Great Lakes Law

President Obama will nominate Lana Pollack for the International Joint Commission

The White House just announced that President Obama will nominate Lana Pollack as a Commissioner on the International Joint Commission. I’ve known Pollack for many years, going back to her days as a Michigan state senator representing Ann Arbor. I worked with her while she was president of the Michigan Environmental Council, which she grew into the most effective environmental advocacy organization in the state. She is one of the most knowledgeable, experienced, and savvy... Read more →

Michigan files suit against Illinois in the Supreme Court over Asian carp

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox has filed suit in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the State of Michigan against the State of Illinois allowing nonnative carp to potentially invade the Great Lakes through the Chicago Canal and other managed waterways. Technically, this is not a new lawsuit, but a petition for a new Supreme Court decree (basically an order) under the old Chicago diversion case, Wisconsin v. Illinois. That case, which has gone... Read more →

The Evolution of the Law and Politics of Water

Apologies for the shameless shilling of a product, but if you are looking for a last-minute holiday gift for the water wonk in your life, consider the new book, The Evolution of the Law and Politics of Water. (I contributed a chapter on the Great Lakes but don’t get any royalties, although I did get one free copy of the book to put on my shelf.) Here’s the description from the publisher (Springer): The Evolution... Read more →

Great Lakes Environmental Law Center and other conservation organizations join with Manitoba and Canada in opposing U.S. water diversion project in court

The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center has filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in the U.S. District Court for Washington D.C. in Government of the Province of Manitoba v. Ken Salazar, et al. The case involves a challenge by Manitoba, joined by Canada and several conservation organizations, to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Environmental Impact Statement for the Northwest Area Water Supply (NAWS) Project. The NAWS Project is the first United States... Read more →

Interstate Environmental Impact Assessment

The Environmental Law Institute’s July 2009 issue of The Environmental Law Reporter is focused on “The National Environmental Policy Act at 40: How a Visionary Statute Confronts 21st Century Impacts.” The articles in the issue came from a joint conference sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute, George Washington University Law School, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality. My article, Interstate Environmental Impact Assessment, 39 Environmental Law Reporter 10667 (2009), proposes a new state-based... Read more →

A short introduction to Canada-United States transboundary environmental protection

The Windsor Review of Legal and Social Issues is publishing a special volume on Canadian and international environmental law, and to bring an American perspective, I was asked to write a short introductory article. Titled "Canada-United States Transboundary Environmental Protection" the brief article surveys the major environmental treaties, agreements, and legal decisions that have shaped one of the best international environmental relationships in the world. Yet the real value of the countries’ historical and recent... Read more →

The Boundary Waters Treaty and United States–Canadian Transboundary Water Management

As an introduction to the special symposium issue of the Wayne Law Review commemorating the centennial of the Boundary Waters Treaty, I’ve written an article on the role of the treaty in United States–Canadian transboundary water management. A prepublication draft of “The Centennial of the Boundary Waters Treaty: A Century of United States–Canadian Transboundary Water Management” can be downloaded free here or on SSRN. Here’s the short summary: The Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 has... Read more →

Boundary Waters Treaty Centennial Symposium

Yesterday, January 11, marked the 100-year anniversary of the signing of the Boundary Waters Treaty between the United States and Canada. To commemorate this historic and precedent setting development in international water law and explore the successes under the treaty and future challenges, the Wayne Law Review is hosting a Boundary Waters Treaty Centennial Symposium on February 5 in Detroit. The symposium brochure, with details on location, speakers, and schedule, is available online. The Boundary... Read more →

Canada Supreme Court upholds no-fault liability for nuisances

It didn’t receive much attention in the United States, but a few weeks ago Canada’s Supreme Court issued a decision that is tremendously significant for environmental protection. I’m very grateful that Professor Marcia Valiante of the University of Windsor Faculty of Law accepted my request to write the following brief summary of the decision and its implications. Prof. Valiante is a leading expert on Canadian environmental law with a special focus on water and the... Read more →

Federal appeals court upholds Michigan ballast water law, allows states to take action to stop the spread of invasive species in the Great Lakes

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit just issued a decision in Fednav, Ltd. v. Chester, upholding Michigan’s ballast water statute and rejecting the shippers’ federal preemption and Constitutional challenges. Fednav, Ltd. v. Chester, 547 F.3d 607 (6th Cir. 2008). The Michigan law, which took effect in January 2007, requires ships to obtain a state permit and, if the ships will discharge ballast water, to use specified technologies to prevent the introduction of... Read more →