Classroom - South Grosvenor Seminar Room, Rosenstiel Campus

Class Meeting Times - TTh 2:45 - 4:00 p.m.

I have several project commitments during the Fall Semester that require that I be away from Miami.  We will consolidate classes and will discuss possible dates during the first class.  Therefore, the syllabus indicates only CLASS NUMBERS (28 class periods of 75 minutes), rather than DATES.

Professor - Daniel Suman

Phone - 305-361-4685 (RSMAS); 305-742-8762 (cel)

Fax - 305-361-4675

E-Mail - dsuman@rsmas.miami.edu; danielosuman@yahoo.com

Office Hours - TTh 12-2 at RSMAS (So. Grosvenor 126)
or by appointment

Course Description - This course will expose you to some interesting and controversial issues in environmental law and give you a feeling for the operation of the legal system in the United States.  Another key theme of the course is how administrative agencies translate environmental statutes into regulations and actual policies.  After this training, you will hopefully be more effective environmental professionals.  During the later half of the course we will focus on environmental themes that are of particular importance to marine professionals, such as marine mammal protection, marine protected areas, coastal wetland regulation, and environmental justice.

Grading -
Three Take-Home Exercises - 90%
Class Participation - 10%

Required Course Materials

1.Green Justice: The Environment and the Courts (Hoban & Brooks) (2nd Edition) [GJ]

2.Environmental Law (Kubasek) (4th Edition) [K]

3.Course Reader [R]
 
 

Syllabus - This tentative schedule is subject to change.  You should complete the assigned readings in preparation for the class for which they are listed.  This is important because we will discuss the cases at the indicated date.

Class 1 (Th) - COURSE INTRODUCTION

Class 2 (T) - Kubasek [K], Chapt. 1, The American Legal System, pp. 3-38.

Class 3 (Th) - Kubasek [K], Chapt. 2, The Litigation Process and Other Tools for Resolving Environmental Disputes, pp. 43-70.

Class 4 - Boomer v. Atlantic Cement, GJ 37-47.

Class 5 - K, Chapt. 3, Administrative Law and its Impact on the Environment, pp. 75-101.

Class 6 - Just, GJ 19-35.

Class 7 - Tanner v. Armco Steel, GJ 49-59

Class 8 - Sierra Club v. Lyng, GJ 61-71

Class 9 - K, Chapt. 4, An Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy, pp. 107-135.

Classes 10 & 11 - Ethyl Corp. v. USEPA, GJ 73-92
K, Chapt. 5, Air Quality Control, pp. 139-169

Classes 12 & 13 -
Palila v. Hawaii, GJ 93-103
TVA v. Hill
K, pp. 307-314
Exercise #1 distributed and returned

Class 14 - du Pont v. Train, GJ 109-118
K, Chapt. 6, Water Quality Control, pp. 175-198.

Class 15 - Guo Chun Di v. Carroll, GJ 119-131
Dow Chemical v. Alfaro, GJ 133-141

Class 16 - Nicolle-Wagner v. Deukmejian, GJ 143-152
Sierra Club v. Morton, GJ 189-201

Class 17 - Mono Lake case, GJ 169-187

Class 18 - Intermountain Forest Industry Assn., GJ 203-219
K, pp. 292-295
 

Classes 19 & 20 - MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION ACT

Marine Mammal Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. sec. 1361 et seq.
Katelnikoff v. US Department of the Interior, 657 F.Supp.   659 (1986)
Didrickson v. US Department of the Interior, 796 F.Supp.   1281 (1991)
Earth Island Institute v. Mosbacher, 929 F.2d 1449 (1991)
Earth Island Institute v. Mosbacher,785 F.Supp. 826 (1992)
Earth Island Institute v. Brown, 28 F.3d 76 (1994)
K, pp. 349-352
 

Class 20 - Exercise #2 distributed

Classes 21, 22 & 23 - DEFINITION OF WETLANDS &
THE CLEAN  WATER ACT

K, pp. 298-302
Clean Water Act, sec. 404
Avoyelles Sportsmen's League v. Marsh, 715 F. 2d 897    (1983)
Deltona Corp. v. United States, 657 F.2d 1184 (1981)
Florida Rock Industry v. United States, 21 Cl. Ct. 161,   20 ELR 21201 (1990)
Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. US Army Corps of Engineers, 121 S. Ct. 675 (2001)
Palazzollo v. Rhode Island, 121 S. Ct. 2448 (2001)

Exercise #2 returned
 

Classes 24 & 25 - ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

 K, pp. 33-35
El Pueblo para el Aire y Agua Limpio v. County of Kings, (no. 366045, Superior Court, Sacramento County, CA) (1991)
East Bigg Twiggs, GJ 157-168
Bean v. Southwestern Waste Management Corp., 482 F. Supp. 673 (1986)
New York City Environmental Justice Alliance v. Giuliani, 214 F.3d 65 (2000)
 

Classes 26, 27 & 28 - MARINE PROTECTED AREAS

 K, pp. 293-298; 302-307
 Executive Order 13158 (2000)
PWIA v. Department of Commerce, 48 F.3d 540 (1995)
Conservation Law Foundation v. Secretary of the Interior,
864 F.2d 954 (1989)
US v. Fisher, 22 F.3d 262 (1994)
 

FINAL EXERCISE: Final take-home exercise to be distributed on
Dec. 4 (Th) and returned on Dec. 8 (M) by 5 p.m.