The Roads to Environmental Law

The Pantheon in Rome - Photo by Danny Smith

In the ancient world, it was said that “all roads lead to Rome.” In the modern world of environmental management and policy, all “roads” lead to environmental law.

I begin another semester teaching environmental law tomorrow night in Samford University’s Master of Science in Environmental Management (MSEM) program. I have enjoyed teaching in the MSEM program as an adjunct professor for more than 12 years. I believe that a foundational knowledge of environmental law should be an essential component of any degree program that prepares students for careers in environmental policy, environmental compliance, environmental regulation, or most any other aspect of sustainability or environmental management. You cannot discuss any environmental issue for very long without eventually touching on environmental law.

I also believe that a foundational knowledge of environmental law should be an essential requirement for anyone in environmental compliance or environmental management positions. Companies often make the mistake of placing people in environmental management positions who lack an understanding of basic environmental law. In a similar manner, companies often place engineers in environmental compliance positions with the same deficiency. There is certainly a technical aspect of environmental compliance where engineers can thrive; however, the ability to navigate the complex matrix of environmental requirements imposed by three levels of government (federal, state, and local) through statutes, regulations, and ordinances is necessary for organizational success. Companies sometimes find themselves out of compliance because they don’t understand environmental requirements or even how to find them. As new environmental laws are proposed, companies are often unaware and miss strategically important opportunities to shape those rulemakings through administrative law processes. They later wonder what happened when they learn about new environmental laws after they have been finalized.

While I am emphasizing how important it is for compliance employees to understand basic environmental law, the important role of the organization’s legal counsel remains. By gaining a knowledge of basic environmental law, environmental compliance employees are better able to interact with the organization’s attorneys on complex environmental matters; however, environmental compliance employees cannot replace the services provided by qualified legal counsel. It is worth mentioning that environmental law can be highly specialized – in some boutique law firms you may find lawyers that only deal with a narrow sub-set of environmental law like endangered species, wetlands, air permitting, water issues, etc.

I enjoy teaching Environmental Law because it includes such a vast array of legal practice areas and academic disciplines including: constitutional law, administrative law, common law, property law, biology, chemistry, geology, toxicology, sociology, theology, a wide range of federal and state statutes and regulatory programs, municipal ordinances, and controversial political and policy issues on topics like climate change and environmental justice. It is truly a fascinating subject to study.

For most of my career I have worked to identify environmental compliance requirements and develop efficient compliance strategies. Analyzing proposed environmental regulations and legislation to identify adverse impacts, unintended consequences and any exceedances of statutory authority by an agency can be an enjoyable exercise. Finding ways to achieve underlying environmental goals in less burdensome ways and exposing questionable regulatory practices is an exciting challenge. Developing and implementing strategies to seek appropriate changes in proposed regulations and legislation has always been a satisfying role for me. I try to prepare my students to do these same things.

Whether a student is a staunch conservative or a tree-hugging liberal, or just a non-political environmental manager, they cannot be effective or even function in the environmental arena unless they grasp a fundamental knowledge of environmental law.

While I have taught environmental law in a law school, the graduate students I currently teach are non-lawyers; therefore, I must begin the course with initial lectures on the American legal system, which is one of the most complex in the world. We start with an overview of common law remedies to environmental problems, the matrix of federal and state courts, how litigation works, standing, binding precedents, and the concept of finality in litigation. Then we have an overview of Constitutional Law to describe the three branches of government at both the federal and state levels and the roles played by each branch with respect to environmental law. We then explore federalism and the interaction between the federal and state governments. We then dive into federal and state administrative law and explore the powerful role played by federal and state administrative agencies, sometimes referred to as the “fourth branch of government” and seek to understand the limitations on agency rulemaking and enforcement powers. Students gain an understanding of the limitations of common law and the need for statutory and regulatory law to address environmental issues.

We also explore a variety of statutes and regulatory programs that regulate impacts to water, air, land, species, and ecosystems. The course syllabus includes lectures on wetlands, stormwater, endangered species, climate change law, environmental justice, citizen suits, and international law.

My approach to teaching environmental law is to use practical assignments that force students to research and apply environmental law to real world examples. In one assignment, students are required to analyze proposed federal and a state rulemakings to develop a set of comments (that they are not asked to submit). In another they are asked to pretend they are a lawyer and address a hypothetical set of facts using common law. There are other assignments in the course where students are forced to read a set of regulations and evaluate the environmental compliance issues associated with a set of facts. These are designed to simulate real world environmental management experiences. Lest you think the course to be easy, it usually includes a challenging and comprehensive multiple choice final exam.

In the end, my goal is to prepare students for careers in environmental policy, management, and compliance. I expect them to be ethical, professional, and skillful in understanding and applying environmental law. Several of my students have decided to become lawyers and enrolled in law schools after my course. It is satisfying to help these students and see them succeed.

I also realize and appreciate that teaching environmental law benefits me as well by keeping me current in this complex area of law.

If you want to succeed in any type of environmental management, compliance, or policy career, you must gain and maintain an understanding of environmental law.

STUDERE DURUM