Spotlight: New York State Bar Association Environmental Law Section Website

By, Glen Ahlers, J.D. Candidate 2014, Pace Law School

 

The New York State Bar Association’s Environmental Law section is sponsored by the New York Bar Association, and is an excellent resource for pointing a practitioner in the right direction.  The environmental section provides members with contact to a larger community of experienced practitioners and information.  Opening on the left of the homepage, is an easily negotiated navigation box including a “for attorney’s” tab.  The tab leads to an interior page containing nineteen hyperlinks to useful tools for the practitioner, along with brief descriptions for each.

Using the “sections” tab from the same homepage brings you to relevant environmental sources, including

• the Section’s Mission Statement,
• a searchable Directory (Only available to existing members),
• Program Materials,
• EPA updates (Some materials are updated irregularly) . 

The site also contains the section’s position on various New York state legislative and regulatory policies as well as its reports on climate change and climate change impact on New York (http://www.nysba.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Climate_Change) .
 

The Environmental section’s internal site also contains links to relevant sections of the larger Bar Association website, including links to the unofficial New York State statutes, Loislaw, and other inexpensive or free resources for the thrifty practitioner.  Though these sites lack the frills of Westlaw and LexisNexis, they contain much of the same essential information and are equally useful to a practitioner willing to spend the little additional time required to master them.
 

The “blog” tab on the left opens an internal list of blogs maintained by the various sections of the New York State Bar Association, including the Committee on Animals and the Law Blog (http://nysbar.com/blogs/animalaw/), and the “Envirosphere” blog by the Environmental Law Section (http://nysbar.com/blogs/environmental/) which is updated with some regularity and contains essential information to the goings on in the practice of Environmental Law in New York.

 

Spotlight: World Legal Information Institute

By, Andrew Moreno, J.D. Candidate 2014, Pace Law School

For those seeking access to international law materials, the search process can be a chore and one that can very quickly eat up more time that would be better spent actually articulating the ideas you wish to give form to.  This is also even truer when it comes to researching the subset the topic of environmental law within the international context.  A website I have found to be helpful as a starting place for international environmental law research is the World Legal Information Institute, http://www.worldlii.org/.  WorldLII stands for World Legal Information Institute, which is a non-profit global legal research group that endeavors to provide an aggregate search of over 270 databases.  The database was formed with the cooperation of six other Legal Information institutes (Canadian, Hong Kong, Australia, British and Irish, the LII of Cornell and the Pacific Islands LII) and Wits University Law School.  In terms of scope the website offers quite a bit, so if you were in the mood to do some side research on the banking and finance laws of Belarus you would be met with some interesting links to get your research going.  The site isn’t perfect and should not be the only resource you rely on, as there are still some countries that have a spotty amount of resources contained in their links.  As for doing some environmental law research on the site I would recommend searching either by country by clicking on the ‘All countries’ tab under the Global heading in the top left of the site and searching for your jurisdiction on the next screen:

For example, I clicked at random on Moldova.  Among the links was a page linking to “introductions to Modolvan Law” (http://www.worldlii.org/catalog/53752.html) where there were two links, one of which was a guide to performing legal research in the Moldovan law context.

For those who wish to narrow their search by subject, you can simply click on “subject” under catalog on the lower left of the home screen and be taken to a menu laying out a number of different subjects which may be searched by.  Environmental Law is among them.  Once there you can continue to narrow by searching by Country.  You can also check out a select number of other resources that you may find helpful such as Ecolex, given at the bottom of the screen.  Getting back to searching environmental laws by country, once you have selected to do so by Country you can then survey the different countries that this site has materials for.  For example we’ll use Australia.  Clicking on it’s link we are taken to a page with a number of different resources for those seeking to find material on Australian environmental law. 

Of course, if there isn’t enough to your liking at any particular link for a country you can try your luck with some other indexes, which WorldLII has provided after you decided to search by subject.  A quick look will yield some good resources, some of which have great tips for conducting online research.  One of those indexes provided by WorldLII is the American Society of International Law’s Electronic ResourceGuide on International environmental Law, which provides a number of great search tips and access to important international agreements and recommendations as to what treatises you should endeavor to read.

Spotlight: WebSoilSurvey – Accessible Soils Information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS)

By, Yiyi Wong, J.D. Candidate 2014, Pace Law School

Environmental practitioners involved in land use, remediation, restoration, and real estate transactions who have trouble locating accurate soils data now have a free tool provided by USDA-NRCS to increase their knowledge of a geographic area or aid in case research.

USDA-NRCS was originally established by Congress in 1935 as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS).  However, as the SCS became more involved environmental and natural resource conservation, this branch was renamed NRCS.  The purpose of NRCS is to lead conservation for all natural resources, ensure conservation and restoration of private lands, and to work with landowners through conservation planning and assistance designed to benefit the soil, water, air, plants, and animals that result in stewardship of productive and healthy ecosystems.

WebSoilSurvey (WSS) was developed to provide resources to anyone interested in soils information provided by NRCS' Soil Survey Division.  It is operated by NRCS and provides access to the largest natural resource information system worldwide.  This web based application draws from soils data collected and compiled by the Soil Survey Staff for 95% of the U.S.  In the near future, WSS plans to have 100% coverage of the U.S.  This site is updated and maintained online as the single authoritative source of soil survey information.

WSS is an easy to use interactive website which allows a user to access available NRCS soils data for any environmental legal application.  To generate a map for negotiations or court, one only needs to know the geographic area of interest.  WSS may be searched by keywords, geographic coordinates, and agency collaborators and/or federal landowners e.g. the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.  Once the image is created, users are allowed to print or purchase the displayed soils information.  

If a user does not understand any related terms, a fully documented description of soil characteristics and other databases used in the production of the interactive map are available in the left hand column.  Of interest to the user will be the Official Soil Series Description, the Soil Geochemistry Spatial Databases, the Soil Quality and Health website, and the Soil Geography databases.

Spotlight: Union of Concerned Scientists

By, John W. Bowie, J.D. Candidate 2014, Pace Law School

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is a nonprofit organization aimed at placing scientific integrity and discourse at the center of political and environmental debates. UCS offers numerous publications on a wide variety of subjects, including global warming, clean vehicles, clean energy, nuclear power, nuclear weapons and global security, food and agriculture, and scientific integrity. The UCS website offers comprehensive background information on all of these topics directly through its website, which can be navigated through an easily accessible topic menu on the left hand side of the homepage. Each of these topics opens to a summary page with easy to navigate links for more information on specific topics. A practitioner can get an excellent overview of a complicated topic through the website alone.

 

In addition to substantial background information on this variety of topics, UCS offers links to regional materials on global warming, clean vehicles, and clean energy. These regional resources offer news posts, legislation and analysis of relevant issues for the select region. These regional resources can be accessed through the left-hand sidebar subtopics nested within the overarching topic.
 

UCS offers robust resources on the nuclear industry, including specific interactive tools relating to the nuclear industry, such as a Nuclear Information Tracker and advanced resources documenting nuclear weapons facilities. In general, the UCS resources provide a useful counterpoint to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's internet resources. An alternate source of information on Nuclear Energy and Weapons Facilities could prove useful to both industry and citizen groups participating in the permit renewal process for local nuclear facilities.

 

The search function on the UCS site is a custom Google search with no advanced options, which may discourage some users. However, this limitation should not immediately limit use of the resource. UCS topics and filing seem to be very thorough, which means even a basic search provides decent results. These results include articles from back issues of the UCS periodicals, which are available as free online resources.

 

Finally, the Union of Concerned Scientists offer a large selection of technical reports which deepen into the larger overview topics, accessible through their publications page. These publications are general found through a topic menu, similar to the homepage topic menu. In addition to these topics, the publications page has links to UCS periodicals such as Catalyst magazine, the Earthwise newsletter, the Greentips e-newsletter and other selected publications. A practitioner can find a substantial amount of scientific and policy information through these publications. Most UCS publications are available free online, however, a few must be purchased. As one of the central tenets of the Union of Concerned Scientists is preserving and promoting scientific integrity, the resources available through UCS are typically of high quality and low bias. The Union of Concerned Scientists scored 67 out of 70 on Charity Navigator's independent review of Accountability and Transparency of the organization. The Union of Concerned Scientists is a quality resource of independent scientific reports and tools for legal practitioners, policy makers and engaged citizens.

Spotlight: World Resources Institute

By, Kimberly Pierce Cortes, J.D. Candidate 2014, Pace Law School

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global environmental think tank whose mission is “to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.” WRI focuses its work on four key program areas: 1) climate, energy, and transport, 2) governance and access, 3) markets and enterprise, and 4) people and ecosystems.

WRI is a prolific publisher—ten new publications in December 2012 alone—with data and other relevant information for each of its program areas. This information is accessible via the publications page. The archive dates back to 1984 and includes 608 entries. There is no advanced search feature, but the search engine can be narrowed by topic. Although not especially sophisticated, the search engine does turn up relevant publications as well as relevant excerpts available directly on the website with links to the larger report. For an example, see this excerpt on nuclear energy in the United States, part of a larger report on energy options in the U.S. For publications not available online, WRI will ship print copies for a small fee to cover the cost of printing and shipping.

In addition to publications, WRI provides access to data sets and charts and maps. Data sets include U.S. state level data and global data on greenhouse gas emissions, along with more specific information on ecosystems both globally and for select countries. The charts and maps feature is very similar to the publications search, allowing you to narrow by topic and search across all WRI info-graphics.

Spotlight: Center for Climate and Energy Solutions

By Nicole C. Sasaki, J.D. Candidate 2014, Pace Law School

 

The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions—C2ES—is “an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to advance strong policy and action to address the twin challenges of energy and climate change.” Although C2ES was launched only in November 2011, it has its roots in the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, an organization recognized nationally and internationally as “an influential and pragmatic voice on climate issues.” The organization’s purpose is to provide "timely, impartial information and analysis on the scientific, economic, technological and policy dimensions of climate and energy challenges." C2ES is primarily sponsored by major energy corporations. The organization lists GE, HP, Entergy, and Shell as strategic partners, and Alcoa Foundation, Bank of America, Duke Energy, The Energy Foundation, and Rockefeller Brothers Fund as major contributors. Despite the corporate funding, C2ES maintains its research independence, emphasizing that the organization exercises independent judgment and assumes sole responsibility for its policies, projects, and publications.

Of interest to environmental legal researchers is C2ES’s Publications Library, accessible by clicking the link for “Publications” in the top right-hand corner of any page within the website.

The scope of the C2ES Publications Library is limited to materials dating back only to 1998. Relevant topics include electric vehicles, energy and technology, federal, international, science, and U.S. states and regions. Types of publications include articles, briefs, fact sheets, reports, and papers. This resource would be of value to environmental researchers looking for current and recent resources on climate and energy. In addition, there are publications on international topics. However, researchers should note that these publications sacrifice peer review in exchange for currency.

Before searching the C2ES Publications Library, researchers should click on “Filter by Keywords” and scroll through the keywords listed to see how C2ES categorizes its materials.For example, researchers interested in hydro-fracking will find that C2ES does not use the common terms“hydraulic fracturing,” “hydro-fracking,” or “fracking,” but has instead categorized this subject area as “natural gas.” Search terms can be entered into either of the search boxes, but it should be noted that the search boxes do not recognize Boolean operators. The filters can be modified as to date, topic, author and/or publication type by using each filter’s own comprehensive drop-down menu of options. Entering keywords listed in the dropdown menu into either of the search boxes returns more relevant results than by filtering using the same keywords.Therefore, filtering by keywords is not recommended.Researchers should track their search terms, because once the search has been conducted, the search boxes automatically reset.Search results can be further narrowed by conducting a CTRL-F search, but researchers should be aware that only publication titles, not contents, are searched.

Search results are shown in reverse chronological order, are formatted as either images or PDFs, and are available for free downloading or a free copy can be ordered from C2ES. Search results can be selected by clicking on either the publication name or “Read More.”

This will take the researcher to a new page that summarizes the publication and has a hyperlink for the publication itself.

Outside of the Publications Library, environmental legal researchers may be interested in the Congressional Testimony subtopic within C2ES’s Newsroom, accessible by clicking on the link “Congressional Testimony” in the bottom right-hand corner of any page within the website.

Spotlight: ReefBase Online Library

"ReefBase is the official database of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), as well as the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN). The ReefBase Project is housed at the WorldFish Center in Penang, Malaysia, with funding through ICRAN from the United Nations Foundation (UNF)."  Of relevance to researchers, this information repository "contains a total collection of 28,576 coral reef related articles, reports and publications. This library includes the publications from International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) Proceedings, Coral Reefs Status Report, Reef Fisheries Portal and International Tropical Marine Ecosystems Management Symposium (ITMEMS) Symposium Papers."  Access to Reefbase's articles, maps, and photos is free with a one-time registration.

 

Resources

International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) Proceedings (dating back to 1972)
Coral Reefs Status Report (last five editions)

Reef Fisheries Portal (coral reef fisheries management information)
International Tropical Marine Ecosystems Management Symposium (ITMEMS) Symposium Papers (dating back to 2003)
ReefBase's Online Geographic Information System (ReefGIS)

Spotlight: Middle East Environmental Law Portal

Middle East Environmental Law [MEEL] was launched in 2011, by Seyed Mohammad Mehdi Hoseini, LL.M candidate at Vermont Law School and IUCN Commission on Environmental Law member. MEEL serves as an education resource for persons around the world interested in the environmental laws and regulations in the Middle East, and as a forum for discussion of environmental law and policy challenges facing the region. MEEL has assembled many of the leading environmental law scholars in the Middle East to contribute their expertise and knowledge. MEEL seeks to work with leading national and regional educational institutions as well as national, regional and international environmental organizations to support development of environmental law in the Middle East.

The portal, which is hosted by Vermont Law School, is managed by a prestigious Advisory Board among which is Pace's own University Professor Nicholas A. Robinson. Contributions to the website are being made by a Research Group consisting of "[s]cholars resident in and/or native to the Middle East region."  Of note to researchers, the site currently has environmental information on the following Middle East countries:

• Iran
• Israel
• Jordan
• Lebanon
• Pakistan
• Qatar
• Turkey
• Yemen

The site also contains links to discussions pertaining to Climate Change and Energy in the Middle East and Water and Land Use in the Middle East.

Spotlight: U.S. Geological Survey Publications Warehouse

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Publications Warehouse "provides access to over 100,000 publications written by USGS scientists over the century-plus history of the bureau" and is an excellent place for researchers to visit when looking for both current and historic environmental and natural resource related information.  With both a Basic and Advanced (click the Advanced button) database search option, the USGS's collection has select full text pdf versions of reports available online for free dating back to the 1880s.  Searchable by Publication Type, Title, Author, Year, Journal,  Contributing Office, and Report, researchers should be aware that reports usually correspond to a particular series.   In addition a complete breakdown of the contents of the database is available here.  Of interest, the USGS also has a dedicated search of their Energy Resources available here which also has select full text access to publications dating back to 1931.

Spotlight: National Renewable Energy Laboratory Publications Database

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL),
"is the only national laboratory solely dedicated to advancing renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies from concept to commercial application." Located in Golden, Colorado, the lab, which has been in existence for the last 35 years, has expertise in the following areas: Renewable Fuels, Renewable Electricity, Energy Science, Strategic Energy Analysis, Commercialization and Technology Transfer and Deployment.  The NREL is also the principal research laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). 

However, of interest to environmental researchers, the NREL, has a searchable online Publications Database available here.

          The database includes:

• Technical reports
• Journal articles
• Conference papers
• Patents
• Presentations
• Books
• Fact sheets
• Brochures.

In addition, the database also has an Advanced Search feature which allows users to search by title, author, source, publication year (plus others).  The database contains bibliographic information on "publications from 1977 to the present on subjects related to renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies."  Many publications are available in pdf while others can be obtained in print from other sources (click here for more information).

Spotlight: Archives of American Conservationists

Recently I have had a significant number of requests asking where to find information about some of the founders and major thinkers responsible for the environmental movement in the United States.  Other than monographs, one of the best sources for researching this topic is to determine whether an archival collection exists for a specific individual.  For those interested in researching the beginnings of environmental law please see below:

Aldo Leopold (1887-1948)
A conservationist, scientist, author and professor Leopold was most noted for his work A Sand County Almanac (1949) and his contributions to wilderness preservation.

• University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

The Leopold Collection houses the raw materials that document not only Leopold's rise to prominence but the history of conservation and the emergence of the field of ecology from the early 1900s until his death in 1948 . . . The collection has been augmented by correspondence and related materials carefully retained over the years by his mother, his wife, and other family members and professional associates; these span his entire life, but are most rich and voluminous for his early years. It also includes student notebooks and course materials from his studies in Burlington, Lawrenceville and Yale, and copies of his inspection reports on many national forests in the Southwest as well as hundreds of family photographs and photographs taken by Leopold to illustrate aspects of wildlife ecology and land management.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
A poet, essayist, naturalist, historian and transcendentalist, Thoreau is most well know for his work Walden (1854).

• The Walden Woods Project

The Thoreau Institute library (“The Henley Library”) holds more than 60,000 items that include books, manuscripts, periodicals, art, music, maps, pamphlets, correspondence, and personal histories. We are honored to be the designated repository for a number of important collections, including the extensive collections of the Thoreau Society. It is the mission of the library to collect, preserve and make available research materials relating to Thoreau, his historical context, and his contemporary relevance to human-rights and environmental issues.

John Muir (1938-1914)
A Scottish-born naturalist, essayist and wilderness advocate, Muir co-founded the Sierra Club and played a pivotal role in promoting Yosemite in California to become a National Park.

• University of the Pacific Holt-Atherton Special Collections

The Muir Papers consists of John Muir's correspondence, journals, manuscripts, notebooks, drawings, and photographs. It also includes some Muir family papers, the William and Maymie Kimes collection of Muir's published writings, the Sierra Club Papers (1896-1913 ), materials collected and generated by his biographers William Badè and Linnie Marsh Wolf, and John Muir's clippings files and memorabilia . . . Today, approximately 75% of the extant papers of Muir are preserved here. 

Rachel Carson (1907-1964)
Often called the mother of the modern environmental movement, Carson's landmark book Silent Spring (1962) ushered in a new wave of environmental awareness at the national level.  A marine biologist and conservationist by trade, Carson also authored several other notable works.

• Yale University Beinecke Rare Books & Manuscript Library

The Rachel Carson Papers consist of manuscripts, notebooks, letters, newspaper clippings, photos, and printed material relating to the life and career of Rachel Carson. The collection spans the years 1921 to 1981, with the bulk of the material covering the period from 1950 to 1964. Currently, only a portion of these papers are available online.

Stewart L. Udall (1920-2010)
A former Arizona Congressman and Secretary of the Interior under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, Udall was responsible for advocating or sponsoring a number of major environmental statutes in the 1950s and 60s. He is also known for is work A Quiet Crisis (1964).

• University of Arizona Library Special Manuscript Collection

The collection is composed of Stewart Lee Udall's professional and public papers. Items of the 84th, 85th, and 86th Congresses are organized into administration and legislation files. Administration includes routine office matters, requests, and correspondence relating to particular problems or issues. Legislation encompasses correspondence arranged by subject, related bills, hearings, clippings, speeches, and background materials [from 1950-1977].

William O. Douglas (1801-1980)
The longest serving Justice in the history of the Supreme Court and an avid environmentalist in his later years, Douglas was responsible for authoring the memorable dissent in the case of Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727 (1972), which argued that inanimate objects should have standing to sue in court for environmental issues.

• Library of Congress

The papers of William Orville Douglas (1898-1980) span the years 1801 to 2008, with the heaviest concentration of material dated between 1923 and 1975. Although the collection is divided into three parts, some topics and time periods are common to all parts. Part I, dating from 1920 to 1953, focuses primarily on Douglas's professional life. Part II forms the bulk of the collection, and although it covers the years 180l to 1980, the earliest Douglas manuscript is dated 19l6. Part III is confined primarily to Douglas's diary and his personal correspondence with other justices of the United States Supreme Court. Part IV is made up chiefly of Douglas's correspondence, memoranda, and notes to Marshall L. Small, one of his law clerks, and family papers, primarily correspondence with his second wife, Mercedes D. Douglas Eichholz. The collection consists of a small group of family papers, several correspondence series, subject files, speeches and writings, Supreme Court files, financial papers, photographs, miscellany, and printed matter.

Related Resources

 Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law (2004). [Pace KF3775 .L398 2004]. 

Karl Boyd Brooks, Before Earth Day: The Origins of American Environmental Law 1945-1970 (2009). [Pace KF3775 .B727 2009]. 

Adam M. Sowards, The Environmental Justice: William O. Douglas and American Conservation (2009). [Pace KF8745.D6 S67 2009].  

Spotlight: University of Pittsburgh Archive Service Center

The University of Pittsburgh Archives Service Center is home to an unusual collection that may be of interest to environmental legal researchers.  Specifically housed in the University's Archives of Industrial Society (AIS) the

(AIS) is the general designation [given to] the hundreds of historical collections related to the development of the urban industrial society, with an emphasis on Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania.

The Center's Environmental materials are comprised of approximately 52 distinct collections covering everything from state administrative agency documents and hearings to advocacy group records to zoning and land use documents and manuscripts.  For information about the specific collections click here for the finding aid.  

Spotlight: CITYADMIN New York Law School's Center for NYC Law

For many environmental lawyers practicing in New York City it is often difficult to locate administrative materials.  However, New York Law School's Center for New York City Law, CITYADMIN database now makes it possible to search  more than 80,000 opinions from 26 New York City agencies - among them New York City's Environmental Control Board (ECB).

The Center for New York City Law was founded in 1993 by New York Law School Professor Ross Sandler. The academic and public mission of the Center is to provide information about, and analysis of, the laws and legal processes that govern New York City. The Center seeks to make the City's government and decisions more fair, comprehensible and open to the public. The Center pursues its mission by scholarly research and writing and by widely disseminating information about New York City in accessible and easily understood formats.1.

To search ECB's appeals decisions check the box for ECB

See here ^

Then scroll down to add your keywords.  The database uses basic Boolean connectors such as AND; OR; quotes; and (-) minus.

Of interest, the site also allows users to search land use agency materials including the: Board of Standards & Appeals; City Council Committee on Land Use; City Planning Commission; Department of Buildings; Landmarks Preservation Commission; and the Loft Board.





Spotlight: Water Resources Collections and Archive

The Water Resources Collections and Archives (WRCA), http://library.ucr.edu/wrca/ located on the campuses of the University of California Riverside and California State University, San Bernadino, was founded in 1958 in order “to collect, organize and make accessible information about water in all its manifestations.” The WRCA was originally designed as both a library and an archive so as “to preserve and make accessible unique technical information about all aspects of water in the West, [both] nationally and internationally.” Now recognized as one of the preeminent water law archives in the country, the collection is of interest to researchers focusing on water rights, dams, floods, rivers, aquifers and other water related issues in environmental legal history.

The archive’s collection which is searchable through the University’s Scotty Catalog and through the Online Archive of California is organized into five categories including, archival manuscripts, digital materials, maps, photographs, oral histories and

consists of more than 200,000 technical reports, 1,500 specialized newsletters, over 5,000 archival maps, and hundreds of videos. In addition, WRCA manages over 200 archival collections, and has more than 100,000 historic photographs and aerial photographs that document the history of water development in the West.

For an article discussing the archive in more detail click here.