LAW 454: Environmental Law and Policy

This is a foundational course in environmental law and regulatory policy. The course will focus on the concepts underlying approaches to protecting the environment, using the common law and various environmental statutes primarily as examples of the different approaches to environmental protection. The course will emphasize pollution control law by studying the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The course will also study liability for contamination through a more detailed study of the Superfund law. The course will also discuss the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. We will look not only at traditional regulatory mechanisms, but also at the opportunities for market and non-regulatory solutions. The course has a practical problem-based focus. Students should be able to use the analytic tools and knowledge gained in this course to develop solutions to a wide variety of environmental problems.