Stanford Environmental Law Journal (SELJ)

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The Stanford Environmental Law Journal (ELJ) was founded in 1978. It is run by students who are eager to explore environmental issues, improve their writing skills, and be actively involved in academic discourse. ELJ publishes articles on a variety of issues in natural resources law, environmental policy, law and economics, international environmental law, and other topics relating to law and the environment. ELJ accepts submissions from academics, practitioners, or other writers, as well as students, throughout the year.

ELJ is excited to publish Volume 36 in the 2016-17 academic year.

Current Issue

Volume 36, Issue 1: Symposium Edition—California Coastal Act at Forty

Articles

Foreword

The 36th Managing Board

This issue of the Stanford Environmental Law Journal commemorates the fortieth year of the California Coastal Act. The Coastal Act protects one of California’s greatest natural resources: its coast. The Coastal Act, passed in 1976, seeks to protect and maintain this precious resource for future generations. Read more about Foreword

  • December 2016
  • 36 Stan.Envtl.L.J. 1
  • Article

A Bug in the Programs: The Need to Create Greater Incentives for Local Coastal Program Updates

Joel Jacobs
Deputy Attorney General, California Attorney General’s Office

Under the California Coastal Act, local governments develop local coastal programs (LCPs) intended to promote Coastal Act policies in a manner that is adapted to the particular needs of each jurisdiction. Once LCPs are certified by the Coastal Commission, they become the key set of policies governing development in the jurisdictions they cover. The certification process ensures that an LCP adequately promotes Coastal Act policies as of the time it is certified. Read more about A Bug in the Programs: The Need to Create Greater Incentives for Local Coastal Program Updates

  • December 2016
  • 36 Stan.Envtl.L.J. 3
  • Article

Managing the Coastal Squeeze: Resilience Planning for Shoreline Residential Development

Charles Lester
J.D., Ph.D., Researcher with the Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California—Santa Cruz
Mary Matella
Ph.D., Environmental Scientist with the California Coastal Commission

Climate change now affects almost every facet of California’s natural and built environment, and sea level rise will have widespread adverse consequences for California’s coastal resources as well as residential development. Threats to residential development will also mean that shoreline structures, including seawalls, revetments, and emergency measures will continue to be proposed to protect existing development. Read more about Managing the Coastal Squeeze: Resilience Planning for Shoreline Residential Development

  • December 2016
  • 36 Stan.Envtl.L.J. 23
  • Article

The Forty-Year-Old Statute: Unintended Consequences of the Coastal Act and How They Might Be Redressed

Jesse Reiblich
Fellow, Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University
Eric Hartge
Research Development Manager, Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University

Forty years ago, the California Legislature enacted the Coastal Act to protect the coastline and to fortify changes sought by the voter initiative that established the Coastal Commission. While overwhelmingly successful, the implementation of California’s Coastal Act has produced certain unintended consequences that limit its efficacy. An apparent misapplication of a key term in the Act, abuse of permitting exemptions, and unforeseen climatic changes to the coast have fostered these undesirable outcomes. Read more about The Forty-Year-Old Statute: Unintended Consequences of the Coastal Act and How They Might Be Redressed

  • December 2016
  • 36 Stan.Envtl.L.J. 63
  • Article

Coastal Access Equity and the Implementation of the California Coastal Act

Dan R. Reineman
Lecturer, School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences; Researcher, Dep't of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Stanford U.
Lisa M. Wedding
Research Associate in Spatial Ecology and Analysis, Center for Ocean Solutions
Eric H. Hartge
Research Development Manager, Center for Ocean Solutions
Winn McEnery
Formerly Geospatial Research Assistant, Center for Ocean Solutions
Jesse Reiblich
Early Career Law & Policy Fellow, Center for Ocean Solutions

The California Coastal Act, passed in 1976, protects public coastal access for all Californians. In the forty years since the Act’s passage, the state’s population has nearly doubled with much of that growth occurring in the coastal zone, where the beaches and public trust shoreline are an important natural, open space resource. As such, they are beneficial to individual and community well-being. Inequities in access to nature (and other beneficial resources) are increasingly common. Read more about Coastal Access Equity and the Implementation of the California Coastal Act

  • December 2016
  • 36 Stan.Envtl.L.J. 89
  • Article

California Coastal Democracy at Forty: Time for a Tune-up

Deborah A. Sivas
Luke W. Cole Professor of Environmental Law, Stanford Law School, Stanford University

California fashions itself a laboratory of democracy, often pioneering populist voter reforms, sweeping open-government laws, and experimental agency governance structures. Nowhere is this more true than in the design and passage of the California Coastal Act, first enacted through a statewide ballot initiative in response to alarming developments along the coast and subsequently codified by the state legislature. Read more about California Coastal Democracy at Forty: Time for a Tune-up

  • December 2016
  • 36 Stan.Envtl.L.J. 109
  • Article

Latest Blog

Federal vs. State Authority to Regulate Groundwater: Concerns Raised over U.S. Forest Service Proposed Directive

Submitted by Laurel Elizabet... on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 21:41
Blog Category: 
Default Blog Category

Editor’s Note: This piece is part of a six-part collaborative series between the Stanford Environmental Law Journal and the University of Denver Water Law Review that studies legal issues raised in Agua Caliente v. Coachella Valley Water District et al., which is currently on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. These blog posts explore various topics related to recognition of Native American reserved rights to groundwater in the United States.

Introduction Read more about Federal vs. State Authority to Regulate Groundwater: Concerns Raised over U.S. Forest Service Proposed Directive

Tribal Reserved Water Rights to Groundwater as Recognized in Settlements and Litigation: Status and Trends

Submitted by Laurel Elizabet... on Mon, 07/18/2016 - 23:49
Blog Category: 
Default Blog Category

Editor’s Note: This piece is part of a six-part collaborative series between the Stanford Environmental Law Journal and the University of Denver Water Law Review that studies legal issues raised in Agua Caliente v. Coachella Valley Water District et al., which is currently on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. These blog posts explore various topics related to recognition of Native American reserved rights to groundwater in the United States. Read more about Tribal Reserved Water Rights to Groundwater as Recognized in Settlements and Litigation: Status and Trends

Latest Online

A Note about Cumulative Impact Analysis under Functionally Equivalent Programs

Erin E. Prahler, Center for Ocean Solutions
Sarah M. Reiter, Center for Ocean Solutions
Meredith Bennett, Center for Ocean Solutions
meredithebennett@gmail.com
Ashley L. Erickson, Center for Ocean Solutions
Molly Loughney Melius, Center for Ocean Solutions
Margaret R. Caldwell, Center for Ocean Solutions

An online supplement to Erin E. Prahler et al., It All Adds Up: Enhancing Ocean Health by Improving Cumulative Impact Analyses in Environmental Review Documents, 33 STAN. ENVTL. L.J. 351 (2014). Read more about A Note about Cumulative Impact Analysis under Functionally Equivalent Programs

  • August 13, 2014
  • 33 Stan.Envtl.L.J. 101
  • Other