LA C231
(Cross-listed with CP 251)

Environmental Planning and Regulation

Fall 2006

Instructor:
Tim Duane

Lecture (CCN: 48617) M 9:30 – 11P TBA

Units: 3

The purpose of this course is to give you (1) a broad overview of the processes by which environmental policy, planning, and regulation are formulated and (2) a deeper understanding of a selected sub-set of regulatory systems. We will initially explore the role of the legislature, administrative agencies, and the courts in the development and implementation of environmental regulations. Our primary case study this semester will be the wetlands provisions of the Clean Water Act, the subject of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent opinion(s?) in Rapanos et ux., et al. v. United States (No. 04-1034, decided June 19, 2006). We will then explore broad concepts related to the economic valuation of environmental protection and the economic efficiency of regulation. We will then shift to a broader examination of the politics of environmental regulation through an exploration of the evolution of water quality regulation. Within this section, we will examine the structure of the Clean Water Act for lessons about why particular forms of regulation are likely to face significant political opposition or fail to address the pollution problem adequately. You will play the role of a U.S. Senator in a mock legislative debate to amend the Clean Water Act. We will split those assignments equally by party affiliation and regionally throughout the U.S. We will then shift our focus from economics and politics to the application of regulations. In particular, we will examine three important Federal regulatory systems and how they play out on the ground: (1) the National Environmental Policy Act; (2) the Endangered Species Act, (3) the Clean Water Act. These three laws and their associated regulations will be studied through a review of case law and a case study involving the permitting of the new UC-Merced campus. The UC-Merced planning/siting case study will illustrate Yogi Berra’s keen observation: “In theory, there is no gap between theory and practice—but in practice, the gap is rather large.”

Grading: (1) economics assignment (20%), (2) legislative simulation (20%), (3) judicial simulation (20%); (4) participation in class discussions (10%); and (4) 10-page decision (30%).