The House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Power holds a hearing today on “EPA Enforcement Priorities and Practices.” CPR Member Scholar Joel Mintz, Professor at Nova Southeastern University Law Center, will be testifying. From his testimony:
.. during the eight years of the George W. Bush administration, the civil penalties assessed against environmental law violators averaged $117 million per year. In contrast, during the first three years of the Obama administration, EPA enforcement resulted in the assessment of a lower amount of civil penalties: $115 million per year. ... Although there may well be good explanations for these declines, they do support the overall conclusions of my historical research: EPA’s enforcement work during the Obama period has been similar in nature to its work in nearly every administration since the Agency was established, regardless of the party affiliation of the president.
Mintz is the author of Enforcement at the EPA: High Stakes and Hard Choices.
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Ben Somberg | June 6, 2012
The House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Power holds a hearing today on “EPA Enforcement Priorities and Practices.” CPR Member Scholar Joel Mintz, Professor at Nova Southeastern University Law Center, will be testifying. From his testimony: .. during the eight years of the George W. Bush administration, the civil penalties assessed against […]
Yee Huang | June 5, 2012
Today CPR releases Manure in the Bay: A Report on Industrial Animal Agriculture in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The paper provides a snapshot of the federal Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) permit program under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and how these states are implementing this program. The report provides recommendations for strengthening these programs to […]
Holly Doremus | June 4, 2012
Cross-posted from Legal Planet. The en banc 9th Circuit issued its opinion Friday in Karuk Tribe v. US Forest Service. This opinion brings a welcome reversal of a panel opinion from last April which had ruled in a split decision that the Forest Service did not have to consult with the wildlife agencies before authorizing […]
Sandra Zellmer | May 30, 2012
a(broad) perspective Today’s post, co-authored by CPR Member Scholar Sandra Zellmer and Policy Analyst Yee Huang, is the fourth in a series on a recent CPR white paper, Reclaiming Global Environmental Leadership: Why the United States Should Ratify Ten Pending Environmental Treaties. Each month, this series will discuss one of these ten treaties. Previous posts are here. Convention […]
James Goodwin | May 30, 2012
Last December, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) finalized a new aviation safety rule designed to prevent excessive pilot fatigue, a problem that had contributed to at least one high-profile airline disaster—the Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash near Buffalo, New York, in February of 2009, which killed 50 and injured four—as well as to a disturbing […]
Matthew Freeman | May 25, 2012
This Memorial Day weekend, boaters, swimmers, fishers and others will flock to the Chesapeake Bay to mark the traditional, if not quite calendrically accurate, beginning of summer. They’ll bring their wallets with them, of course, thus supporting businesses and and jobs up and down the Bay. After a day in, on or near the water, […]
Daniel Farber | May 24, 2012
Following is the first of two Dan Farber blog entries reposted today from LegalPlanet. Bureaucrats aren’t very popular. But consider the alternatives when it comes to dealing with environmental problems. Basically, bureaucrats are part of the executive branch of government. For instance, the head of EPA is appointed by the President and can be removed […]
Daniel Farber | May 24, 2012
The The following is the second of two Dan Farber blog entries reposted today from LegalPlanet. The key to understanding the economics of environmental protection is the concept of externalities. An externality is simply a cost that one person or firm imposes on another. In general, an externality means that an activity is causing more […]
Robert Verchick | May 21, 2012
The end of the school year always leaves me wishing that I could have lectured more clearly or somehow covered more in my classes on environmental law and policy. There was really just too much to discuss. How does one do justice to all those doubtful arguments in support of the Keystone XL pipeline? It’s […]