ENVIRONMENTAL LAW 461
Fall 2013
Monday, 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
266 South Foundation Hall
Instructor: Mark Richardson
248-514-6846 (c)
586-469-5593 (w)
Email: markrich36@hotmail.com : Richards@oakland.edu
COURSE REQUIREMENTS*
Welcome to Environmental Law and Policy 461. Our text book is Saltzman and Thompson,
Environmental Law and Policy, 3rd Ed. (“ELP”). The course also requires readings from other sources.
Most legal opinions and law review articles assigned can be accessed on either the Lexus-Nexus or Legal
Information Institute legal data bases maintained by Kresge Library.
*NOTE: Readings assigned in this syllabus are subject to change. Any changes to the assigned
readings will be announced in class and the syllabus will be amended to reflect those changes.
The course requirements and grading criteria are as follows:
Mid term examination:
30%
Final examination:
30%
Paper:
30%
Class attendance /participation
10%
SYLLABUS
Sept 9 Course Overview. Review of US Governmental structure and legal system.
No reading assignment.
Sept 16 Introduction to US Environmental Law and Policy
ELP Ch. 1-2, Ch. 3 Sections I and II
Garrett Hardin, 1968 “The Tragedy of the Commons,” Science 162: 1243-1248
http://dieoff.org/page95.htm
Goldfarb, Changes in the Clean Water Act Since Kepone, 29 U. Rich. L. Rev. 603 (1995)
Sept 23 Constitutional Limits on Government Power to Protect the Environment
ELP Ch. 3 Section III
Huron Portland Cement Co. v Detroit, 362 US 440 (1960) pp 444-445
United States v Locke, 529 US 89 (2000) pp 104-106
Philadelphia v New Jersey, 437 US 617 (1978)
Pennsylvania Coal Co v Mahon, 260 US 393 (1922)
State of Maine v Johnson, 265 A2d 710
Penn Central Transp Co v City of New York, 438 US 104 (1978) pp 123-138
K&K Construction v MDNR, 456 Mich 570 (1998)
Sept 30 The Law of Public Trust: Protecting the Environment Through Citizen Suits
ELP Ch. 3 Section IV; Ch. 10 Section II
Sax, The Public Trust Doctrine in Natural Resource Law: Effective Judicial Intervention, 68
Michigan Law Review 471, pp 489-502 (1970)
National Audubon Society v Superior Court of Alpine County, 33 Cal 3rd 419 (1983) pp 424-448
Michigan Environmental Protection Act, Mich Comp Laws Ann 324.1701 et seq.
West Michigan Environmental Action Council v NRC, 405 Mich 741 (1979) pp 752-754
Ray v Mason County Drain Commissioner, 393 Mich 294 (1975) pp 304-312
Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation v Nestle Waters North America Inc, 479 Mich 280
(2007) pp 295-303
Oct 7
Protecting the Environment under the Common Law
Boomer v Atlantic Cement Company, 257 NE2d 870 (1970)
Village of Wilsonville v SCA Services, Inc, 426 NE2d 824
New York v Schenectady Chemical Company, 459 NYS2d 971 (1983)
Spur Industries Inc v Del Webb Development Company, 494 P2d 700 (1972)
Borland v Sanders Lead Company, 369 So2d 523 (1979)
Branch v Western Petroleum, Inc, 657 P2d 267 (1982)
Pruitt v Allied Chemical Corporation, 523 F Supp 975 (1981)
Cross, Natural Resource Damage Valuation, 42 Vand L Rev 269 (1989)
Oct 14
Protecting the Environment through Legislation (MID-TERM EXAM; TERM PAPER TOPIC DUE)
ELP Ch. 7 Section I
Frank Ackerman and Lisa Heinzerling, Pricing the Priceless: Cost-Benefit Analysis of
Environmental Protection, 150 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1553 (2002)
Peter Huber, Safety and the Second Best: The Hazards of Public Risk Management in the Courts,
85 Columbia Law Review 277, 277-281, 301-307, 329-337 (1985)
James Krier, Risk Management Strategies, Risk and the Legal System, Annals of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science, 1996
Oct 21
Protecting Air Quality: The Federal Clean Air Act
ELP Ch. 4
Natural Resources Defense Council v Train, 545 F2d 320
Massachusetts v EPA, USSC (2007)
Whitman v American Trucking Associations, 531 US 457 (2001)
Union Electric Company v USEPA, 427 US 246 (1976)
Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company v USEPA, 572 F2d 1150 (1978)
Citizens’ Against the Refinery’s Effects (CARE) v USEPA, 643 F2d 183 (1981)
Oct 28 Global Warming and Market-Based Environmental Protection Schemes
ELP Ch. 5
IPCC Summary for Policymakers http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessmentreport/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_spm.pdf
Ellerman, Joskow & Harrison, Emissions Trading in the United States: Experience, Lessons and
Considerations for Greenhouse Gases (Pew Center on Global Climate Change Report, May 2003)
www.pewclimate.org
USEPA, Title IV Acid Deposition Program, Implementing the 1990 Clean Air Act: EPA Speaks
Nov 4 Protecting Water Quality: The Federal Clean Water Act
ELP Ch. 6
USEPA, National Water Quality Inventory: 1994 Report to Congress, Executive Summary 7-1
Rybacheck v USEPA, 904 F2d 1276
Altantic States Legal Foundation Inc v Eastman Kodak Company, 12 F3rd 353 (1993)
Sierra Club v USEPA 296 F3rd 1021 (2003)
Nov 11 Clean Water Act Continued: Protecting Wetlands and the Great Lakes
ELP Ch. 10 Sections I and III
Rapanos v United States, 547 US 715 (2006) pp 732-739, 779-780, 805-808
Nov 18 Regulation of Toxic and Hazardous Substances
ELP Ch. 7 Section II
Florio, Congress as Reluctant Regulator: Hazardous Waste Policy in the 1980’s, 3 Yale Journal on
Regulation, 531, 353-376 (1986)
Nov 25 Cleaning Up Environmental Contamination
ELP Ch. 8 Sections I and III
Lawrence Starfield, The 1990 National Contingency Plan – More Detail and More Structure, But
Still a Balancing Act, 20 Environmental Law Reporter 10222, 10228-10229, 10236-10241 (1990)
David Rich, Personal Liability for Hazardous Waste Cleanup: An Examination of CERCLA Sec 107,
13 Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review 643, 653-658 (1986)
Dec 2 Natural resource protection and land use: The Endangered Species Act (TERM PAPER DUE)
ELP Ch. 10 Section IV
Endangered Species Act Section 7 (16 USC sec 1536(a)(h)
Tennessee Valley Authority v Hiram Hill et al, 437 US 153
Babbitt v Sweet Home Communities for a Great Oregon, 515 US 687 (1995)
Dec 9 FINAL EXAM