6.3 Environmental Law Research

Environmental law research is a complex field that requires understanding various sources and strategies. From primary federal statutes to specialized databases, researchers must navigate a web of regulations, agency decisions, and case law to find relevant information.

Effective environmental law analysis involves interpreting statutes, applying agency deference, and considering scientific issues. Researchers must develop strategies for defining questions, conducting preliminary research, and using advanced search techniques to synthesize and document their findings efficiently.

Environmental Law Sources

Primary Federal Environmental Statutes

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  Rules for Carcinogen Precursor Limited by Lack of Monitoring, Research - North Carolina Health News View original

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  Costs and Benefits of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments | CEPR Blog | CEPR View original

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  Clean Water Act - Wikipedia View original

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  Rules for Carcinogen Precursor Limited by Lack of Monitoring, Research - North Carolina Health News View original

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  Costs and Benefits of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments | CEPR Blog | CEPR View original

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Top images from around the web for Primary Federal Environmental Statutes

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  Rules for Carcinogen Precursor Limited by Lack of Monitoring, Research - North Carolina Health News View original

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  Costs and Benefits of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments | CEPR Blog | CEPR View original

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  Clean Water Act - Wikipedia View original

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  Rules for Carcinogen Precursor Limited by Lack of Monitoring, Research - North Carolina Health News View original

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  Costs and Benefits of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments | CEPR Blog | CEPR View original

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• The Clean Air Act (CAA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) establish the framework for environmental regulation in the United States
  • The CAA regulates air pollution from stationary and mobile sources, sets air quality standards, and establishes permitting programs
  • The CWA regulates water pollution, establishes water quality standards, and requires permits for discharges into navigable waters
  • CERCLA, also known as Superfund, provides for the cleanup of hazardous waste sites and establishes liability for responsible parties
  • NEPA requires federal agencies to assess the environmental impacts of their proposed actions and consider alternatives

Federal Environmental Regulations and Agency Decisions

• Federal environmental regulations, promulgated by agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), provide detailed requirements and standards for implementing environmental statutes
  • These regulations are codified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), particularly in Title 40 (Protection of the Environment)
  • Examples of key regulations include the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) under the CAA and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program under the CWA
• Agency decisions, including administrative orders, permits, and guidance documents, offer insight into how environmental laws and regulations are interpreted and applied by the relevant agencies
  • For example, EPA issues guidance documents to clarify the interpretation and implementation of environmental regulations, such as the "Clean Water Rule" guidance on the definition of "waters of the United States" under the CWA

State and International Environmental Law

• State environmental laws and regulations, which may be more stringent than federal requirements, play a significant role in environmental law and must be considered alongside federal sources
  • Many states have their own environmental protection agencies and regulations, such as the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA)
  • State laws often address issues not fully covered by federal law, such as groundwater protection and land use planning
• International environmental agreements, such as the Paris Agreement and the Montreal Protocol, establish global commitments and frameworks for addressing transboundary environmental issues
  • The Paris Agreement aims to strengthen the global response to climate change by setting targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting adaptation and resilience
  • The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances

Specialized Environmental Law Resources

Comprehensive Databases

• Westlaw and LexisNexis provide comprehensive databases of environmental law materials, including statutes, regulations, case law, and secondary sources
  • These databases offer advanced search tools and filters to help locate relevant authority efficiently, such as the ability to search by jurisdiction, date range, and keyword
  • Westlaw's Environmental Law Reporter and LexisNexis' Environmental Law in New York are examples of specialized environmental law databases within these platforms
• Bloomberg Law's Environment & Energy Practice Center offers a wide range of environmental law resources, including news, analysis, and practical guidance, in addition to primary law sources
  • The platform includes a comprehensive collection of environmental law treatises, such as the Environmental Law Series and the Brownfields Law and Practice

Specialized Publications and Websites

• The Environmental Law Reporter (ELR), published by the Environmental Law Institute, is a key resource for tracking developments in environmental law, including summaries of significant cases, agency actions, and policy discussions
  • ELR also provides in-depth analysis of emerging environmental law issues through its News & Analysis section and its Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review
• The EPA's website provides access to environmental statutes, regulations, guidance documents, and other agency publications, as well as tools for searching and navigating these materials
  • The website includes a searchable database of EPA enforcement actions, the Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO), which allows users to access information about environmental permits, inspections, and compliance status
• Environmental law treatises, such as Rodgers' Environmental Law and the Law of Environmental Protection, offer in-depth analysis and commentary on various aspects of environmental law and can serve as valuable starting points for research
  • These treatises often provide historical context, policy discussions, and practical insights in addition to legal analysis

Environmental Law Analysis

Interpreting and Applying Environmental Law Sources

• Effective analysis of environmental law issues requires a thorough understanding of the relevant statutes and regulations, as well as the ability to interpret and apply these sources to specific factual scenarios
  • This involves examining the plain language of the statute or regulation, considering its purpose and legislative history, and applying established principles of statutory interpretation
• Key principles of statutory interpretation, such as the plain meaning rule and the rule against surplusage, should be employed when analyzing environmental law sources to determine their scope and applicability
  • The plain meaning rule requires giving effect to the ordinary meaning of statutory language unless it would lead to absurd results
  • The rule against surplusage suggests that every word in a statute should be given effect, and no language should be rendered superfluous

Deference to Agency Interpretations and Scientific Issues

• The Chevron deference doctrine, which requires courts to defer to reasonable agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, plays a significant role in environmental law and must be considered when analyzing agency decisions and regulations
  • Under Chevron, courts first determine whether a statute is ambiguous, and if so, they defer to the agency's interpretation as long as it is reasonable
  • This doctrine recognizes the expertise and policy-making role of administrative agencies in implementing environmental laws
• Environmental law often involves complex scientific and technical issues, requiring researchers to develop a basic understanding of relevant scientific concepts and terminology to effectively interpret and apply legal sources
  • For example, understanding the difference between primary and secondary air pollutants, or the concept of a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for water pollutants, is essential for analyzing CAA and CWA issues

Comparative Analysis and Case Law

• Comparative analysis of similar cases or fact patterns can provide insight into how courts and agencies have interpreted and applied environmental law sources in practice
  • This involves identifying relevant cases with analogous facts or legal issues, examining the courts' reasoning and holdings, and extracting key principles that may be applicable to the current issue
  • For example, analyzing how courts have interpreted the scope of "navigable waters" under the CWA in different factual contexts can inform the application of this term to a new case
• Researching case law is essential for understanding how environmental statutes and regulations have been interpreted and applied by courts
  • Key cases, such as Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. and Rapanos v. United States, have established important principles and tests for interpreting environmental law sources

Environmental Law Research Strategies

Defining the Research Question and Conducting Preliminary Research

• Begin by clearly defining the legal question or problem to be addressed, identifying the key issues and relevant facts
  • This involves understanding the client's objectives, the specific environmental law issues involved, and the relevant jurisdiction and timeframe
  • For example, a research question might be: "Under the Clean Air Act, what are the permitting requirements for a new industrial facility in Texas that will emit sulfur dioxide?"
• Conduct preliminary research to gain a basic understanding of the applicable environmental laws and regulations, using secondary sources such as treatises, practice guides, and law review articles
  • These sources can provide an overview of the relevant legal framework, identify key statutes and regulations, and discuss important cases and agency decisions
  • Examples of useful secondary sources include the Environmental Law Practice Guide, published by Bloomberg Law, and the Environmental Law Handbook, published by Bernan Press

Developing a Research Plan and Using Advanced Search Techniques

• Develop a research plan that outlines the key sources to be consulted, including statutes, regulations, case law, and agency decisions, as well as the databases and resources to be used
  • The research plan should prioritize sources based on their authoritativeness and relevance to the specific issue, and should allocate time and resources efficiently
  • For example, a research plan for the Clean Air Act permitting question might include searching the U.S. Code for relevant CAA provisions, the Code of Federal Regulations for applicable EPA regulations, and case law databases for decisions interpreting these sources
• Use advanced search techniques, such as Boolean operators and field searching, to efficiently locate relevant authority within environmental law databases
  • Boolean operators, such as "AND," "OR," and "NOT," allow for more precise searching by combining or excluding specific terms
  • Field searching enables targeting specific parts of a document, such as the title, abstract, or jurisdiction
  • For example, a Boolean search for the CAA permitting issue might be: ("Clean Air Act" OR CAA) AND (permit* OR licens*) AND (sulfur dioxide OR SO2)

Analyzing and Synthesizing Results

• Analyze and synthesize the retrieved sources, focusing on how they apply to the specific facts and issues at hand
  • This involves reading and understanding the sources, extracting key principles and holdings, and applying them to the research question
  • Use case analysis and statutory interpretation techniques to determine the relevance and applicability of each source
  • For example, when analyzing a case on CAA permitting, consider the specific facts, the court's reasoning, and how the holding may be limited or distinguished based on the current situation
• Iteratively refine the research strategy based on the results obtained, adjusting search terms and expanding or narrowing the scope of the research as needed to address any gaps or inconsistencies
  • If the initial search results are too broad or not directly relevant, modify the search terms or filters to better target the specific issue
  • If the results are too narrow or fail to address key aspects of the problem, broaden the search or consult additional sources
  • For example, if the CAA permitting search yields mostly irrelevant results, try narrowing the search by adding specific permit types or emission thresholds

Documenting the Research Process

• Document the research process, including the sources consulted and the key findings, to ensure thoroughness and facilitate future reference and updating
  • Keep a research log or outline that tracks the databases searched, the search terms used, and the relevant sources found
  • Annotate key sources with a brief summary of their relevance and applicability to the research question
  • Organize the sources in a logical manner, such as by jurisdiction, topic, or chronology, to make them easier to reference and incorporate into the final work product
• Documenting the research process is essential for demonstrating the thoroughness and reliability of the research, as well as for efficiently updating the research as new developments occur in the fast-changing field of environmental law
  • For example, if a new EPA regulation is issued that affects the CAA permitting requirements, having a well-documented research process makes it easier to identify and update the affected parts of the analysis