Taught as a web-based course. Course meets June 4 - July 8.
This two credit course surveys environmental law in the United States, with an emphsis on providing students who do not necessarily plan to practice in the environmental law field with basic competence in navigating the major laws that govern the environment. The course will introduce students to the regulatory state and explore the ways in which various inputs -- science, economics, and normative values -- shape environmental law and policy. We will discuss the roles of administrative agencies and the judiciary in environmental decision making, in addition to that of Congress and state legislatures. The course will survey four major statutes, focusing primarily on laws regulating air and water pollution, hazardous waste, and endangered species. We will use case studies to compliment the materials in the casebook. Students completing the Survey course will be well-positioned to take one or more advanced environmental law courses, although the Survey course is not a prerequisite for enrollment in any of them. Students who have already taken an advanced or an analogous survey course in environmental law may not enroll in this introductory Survey course.
Taylor, Melinda E 