Each summer, ELI convenes a complimentary seminar series that offers an introduction to the legal and policy foundations of environmental protection in the United States.
ELI's Summer School is a series of seminars taught by experts in their fields, introducing the audience to the major environmental statutes (including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Clean Air Act (CAA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)), land use law, and environmental justice. Faculty will also incorporate major regulatory and judicial updates to the laws.
Who will benefit: All are welcome. Students and emerging professionals will have unique opportunities to learn, hear updates, ask questions, and network. The series is intended for:
- undergraduates,
- law students and graduate students, and
- working professionals new to or looking for a refresher course in environmental law (such as interns, summer clerks, and associates, or second-career professionals).
Basics of the Clean Water Act
Amended in 1972, the Clean Water Act (CWA) calls for ending the discharge of pollutants into the waters of the United States. Decades since the passage of the CWA, fundamental questions regarding the jurisdictional range remain contested. This session explored the progress made to date and the recent changes by the Trump Administration. In January, EPA promulgated the Navigable Waters Protection Rule to clarify which waterways and wetlands were subject to federal jurisdiction. Faculty explored one of the nation’s most significant and pivotal environmental laws and its development, including:
- the regulatory and permitting framework for limiting water pollution,
- the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA),
- the key distinction between point sources and nonpoint sources of pollution,
- the corporate and private practice roles in complying with CWA,
- the current legal context of the Navigable Waters Protection Rule,
- and the considerations policymakers face in light of growing demands for water usage with growing energy needs, extreme weather, and climate change.
Faculty:
Abigail André, Adjunct Professor, Sturm College of Law, University of Denver and former Trial Attorney, Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice
Sara Colangelo, Director, Environmental Law & Policy Program and Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown Law
Holly Doremus, Ph.D., James H. House & Hiram H. Hurd Professor of Environmental Regulation; Co-Director, Law of the Sea Institute; and Co-Faculty Director, Berkeley Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity, University of California Berkeley School of Law
Laura L. Mona, Assistant General Attorney, Environmental, BNSF Railway Company
Materials:
Abigail André presentation
Sara Colangelo presentation
Holly Doremus presentation
Laura Mona presentation
**See the entire Summer School 2020 schedule HERE.**