminal court.