Environmental law

Environmental law - or "environmental and natural resources law" - is a collective term describing the network of treaties, statutes, regulations, and common and customary laws addressing the effects of human activity on the natural environment.

Regulatory subjects

The broad category of "environmental law" may be broken down into a number of more specific regulatory subjects. While there is no single agreed-upon taxonomy, the core environmental law regimes address environmental pollution. A related but distinct set of regulatory regimes, now strongly influenced by environmental legal principles, focus on the management of specific natural resources, such as forests, minerals, or fisheries. Other areas, such as environmental impact assessment, may not fit neatly into either category, but are nonetheless important components of environmental law.

Impact assessment

Environmental impact assessment (EA) is the term used for the assessment of the environmental consequences (positive and negative) of a plan, policy, program, or project prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term 'environmental impact assessment' (EIA) is usually used when applied to concrete projects and the term 'strategic environmental assessment' applies to policies, plans and programmes (Fischer, 2016). Environmental assessments may be governed by rules of administrative procedure regarding public participation and documentation of decision making, and may be subject to judicial review.

Environmental Law (law review)

Environmental Law is a law review focused on environmental and natural resources law published by students at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1969, it is the nation's oldest law review covering natural resources and environmental law. The journal is recognized as a national leader in its field and has featured articles by practitioners, academics, legislators, and justices of the United States Supreme Court.

Overview

Environmental Law publishes four issues each year and contains articles, essays, book reviews by lawyers and academics, and student-written notes and comments. Topics of discussion range from in-depth analysis of recent cases to more abstract discussions of the latest pollution prevention theories. The journal also publishes a Ninth Circuit Review on an annual basis as well as a “letters to the editor” section entitled "Clear the Air". Environmental Law is edited entirely by students.

The "Ninth Circuit Review" surveys recent decisions from the Ninth Circuit involving federal environmental statutes, Native American rights, common law environmental protections, procedural aspects of citizen suits, and all other topics exploring environmental issues. "Clear the Air" provides a forum for critics and skeptics to respond to articles published in the journal. The quick publication schedule for these letters enables researchers and practitioners to solicit answers and information from subscribers.

Environmental Law (disambiguation)

Environmental Law may refer to: