Environmental Law: Natural Resources

Lecture 12 SP 18 – clean

Lecture 11 SP18 clean

Natural Resources Law Spring 2018                                       Assignment#2 Antiquities Act

OVERVIEW: This assignment provides an opportunity to draft an opinion editorial essay for a newspaper (i.e., an OpEd). Advocacy institutes, researchers, and organizations often prepare such documents. The tone is also similar to that we see with blog entries, an activity that attorneys increasingly engage in. Substantively, this assignment will give you a chance to delve into the Antiquities Act and consider the President’s role in protecting natural resources.

BACKGROUND FACTS: There has been a long tradition of U.S. presidents using the Antiquities Act to set aside large and small areas of land for protection. The Act allows the president to designate lands as worthy of special protection and the label “National Monument.” Presidents Clinton and Obama invoked this statute to protect large areas of the country, including a particular focus on Utah. Two of the National Monuments in Utah (Grand Staircase Escalante and Bears Ears) are now under fire from the Trump administration. President Trump greatly reduced the size the monuments in a move that took effect on February 2, 2018. His ability to do so under the Antiquities Act is being challenged in federal court from several different plaintiffs.

TASK: You will be writing an OpEd arguing either for or against President Trump’s decision to shrink already-designated national monuments: Grand Staircase Escalante and Bears Ears. You must talk about the Antiquities Act and what it does or does not require, but the rest of the content is up to you. For this assignment, you may choose a client or write on your own behalf. You have four options:

• Scott Groene, Executive Director of SUWA (Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance), a nonprofit organization seeking to protect special areas in Utah
• Lee J. Peacock, Executive Director of UPA (Utah Petroleum Association), a coalition of companies working in every aspect of the petroleum industry
• Andrew McCullough, a persistent (but not yet successful) libertarian candidate for Attorney General in Utah.
• Yourself as a legal researcher and expert in this area of the law.

In drafting an OpEd for a client, you write it as though your client wrote it. You will even sign their name to it, not your own. If you write on your own behalf, include your credentials (concerned citizen, legal expert, NPS volunteer). Also, OpEds generally must be from individuals—not the organization as a whole. An opinionated editorial essay is one of the few articles in a newspaper that is open to anyone with something to say.[1] They give people not affiliated with the editorial staff an opportunity to share an authoritative view or perspective on current events or local concerns. The Los Angeles Times reported that the average length of its op-ed columns is approximately 750 words, while The Wall Street Journal asks for 600-1,200 jargon-free words. Other op-ed pieces range from 400-700 words.  Your assignment is due via email by noon on Friday March 16th. 

[1] It is also a column that is generally found opposite the editorial page. Both are considered reasons for the name “op-ed.”

Lecture 9 SP18 – clean

Lecture 8 SP18 – clean

Lecture 6 SP18 – clean

Natural Resources Law Spring 2018                                                                                                  Assignment#1 NEPA

The goal of this assignment is to help you learn more about the substance of the National Environmental Policy Act as well build a familiarity with NEPA documents and online resources. To meet these goals, you will be reviewing five different NEPA documents, visiting online submissions portals, and engaging in other NEPA research.

First, the documents you will be reviewing are:

• Final Environmental Impact Statement from 1971 regarding the building of Teton Dam (circulated by email),
• Draft Environmental Impact Statement from 2018 regarding the building of a campus for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
• Draft Environmental Assessment governing wildlife management in South Dakota,
• Notice of Intent to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement regarding off-shore drilling, and
• Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement regarding a pipeline project.

Some of these are long documents and you are not expected to read them in depth. Instead, read them to understand the nature of the environmental review and parts of the document. You should be able to answer these questions regarding the documents: Who is the Action Agency? What is the proposed agency action? What stage of the NEPA process are we at? What stage comes next? What are the major sections of the documents (e.g., Background, Mitigation, Comments)? What do the documents have in common? What is different?

Before Class: In preparing outside of class for this assignment, familiarize yourself with these documents at a basic level. You should have thought about the questions listed above and be ready to answer those questions or related inquiries. Visit regulations.gov and poke around.

In Class: I have placed you into teams of 3 or 4. I will give each team a sheet of questions to answers or tasks to complete regarding NEPA. During the class period, you will work with your teammates on these tasks. You will need at least one laptop per team. I recommend, however, at least two so you can both work on typing up your answers and researching at the same time. Your document will be due via email by the end of class. You are welcome to leave the classroom to work elsewhere, but I will remain in the classroom to answer questions. Each group received one grade. After you submit your assignment, I will send you a short form where you do peer review for your teammate. On that form, I will ask you whether all team members contributed equally and similar inquiries.

Teams:

TEAM ONE: David, Brendan, Jordan

TEAM TWO: Hillary, Elise, Matt

TEAM THREE: Colin, Alex, Jessie, Eric

TEAM FOUR: Tristan, Tim, Kristen, Genevievetetondameis

Lecture 5 SP18 – clean

Lecture 4 SP18 – clean

Lecture 3 SP18 – clean