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Recent Blog Posts
- New Marine Sanctuary Will Protect Historic Shipwrecks in Lake Michigan
- July 20th, 2021 — by Amiah A. Henry — Category: Marine Monuments
- In late June 2021, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) designated Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary (WSCNMS or Sanctuary) in the fresh, cold waters of Lake Michigan. Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary Designation; Final Regulations, 86 Fed. Reg. 32,737 (to be codified at 15 C.F.R pt. 922). Following a review by Congress and the governor of Wisconsin, the designation will become effective in the first weeks of August 2021, at which time NOAA will publish an announcement in the Federal Register. It is set to become the sixteenth national sanctuary and only the second in freshwater.
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- U.S. Supreme Court Rules States are Not Immune to Private Condemnation Suits
- July 13th, 2021 — by Katherine Hupp — Category: Eminent Domain Pipelines
- In a recent 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court held that the federal government may delegate its power to take state land through eminent domain to private companies.
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- Iowa Supreme Court Dismisses Attempt to Regulate Agricultural Water Pollution under the Public Trust
- June 29th, 2021 — by Katherine Hupp — Category: Environmental Law Water Quality
- Unlike some states, Iowa does not require farmers to mitigate nonpoint source pollution. Instead, Iowa farmers are encouraged to voluntarily implement agricultural water pollution controls. Environmental groups challenged Iowa’s voluntary compliance strategy in court but, on June 18, the Iowa Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit for lack of standing. The court ruled that the claims raised by the plaintiffs’ lawsuit, which sought to force state environmental agencies to regulate agricultural nonpoint source pollution under the public trust doctrine, are not capable of being resolved by the courts.
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- Big Problem for Big Plastic? Suit Against Plastic Producers Remains in State Court
- June 24th, 2021 — by Sierre Anton — Category: Miscellaneous
- In late February 2020, The Earth Island Institute, an environmental advocacy group, fired a shot in the legal fight over ocean pollution by filing suit against ten major beverage companies, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestle. Earth Island is pursuing a litigation strategy somewhat similar to that advanced against tobacco companies and oil companies for human health and environmental harms allegedly caused by their products.
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- Dropping Water Levels in Colorado River Basin Raise Prospect of First-Ever Federal Water Shortage Declaration
- June 15th, 2021 — by Mikayla Mangle — Category: Natural Disasters
- The Colorado River (the “River”) is a crucial resource to many western U.S. states. The River provides water to over forty million people and more than five million acres of farmland in seven western states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
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- Biden Administration Releases its Preliminary 30 by 30 Conservation Report
- June 8th, 2021 — by Madeline Doten — Category: Miscellaneous
- “O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain!” On May 6, 2021, the Biden Administration released a preliminary report for its aptly named America the Beautiful campaign detailing its plan to conserve 30% of the United States’ lands and waters by 2030.
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- Meet the 2021 SGLDIP Intern: Amiah Henry
- June 4th, 2021 — Category: Miscellaneous
- The National Sea Grant Law Center received funding to develop a pilot Sea Grant Law Diversity Internship Program (SGLDIP). Amiah Henry, a rising 2L at Roger Williams University School of Law in Rhode Island, was selected as the 2021 intern. This summer, Amiah will gain experience in the field of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes law, with an emphasis on issues facing underrepresented or indigenous communities. In addition to working with the Law Center, Amiah will work with New York Sea Grant on a project related to nuisance flooding in New York’s Jamaica Bay watershed. We asked Amiah a few questions to get to know her better.
