This Comment illustrates, through a case study of the Delta smelt BiOp, the difficulties in making ESA jeopardy determinations for species on the brink of extinction. We conclude that the myriad challenges inherent in conservation of some small and declining populations make reasoned §7 analysis difficult, bordering on impossible.
The relationship between the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regime under the World Trade Organization is complex. The manner in which intellectual property rights (IPRs) pertaining to genetic resources (GRs) and associated traditional knowledge (ATK) are handled is the main source of this dissonance.
Natural resource damages (NRD) under federal law is a statutory cause of action to compensate for injury to natural resources resulting from releases of hazardous substances or oil. Designated officials are authorized under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), among others, to act as “trustees” on behalf of the public or tribes.
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) established the “Superfund,” which allows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up contaminated sites. It also forces the parties responsible for contamination to either perform cleanups or reimburse the government for the EPA-led cleanup work. The Superfund program relies on several tools to protect against lasting contamination.
Climate change and invasive species are jeopardizing already endangered and threatened species, prompting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to finalize its 2023 rule allowing experimental populations to be introduced into habitat outside their historical range, as long as the areas are capable of supporting the experimental population.
December 2023 marked 50 years since the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was signed into law. The ESA has proven resilient to numerous legal challenges and saved many species from extinction. But its overall success has been debated, as the list of endangered and threatened species continues to grow, and only 54 species have been taken off of the list completely.
U.S.-Canadian management of marine migratory species is a particularly rich place to understand the complex relationship between migratory science, conservation, and law. The two nations share a large border, have a long-lasting historic friendship, and already collaborate extensively. However, the relationship is not without contention. The substantial economic interests in the oceans and differences in governance structure have not infrequently frustrated efforts at cooperative management.
Since 2017, 115 North Atlantic right whales (NARWs) have been documented dead, seriously injured, or sporting sublethal injuries and illnesses. Scientists refer to this phenomenon as an unusual mortality event, and assert that entanglement and vessel strikes are the leading causes. Fewer than 350 NARWs remain, and it is estimated that only one-third of their deaths are documented. Experts claim that only “quick and decisive action from humans” can ensure the species’ survival. Some proposed regulations will affect where and how the relevant fisheries are able to operate.
Climate change is ravaging the flora and fauna of the United States and contributes to ecosystem damage, including the conversion of Alaskan forests to savannah grasslands, rising sea levels that have destroyed the Key deer’s habitat, and warming regional temperatures that have stifled the growth of crops in the Northeast. What if there were a way for species to thrive away from the sinking coasts and changing landscapes that they have historically inhabited?
The Oak Ridge Reservation is one of the largest U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facilities in the country, with areas that are highly contaminated by chemicals, metals, and radionuclides. DOE is in the middle of a multi-decade, multi-billion-dollar cleanup there, and a recent Superfund decision for one portion of the site raises a number of significant legal issues. This Article addresses some related questions: Should radionuclides get less stringent cleanup than other equally harmful pollutants like mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls?