Environmental Protection Agency – Overlawyered https://www.overlawyered.com/ Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Mon, 01 Jul 2019 15:47:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Waters of the United States: navigating the shoals https://www.overlawyered.com/2019/07/waters-of-the-united-states-navigating-the-shoals/ Sat, 06 Jul 2019 15:56:20 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=73400 Jonathan Adler at Cato’s Regulation magazine: During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised to “eliminate the unconstitutional Waters of the U.S. rule” and constrain federal regulation of private land use. According to then-candidate Trump, the Obama administration’s 2015 regulation defining “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act (CWA)—the so-called WOTUS rule—was […]

Waters of the United States: navigating the shoals is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> Jonathan Adler at Cato’s Regulation magazine:

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised to “eliminate the unconstitutional Waters of the U.S. rule” and constrain federal regulation of private land use. According to then-candidate Trump, the Obama administration’s 2015 regulation defining “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act (CWA)—the so-called WOTUS rule—was “so extreme that it gives federal agencies control over creeks, small streams, and even puddles or mostly dry areas on private property.” While guaranteeing “crystal clear” water under his administration, Trump also pledged to lessen the federal regulatory burden on landowners.

Two years into the president’s term, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are trying to make good on Trump’s promise. In December 2018, the two agencies proposed a revised WOTUS definition that would significantly curtail federal regulatory jurisdiction under the CWA. If the effort is successful, it could clear the muddy waters of the federal government’s regulatory reach. The effort to rewrite WOTUS will also be a test of the Trump administration’s ability to navigate the shoals of the administrative process in pursuit of its deregulatory goals.

Earlier here. More from Adler (court’s ruling in May tossing Obama rule); Federalist Society blog post by Daren Bakst, podcast with Bakst, Deidre G. Duncan and Tony Francois, and panel discussion with Jeffrey Clark, Jon Devine, and Tony Francois.

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Waters of the United States: navigating the shoals is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> Environment roundup https://www.overlawyered.com/2019/05/environment-roundup-68/ Fri, 03 May 2019 10:01:40 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=73196 EPA confirms the view of its peer agencies around the world: glyphosate weed killer, found in Roundup, is not a carcinogen [Tom Polansek, Reuters, earlier, more] Mayor Bulldozer? Critical look at Pete Buttigieg’s push to tear down hundreds of vacant dilapidated South Bend homes and fine the owners [Henry Gomez, BuzzFeed; see also Chris Sikich, […]

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  • EPA confirms the view of its peer agencies around the world: glyphosate weed killer, found in Roundup, is not a carcinogen [Tom Polansek, Reuters, earlier, more]
  • Mayor Bulldozer? Critical look at Pete Buttigieg’s push to tear down hundreds of vacant dilapidated South Bend homes and fine the owners [Henry Gomez, BuzzFeed; see also Chris Sikich, Indianapolis Star]
  • “Why Trump should call off the EPA’s latest assault on NYC” [Nicole Gelinas, New York Post; $3 billion to revamp and cover over a Yonkers reservoir]
  • “‘High-yield’ farming costs the environment less than previously thought – and could help spare habitats” [Cambridge University]
  • Is clarity finally coming on the scope of federal control of local surface waters? [Jonathan Adler on Trump administration “Waters of the United States” regulation; Tony Francois, Federalist Society on prospects for “navigable waters” at the Supreme Court]
  • “New Jersey Court Strikes Down Use of Eminent Domain to Take Property to “Bank” it for Possible Future Use” [Ilya Somin] Pennsylvania law promoted as fixing blighted neighborhoods used to steal people’s homes [Eric Boehm]
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    Environment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>         Environment roundup https://www.overlawyered.com/2019/01/environment-roundup-65/ https://www.overlawyered.com/2019/01/environment-roundup-65/#comments Wed, 23 Jan 2019 10:59:21 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=72795 EPA reversal on Waters of the United States rule gives power back to states [Andrew Wheeler, Kansas City Star; related Federalist Society video with Donald Kochan and Robert Glicksman; earlier] Even if one concedes that throwaway items generate environmental externalities, it still doesn’t mean laws should ban disposable diapers or other single-use plastics [Ryan Bourne, […]

    Environment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • EPA reversal on Waters of the United States rule gives power back to states [Andrew Wheeler, Kansas City Star; related Federalist Society video with Donald Kochan and Robert Glicksman; earlier]
  • Even if one concedes that throwaway items generate environmental externalities, it still doesn’t mean laws should ban disposable diapers or other single-use plastics [Ryan Bourne, Telegraph/Cato] “New Jersey Plans a Plastic-Banning Spree” [Christian Britschgi]
  • NYC’s Mayor de Blasio: “we will seize their buildings and we will put them in the hands of a community nonprofit.” [John Sexton]
  • It’s sometimes claimed that NYC’s unusually high cost of constructing public infrastructure arises from its preexisting infrastructure, geology, and high land values, yet other world cities with tougher challenges in each category build at much lower cost [Connor Harris, City Journal]
  • Podcast: Lynne Kiesling lecture on environmental economics [Cato University 2018]
  • Acrylamide follies: “Bid to introduce cancer warnings on breakfast cereal packaging fails in California court” [Legal NewsLine, from July] After public outcry, state of California acted last summer to forestall possible Prop 65 warnings on coffee [New York Times, earlier]
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    Environment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     https://www.overlawyered.com/2019/01/environment-roundup-65/feed/ 2     Environment roundup https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/10/environment-roundup-63/ https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/10/environment-roundup-63/#comments Fri, 19 Oct 2018 09:58:17 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=72649 Bayer seen as likely to get new trial on punitive-damages side of glyphosate/Roundup loss [Jim Christie and Ludwig Burger, Reuters, earlier] Supreme Court declines to review California judgment finding that long-ago advertising of lead paint created public nuisance for which makers are now financially liable [Greg Stohr/Bloomberg, Donald Kochan/Federalist Society, John Sammon/NorCal Record] When if […]

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  • Bayer seen as likely to get new trial on punitive-damages side of glyphosate/Roundup loss [Jim Christie and Ludwig Burger, Reuters, earlier]
  • Supreme Court declines to review California judgment finding that long-ago advertising of lead paint created public nuisance for which makers are now financially liable [Greg Stohr/Bloomberg, Donald Kochan/Federalist Society, John Sammon/NorCal Record]
  • When if ever can you get into federal court with your takings claim? Oral argument in the Knick v. Township of Scott case [Miriam Seifter/SCOTUSBlog, Gideon Kanner, Robert Thomas/Inverse Condemnation first, second, third, fourth posts]
  • “Stop trying to get workers out of their cars” [Robert Poole, Jr./Reason]
  • “U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Halt Teenagers’ Climate Lawsuit” [Greg Stohr/Bloomberg] “The European Court of Justice has recently ruled that ten private citizens, from Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Romania, Kenya, Sweden and Fiji can sue the European Union for negligence in its inaction on climate change.” [Theodore Dalrymple, Law and Liberty]
  • “Trump’s EPA is having a hard time in federal court” [Jonathan Adler]
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    Environment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/10/environment-roundup-63/feed/ 1     Environment roundup https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/09/environment-roundup-62/ https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/09/environment-roundup-62/#comments Mon, 24 Sep 2018 10:01:56 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=72494 Auto fuel economy standards: “The indirect CAFE program costs the economy at least six times as much as a carbon tax that reduces emissions equivalently.” [Peter Van Doren and Randal O’Toole, Cato] Whether grounded in official discretion or legislation, cash exactions levied on land development should still need to meet constitutional standards [Ilya Shapiro and […]

    Environment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • Auto fuel economy standards: “The indirect CAFE program costs the economy at least six times as much as a carbon tax that reduces emissions equivalently.” [Peter Van Doren and Randal O’Toole, Cato]
  • Whether grounded in official discretion or legislation, cash exactions levied on land development should still need to meet constitutional standards [Ilya Shapiro and Reilly Stephens on Cato Institute certiorari amicus brief in Dabbs v. Anne Arundel County]
  • A stumbling block for Boulder: “With Two High-Profile Losses, When Do Climate Plaintiffs Start Worrying About Sanctions?” [Daniel Fisher; John O’Brien (views of former Colorado AG Gale Norton and current Colorado AG Cynthia Coffman); Adam Morey, New York Post] Issue isn’t whether climate change should be addressed, but what the Constitution and prudence tell us about whose job that is [Donald Kochan, L.A. Times] And a Federalist Society podcast with Kochan on municipal climate lawsuits;
  • “Contract Dispute Cracks the ‘Thin Green Line’ Activists Are Drawing to Stop U.S. Fossil Fuel Exports” [Greg Herbers, Washington Legal Foundation, earlier]
  • Neigh-ligence: latest effort to get courts to create standing for non-human plaintiffs is suit on behalf of neglected horse [Karin Brulliard, Washington Post/SFGate, earlier on animal rights]
  • EPA announces intention to make regulatory science more transparent by making scientific work on which it relies open to public. Pressure groups erupt with outrage [Adam J. White, City Journal]
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    Environment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/09/environment-roundup-62/feed/ 2     The government ordered us to say this, lead paint abatement edition https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/06/the-government-ordered-us-to-say-this-lead-paint-abatement-edition/ https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/06/the-government-ordered-us-to-say-this-lead-paint-abatement-edition/#comments Thu, 14 Jun 2018 04:15:12 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=71176 The Environmental Protection Agency regulates the renovation of homes and other buildings containing lead paint and other hazards, and it recently went after a high-profile pair of violators, namely Chip and Joanna Gaines of the popular HGTV show Fixer Upper, for not following its rules in renovations shown on the show. “In addition to the […]

    The government ordered us to say this, lead paint abatement edition is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     The Environmental Protection Agency regulates the renovation of homes and other buildings containing lead paint and other hazards, and it recently went after a high-profile pair of violators, namely Chip and Joanna Gaines of the popular HGTV show Fixer Upper, for not following its rules in renovations shown on the show. “In addition to the fines and cleanup costs, the [EPA] settlement instructed Chip Gaines to discuss lead safety in an episode of the show and promote it on social media.” [Umair Irfan, Vox]

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    The government ordered us to say this, lead paint abatement edition is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/06/the-government-ordered-us-to-say-this-lead-paint-abatement-edition/feed/ 1     Environmental journalism, brought to you by the EPA https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/04/environmental-journalism-brought-to-you-by-the-epa/ https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/04/environmental-journalism-brought-to-you-by-the-epa/#comments Mon, 16 Apr 2018 04:05:42 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=68562 I like advocacy journalism as well as the next fellow — at least I consume a lot of it as a reader. That doesn’t mean the federal government should be funding it, thereby giving a boost to one side of environmental debates in the mid-Atlantic region. My new piece for the DC Examiner examines the […]

    Environmental journalism, brought to you by the EPA is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     I like advocacy journalism as well as the next fellow — at least I consume a lot of it as a reader. That doesn’t mean the federal government should be funding it, thereby giving a boost to one side of environmental debates in the mid-Atlantic region. My new piece for the DC Examiner examines the Environmental Protection Agency’s longstanding subsidies for the influential Chesapeake Bay Journal.

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    Environmental journalism, brought to you by the EPA is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/04/environmental-journalism-brought-to-you-by-the-epa/feed/ 1     Environment roundup https://www.overlawyered.com/2017/12/environment-roundup-52/ Mon, 11 Dec 2017 10:59:21 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=67403 Getting deserved attention: blog post on hundred little regulatory obstacles that can block piecemeal redevelopment of commercial space [Johnny at Granola Shotgun via John Cochrane and Tyler Cowen] Suit that asserted legal personhood for Colorado River: a good case for sanctions? [Greg Herbers/WLF, Marianne Goodland, Colorado Springs Gazette] Large U.S. farm study finds no cancer […]

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  • Getting deserved attention: blog post on hundred little regulatory obstacles that can block piecemeal redevelopment of commercial space [Johnny at Granola Shotgun via John Cochrane and Tyler Cowen]
  • Suit that asserted legal personhood for Colorado River: a good case for sanctions? [Greg Herbers/WLF, Marianne Goodland, Colorado Springs Gazette]
  • Large U.S. farm study finds no cancer link to Monsanto glyphosate (Roundup) weedkiller, state of California take note [Kate Kelland, Reuters, earlier here, here]
  • Federalist Society video of address by EPA administrator Scott Pruitt at last month’s convention;
  • Prince George’s County, Md., in the Washington suburbs, is considering a return to the practice of letting county council second-guess development approvals. Bad policy and corruption risk alike [David Whitehead and Bradley Heard, Greater Greater Washington]
  • “Claims for unconstitutional takings of property against state actors should not be treated differently than other fundamental rights claims and relegated to second-class status.” [Ilya Shapiro, Trevor Burrus, and Meggan DeWitt, Cato on Knick v. Township of Scott, Pennsylvania]
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    Environment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>         EPA swears off collusive settlements https://www.overlawyered.com/2017/10/epa-swears-off-collusive-settlements/ Wed, 18 Oct 2017 04:05:00 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=66832 My new Cato post applauds administrator Scott Pruitt for breaking with past Environmental Protection Agency policy under which it has settled not-necessarily-adversarial lawsuits by agreeing to issue regulations (dubbed by critics “sue and settle“). Pruitt’s new steps toward transparency and public access are welcome but easily reversed by a successor, which is “why Congress should […]

    EPA swears off collusive settlements is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     My new Cato post applauds administrator Scott Pruitt for breaking with past Environmental Protection Agency policy under which it has settled not-necessarily-adversarial lawsuits by agreeing to issue regulations (dubbed by critics “sue and settle“). Pruitt’s new steps toward transparency and public access are welcome but easily reversed by a successor, which is “why Congress should proceed to consider legislation to curb sweetheart pacts on a more lasting basis.”

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    EPA swears off collusive settlements is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>         Land use and environment roundup https://www.overlawyered.com/2017/06/land-use-environment-roundup/ Fri, 30 Jun 2017 09:56:36 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=65032 “Trump promises ‘massive permit reform’ in infrastructure bill” [Melanie Zanona, The Hill] Murr v. Wisconsin: landowner subjected to forced multi-parcel grouping loses regulatory takings case 5-3, Kennedy writing [opinion, Cato brief, Roger Pilon (Penn Central takings case was a train wreck, and SCOTUS should stop trying to build on it) and more, Ilya Somin (multi-factorial […]

    Land use and environment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • “Trump promises ‘massive permit reform’ in infrastructure bill” [Melanie Zanona, The Hill]
  • Murr v. Wisconsin: landowner subjected to forced multi-parcel grouping loses regulatory takings case 5-3, Kennedy writing [opinion, Cato brief, Roger Pilon (Penn Central takings case was a train wreck, and SCOTUS should stop trying to build on it) and more, Ilya Somin (multi-factorial test proffered by Kennedy “a recipe for confusion, uncertainty, and constant litigation”), Gideon Kanner, Robert H. Thomas/Inverse Condemnation]
  • Congressional Delegation: ‘Our Home State Of Utah Has Repeatedly Fallen Victim To Overreaching Use Of The Antiquities Act’ [Aileen Yeung, Western Wire]
  • “Towards a Private Flood Insurance Market” [Ike Brannon, Cato]
  • Attorneys general of 21 states hail EPA move to rescind overreaching WOTUS (Waters of the United States) power grab [West Virginia Record, earlier]
  • More research on how urban building restrictions drive up housing prices, harm younger and poorer residents and newcomers, misallocate labor geographically, widen inequality [Tyler Cowen on work by Andrii Parkhomenko, Chang-Tai Hsieh and Enrico Moretti, Lyman Stone]
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    Land use and environment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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