 | |  | | March 17, 2011 FindLaw.com Environment Law Newsletter |
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ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS: NATURAL DISASTERS IN THE INTERNET ERA
(FindLaw's Technologist) - Natural phenomena, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tornadoes and tsunamis, have occurred on this planet for many millennia. And such phenomena have become disasters where humans have populated in heavy concentrations in areas subject to such phenomena. In the internet era, so much of life has seemed to move online. People spend many of their waking hours in front of their computer screens or staring into their smart phones, that they can actually forget the real world around them. Of course, the real world can talk back and quite loudly. There is nothing like the rumble of an earthquake to provide a reminder that not everything in the real world is stable and safe.
| FEMA SHIFTS COURSE ON FLOOD MAP MODELING
(AP) - The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it will take a second look at the flood risk of communities without federal flood protection before it gives final approval to new flood risk maps. The maps are important because insurers base their rates on them. The policy change affects communities across the United States. Many have complained that FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers have disregarded levee improvements paid for by local and state governments.
| GOP LAWMAKERS CALL LIGHT BULB MANDATE A DIM IDEA
(AP) - Sen. Mike Enzi has a dim view of a federal law requiring light bulbs to be more efficient. The Wyoming Republican is pushing a bill to repeal the 2007 law and give consumers the choice to buy any light bulbs they want. Twenty-six senators - all Republicans - support Enzi's bill, but many Democrats and consumer groups say the plan is not so bright. They call it a step backward and compare it trading in a fuel-efficient hybrid car for a gas-guzzling SUV.
| STUDY: NAVY NEEDS TO PREPARE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
(AP) - The Navy and Coast Guard need to prepare for more missions in the Arctic, and plan for potential damage to bases from rising sea levels, as global warming increases, the National Research Council said Thursday. "Naval forces need to monitor more closely and start preparing now for projected challenges climate change will present in the future," Frank L. Bowman, a retired Navy admiral who was co-chairman of the committee that wrote the report, said in a statement.
| JUDGE DENIES INJUNCTION IN YELLOWSTONE BISON CASE
(AP) - A federal judge had denied an injunction sought by wildlife advocates to block the slaughter of Yellowstone bison. Thursday's order from U.S. Judge Charles Lovell comes after Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer stepped in last month to halt the impending shipment of hundreds of the animals to slaughter. Citing Schweitzer's 90-day prohibition against those shipments, Lovell wrote that there was no emergency that would necessitate court intervention.
| REPORT: EXCESSIVE NUTRIENTS DAMAGING GREAT LAKES
(AP) - A U.S.-Canadian report says parts of the Great Lakes are suffering from excessive nutrients such as phosphorus, which promote growth of algae blooms that can damage ecosystems and human health. In a biennial lakes report released Wednesday, The International Joint Commission calls for stepped-up research and monitoring to deal with eutrophication (YOO'-truh-fuh-kay-shun), or over-abundant plant growth in nearshore areas.
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ANIMALS: CALIF. SARDINES DIE-OFF A BOON TO COMPOSTING FIRM
(AP) - The massive fish die-off in a Southern California marina is a boon for a Mojave Desert composting firm that is recycling the stinking haul for use as fertilizer. Trucks took about 75 tons of rotting sardines to Victorville's American Organic site in the first four days of the cleanup at King Harbor in Redondo Beach. The city says cleanup of 140 tons of dead sardines was completed Sunday. The American Organic general manager tells the Victorville Daily Press that the fish will be used as fertilizer.
| SEAWORLD TRAINERS MAY GO BACK IN WATER WITH ORCAS
(AP) - SeaWorld is hoping to get its trainers back in the water with killer whales, one year after a colleague died in an attack. Chuck Tompkins is the curator of zoological operations for the SeaWorld parks in Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio. He says tens of millions of dollars are being spent on new safety features, including rising pool floors that can quickly lift whales and people out of the water.
| RECENT CASE SUMMARIES: LOS ANGELES V. SAN PEDRO BOAT WORKS, 08-56163
(U.S. 9th Cir.) - In a dispute involving the scope of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. section 9607(a)(2), summary judgment in favor of defendants is affirmed because a holder of a revocable permit to use real property is not an owner of that property under the CERCLA.
| C V. COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, 10-56017
(U.S. 8th Cir.) - In a dispute involving the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. section 1251 et seq., grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants is reversed with respect to one municipal defendant and affirmed against the other, where plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence.
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