COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

TERM ONE

See individual course descriptions for class dates and times.

OCEAN AND COASTAL LAW

(3 CREDITS) ENV5423

June 1–4, 7–10, and 14–17, 9 am–noon

Don Baur, Tim Eichenberg, and Sarah Reiter ’13

Long neglected by lawmakers despite its essential ecological functions, the marine environment has increasingly been the focal point of conservation and natural resource management efforts. As a foundation for studying the laws that govern the marine environment, the course considers the natural components of estuarine, coastal, and marine ecosystems and the current conservation issues confronting them. We will review domestic and international laws and treaties relating to coastal management, pollution, protected areas, endangered species, fisheries, marine mammals, wetlands, marine spatial planning, and offshore energy resources, and examine alternative approaches to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources. The course considers the effectiveness of these legal regimes in providing rational and comprehensive management and protection of marine resources in the face of emerging threats from climate change, crashing fish stocks, and energy shortages, focusing on current events such as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the International Whaling Commission debate over commercial whaling, and climate change threats to the Arctic.

ADVANCED ENVIRONMENTAL LEGAL RESEARCH

(1 CREDIT) WRI7380

June 1, 3, and 4, 1–2:30 pm and June 7, 8, 10, 14, 15, and 17, 1–2:15 pm

Christine Ryan

This one-credit course provides in-depth exposure to the most useful, efficient strategies and resources for environmental law research, including specialized science and statistical information resources, state, national, and international environmental law research, advanced administrative law research, legislative history, environmental updating services, etc. The course is designed to prepare students to research environmental legal materials and non-legal materials for use in law school and in practice.

ECOLOGY

(3 CREDITS) ENV5430

June 1, 3, 7, and 9, 9 am–noon. June 2, 4, 8, and 10, 9 am–4 pm

Walter Poleman and Tom Lautzenheiser

Ecology is an integrative science that can provide insight into many contemporary environmental problems. Through visits to a variety of field sites in central Vermont, readings, and lectures, this course will explore the principles of ecology using a hands-on, interdisciplinary approach. Course work stresses the inventorying of biotic and physical components of a landscape (pieces), examining how these pieces are distributed (patterns), and determining what forces drive these patterns (processes). Topics will include interpreting the natural and cultural histories of a landscape, biodiversity conservation, and the scientific method, among others. This course requires minimal previous scientific understanding. This is a limited-enrollment course.

THREE ESSENTIALS OF THE ELECTRIC GRID

(THREE 1-CREDIT MODULES)

June 1–4, 7–10, and 14–17, 1–4 pm

James Cater, Chris Root, and Samantha Williams ’05

This course sets out, in three linked modules, the fundamental knowledge that professionals should have for working in the closely intertwined fields of energy and the environment. Students may take one, two, or three modules for one credit each.

MODULE A: ENGINEERING ESSENTIALS ENV 5510

The engineering realities of energy infrastructure systems can greatly constrain the choices that lawyers and policy analysts might otherwise make. This module will cover the engineering fundamentals inherent in electric power grids and will explain how these engineering realities affect market and regulatory choices.

MODULE B: BUSINESS ESSENTIALS ENV5511

This module will explore the key aspects related to the finances of the electric grid with a particular focus on understanding energy project finance and economics, including how they relate to a utilities revenue requirement. The course will introduce students to basic financial statements, the importance of understanding tax impacts, and how to construct and evaluate a basic financial model for a distributed energy project, such as a solar or storage energy resource.

MODULE C: LEGAL ESSENTIALS ENV5512

With the rise in urgency to address the climate crisis, the U.S. will need to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition to a low-carbon economy. This module will examine this transition in the power sector, exploring in practice how the power of law and policy can be brought to bear through clean energy advocacy to make much-needed progress on our climate goals. Through classroom discussion and exercises, this course will use real case studies related to “hot” issues for today’s electricity regulators, stakeholders, and market participants; and explore substantive policy and skills-based knowledge, demonstrating how practitioners in the field are advancing clean energy policies at the national, regional, state and local levels.

FOREST POLICY AND LAW

(1 CREDIT) ENV5315

June 4, 12:45–6:30 pm; June 5 and 6, 8:30 am–6:30 pm

Thomas McHenry

This course will introduce students to the significant policy and legal issues affecting forests and forest management, using the forests of New England as a case study. Topics to be discussed include the management of forests on private and public lands, forest fragmentation and biodiversity loss, the impact of invasive species, recreational and other evolving forest uses, and the implications and impact of climate change. The course will introduce these issues through classroom and field study and will focus on how federal, state, and local laws and policies address these issues. Law and policy regimes considered in the class will include land use regulations, incentives and taxation (current use), timber sales, marketing and import/export restrictions, wildlife management, and tourism.

TERM TWO:

See individual course descriptions for class dates and times.

GLOBAL ENERGY LAW AND POLICY

(2 CREDITS) ENV5230

June 21–24 and June 28–July 1, 9 am–noon

Anna Marhold

Global Energy Law and Policy explores the current policy framework in a particular region outside of the United States with a focus on clean energy policies. The course will explore the region’s policy development process, the current energy policy framework, policies implementing global and regional climate commitments and emerging issues. (2 CREDITS) ENV5474

LAND CONSERVATION LAW

June 21–24 and June 28–July 1, 9 am–noon

Jessica Jay ’97

Increasingly important in our efforts to protect ecological diversity, climate resiliency, historic places, working lands, scenic viewsheds, open spaces, and public uses of land are conservation tools and processes such as donation of conservation easements, purchase of sensitive lands, and private/public partnerships for land conservation. Students will research and review the swiftly developing body of law and legal issues accompanying the use of conservation easements and will gain a practical understanding of both the legal and nonlegal dimensions of land conservation transactions involving conservation easements. In addition, students will actively engage in the progression of a conservation easement transaction, beginning with early negotiations, drafting, and financial/tax analysis, and proceeding along a spectrum to donation, amendment and termination evaluation, violation, and enforcement. Each student will be responsible for engaging in role-playing exercises throughout the conservation transaction process to assess various financial/tax scenarios, identify and resolve disputes related to the conservation transaction, and negotiate and draft a conservation easement.

LAW OF ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT

(2 CREDITS) ENV5472

June 21–24 and June 28–July 1, 9 am–noon

J.B. Ruhl and James Salzman

The concept of ecosystem management is sweeping through federal and state resource agencies, altering their orientation toward resource use and conservation issues, but what is the law of ecosystem management? This course explores that question beginning with an introduction to the concept of ecosystem management—its history, principles, and current state of play in concrete policy settings. The course then explores laws and regulations relating to the types of ecosystems often described in ecosystem management literature—such as forests, coastal and marine, and human dominated (e.g., agricultural, urban, recreational). We also examine management of ecosystem services. Perspectives of agencies, resource users, environmental groups, and other interest groups will be explored in the discussion of problems the instructor has developed to capstone each unit.

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES

(2 CREDITS) ENV5480

June 21–24 and June 28–July 1, 1–4 pm

Deborah L. Harris

Environmental crime is the most common federal offense committed by U.S. corporations, and among the most profitable criminal activity in the world. Explore this specialized practice, from the relevant investigative agencies, through the benefits of “speaking” indictments, to the applicable federal sentencing guidelines. Students will examine the major pollution prevention and wildlife protection statutes, as well as the Title 18 offenses with which they are most often paired (e.g., conspiracy, false statements, obstruction of justice). Learn how these cases are used to change industry practice and raise public awareness of conduct that threatens human health and the environment.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

(2 CREDITS) ENV5446

June 21–24 and June 28–July 1, 1–4 pm

Veronica Eady

Since 1979, the environmental justice movement is aimed at avoiding, minimizing, or mitigating disproportionately adverse human health and environmental impacts, including social and economic impacts, on minority, indigenous, and/or lowincome communities, and for those communities to be engaged meaningfully in environmental decision-making processes. This course examines this environmental and public health problem. It explores how environmental justice concerns are framed and addressed/resolved through, among other things, acts of civil disobedience; federal, state and local government initiatives; litigation; citizens’ suits; public comment letters; collaborative problem solving; and alternative dispute resolution. This course examines the extrinsic link between environmental justice and sustainable development, and how the EPA, the ABA, and NGOs have been engaged in a number of initiatives to secure sustainable communities for all in the U.S.

CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE POLICY

(1 CREDIT) ENV5324

June 25–27, 9 AM–1 PM

Jennifer Byrne MELP’19

This one-credit course examines state and federal conservation agriculture policies with an emphasis on Vermont’s Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs). Students will be exposed to the variety of state and federal conservation programs designed to assist farmers in achieving conservation compliance. The course will include farm visits where students will see specific types of conservation practices implemented by farmers to protect natural resources and increase air, water, and soil quality on- and off-farm.

TERM THREE:

See individual course descriptions for class dates and times.

FARMED ANIMAL LAW

(2 CREDITS) ENV5902.01

July 12–15 and 19–22, 9 am–noon

Pamela Vesilind ’08

In the U.S., federal agencies that regulate meat, egg, and dairy production have comparatively little say over how farmed animals are bred, confined, or handled prior to slaughter. Filling this void is a growing body of state and local farmed animal welfare laws, some of which are poised to transform industrial animal agriculture as we know it. Recognizing this, a small handful of integrators, including Tyson, Cargill, JBS, and Smithfield, are promoting expansive, exclusive federal controls. Caught in the middle are tens of billions of animals enduring brutal conditions in the name of maximized yield. Are we witnessing the beginning of the end of CAFO agriculture? Or will state and local welfare standards be invalidated by the federal courts? The answers lie in the constitutional principles of federalism, in the breadth of congressional Commerce Clause authority, and in the role of commercial speech First Amendment protections for labeling claims and “humane” certification programs. No prior legal study required.

THE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF FOOD

(2 CREDITS) INT7435

July 12–15 and 19–22, 9 am–noon

David A. Wirth

This course, one of the few if not the only in the world to address this critical subject matter, identifies and analyzes contemporary international legal and policy issues related to food including supply, safety, security, subsidies, and trade. Students will master legal and structural analytical tools for addressing these increasingly important challenges of concern to all global citizens. The material includes the roles of international institutions, including the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The course stresses the development of skills to enable students effectively to grapple with new and emerging issues in this ever-changing and expanding field. The course includes a simulated multilateral negotiation in which students serve as instructed representatives of states and non-governmental organizations.

RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT FINANCE AND DEVELOPMENT

(2 CREDITS) ENV5550

July 12–15 and 19–22, 9 am–noon

Andrew Hanson and Brian Potts ’04

This course will provide an in-depth look at the legal and regulatory issues associated with the development and project financing of renewable energy projects such as wind, hydro, solar, and battery storage. After completing this course, students will have a solid understanding of how to help vet the economics of renewable projects and get them permitted, financed, built, hooked-up to the grid and operational.

ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR

(2 CREDITS) ENV5223

July 12–15 and 19–22, 1–4 pm

Victor Flatt

This class examines how environmental laws, policies, and public opinion interact with business and private sector behavior in adopting environmental friendly policies and private sector governance through markets. In particular, the class will examine the concept of private environmental governance, business sustainability drivers and practice, and the growth of market models in corporate governance.

ENVIRONMENTAL LITIGATION

(2 CREDITS) ENV5448

July 12–15 and 19–22, 1–4 pm

Abigail Andre

This class uses the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill to teach civil litigation through the lens of environmental law. Units on discovery, advanced evidence, and motions guide students through the pretrial and trial process. Students will also evaluate the approaches various parties took to drafting complaints, motions and depositions. They will argue motions filed in the case and present witnesses who took the stand in the largest environmental trial in U.S. history.

TOXIC EXPOSURE AND HEALTH

(1 CREDIT) ENV5901.01

July 16–18, 10 am–noon and 1–3 pm

Patrice Simms

This class will address several substantive issues from the perspective of community health, including the Toxic Substances Control Act, air toxics and the petrochemical industry, pesticides and farmworker safety, lead exposure, and PFAS. We will look at recent EPA actions and related cases, as well as community level impacts and frontline advocacy. The class will examine and discuss the history and architecture of our federal statutory and regulatory programs that have allowed disproportionate impacts to persist for decades.

TERM FOUR:

See individual course descriptions for class dates and times.

CLEAN TRANSPORTATION LAW AND POLICY

(2 CREDITS) ENV5425

July 26–29 and August 2–5, 9 am–noon

Joseph Halso

Transportation is the leading source of climate pollution in the United States. This course focuses on a key pathway to reduce those harmful emissions: the electrification of our cars, trucks, and buses. We will examine the current federal landscape for regulation of tailpipe emissions and the range of clean transportation policy options, with a particular focus on the role of electric utilities and how electric vehicles can support a smarter, cleaner electricity grid. Through discussion, exercises, and simulations, students will learn how to analyze issues, marshal evidence, and understand the motivations of stakeholders in the energy and transportation sectors.

THE FARM BILL (2 CREDITS)

ENV5410

July 26–29 and August 2–5, 9 am–noon

Chris Adamo ’04 and Jonathan Coppess

American farm and food policy has long been the subject of strenuous debate and criticism. In recent years, prominent criticism has come from a movement of consumer and environmental interests concerned that the way we eat and how we support producers has an impact on our health, natural resources, and the environment. Other interests raise concerns about Federal spending and government footprint. All of them look to the farm bill. The farm bill, however, is difficult to understand and it is challenging to change policies that have proven incredibly resilient over many decades. The class is an attempt to explain the farm bill and the history and development of the policies enacted, with an eye on how policy has changed and been reformed over the years due to changing stakeholder needs. Students will examine the policies before Congress with a strong emphasis on the political trends and motivations. The goal of the class is to inform students about the range and depth of Federal farm and food policy, while also developing a better understanding of the historical, economic, political, and process-based forces in Congress.

ANIMAL WELFARE LAW

(2 CREDITS) ENV5422

July 26–29 and August 2–5, 1–4 pm

Don Baur, Heather Rally, and Delcianna Winders

A broad and rapidly evolving field of law has developed concerning the welfare of animals that are used for a variety of human purposes, including food, entertainment, research, and companionship. Animals used for these purposes often endure a wide range of abuses that diminish animal welfare while also having an impact on humans. Public views about such uses of animals are rapidly changing. The class will combine traditional principles of animal welfare laws and advocacy with laws typically applied in the wildlife conservation context, such as the Endangered Species and Marine Mammal Protection Acts. This class will examine the role of law in understanding and reforming the relationship between humans and animals and improving the condition of animals maintained for human profit and entertainment. Students in the class will learn the role of legal institutions and regimes in promoting animal welfare. Past and current litigation, regulatory, and legislative efforts on behalf of animal welfare will be covered, with case studies and current developments.

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

(2 CREDITS) INT7440

July 26–29 and August 2–5, 1–4 pm

Robert Percival

This course examines how China and the United States—the two countries with the greatest impacts on the planet’s environment—are using law to respond to environmental challenges. After an introduction to the history and structure of environmental law, the course compares approaches to regulation used in China with those employed by the U.S. The course compares and contrasts the policies of the two countries concerning environmental impact assessment, air and water pollution control, management of hazardous waste and remediation of contaminated sites, regulation of chemical products, environmental enforcement, energy policy and climate change, and transparency initiatives to improve corporate environmental performance.

CHINA FIELD STUDY

(1 CREDIT) INT7441

Robert Percival

Following completion of the Comparative U.S.-China Environmental Law course, students may participate in an additional field trip to China. This trip will enable students to experience directly environmental conditions in China and to meet leading Chinese environmental scholars and activists. Prerequisite: Comparative U.S.-China Environmental Law.

PUBLIC LANDS MANAGEMENT— MONTANA FIELD STUDY

(3 CREDITS) ENV5462

Chelsea L.M. Colwyn ’11 The Montana Field Study is a unique experiential learning opportunity. This class focuses on National Forest Management. Students experience forest management, wilderness, recreation, and roadless issues first-hand, in the wilds of Montana and Idaho. Almost the entire class is held in the field; we camp and hike into remote places. Instructor permission is required; contact the Environmental Law Center for further information.

LAND USE AND RACIAL JUSTICE

(1 CREDIT) ENV5901.02

July 30, 4–6 pm, July 31, 9 am–noon and 1–4 pm, August 1, 9 am–noon and 1–2 pm

Keith Hirokawa and Jonathan Rosenbloom

This course views the legal framework for understanding planning and zoning from the perspective of race. We explore issues that shape how land is developed and how communities are built. The course will examine the historical use of land use laws to establish and enforce racial segregation and the distribution of social, economic and environmental power. We will examine the impacts of land use authority on segregation, disparities in home ownership and wealth, and the problems of whiteness and privilege in identifying racism in public policy.