Clinic – 3 to 5 hours. Groundwater is an essential resource for California’s billion-dollar farm economy. Historically, groundwater has been largely unmanaged in many parts of the state, which has led to declining groundwater levels, land subsidence, and reduced groundwater quality. In 2014, the Legislature passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) to regulate groundwater use in California statewide for the first time through local groundwater agencies under state supervision.
Lecture - Society’s expectations of companies are changing and companies are responding. Many companies go beyond compliance with the law to address environmental and social issues, from climate change to diversity. This new articulation of corporate purpose raises complex legal, ethical, and business questions. This class uses the case study method to examine this paradigm shift in the business and investment community. Each week we will analyze a particular company or business trend.
Seminar - This course will cover the law of biodiversity, with a focus on the laws of the United States. We will review the science of biodiversity and biodiversity loss, and then examine laws addressing biodiversity at the federal, state, and local levels. We will cover biodiversity law, ecosystem management, and emerging challenges like climate change and renewable energy development. The course will be graded based on short response papers and participation in class discussions.
Skills - 2 hours. Drafting a Solar Farm Bill is a practicum in which the class acts as an advisory law firm for its client, a solar farm bill solution and its facilitator, the educational non-profit Climate Solutions Advocacy Institute (CSAI). The class objective is to provide the client with a white paper that can advise CSAI in its development of a massive solar farm bill, financed by green bonds.
Seminar – 2 hours. Much of our modern federal government relies on administrative agencies exercising authority delegated to them by Congress. Federal courts have traditionally deferred to agencies’ implementation of the statutes they administer, although these courts also set aside (or “vacate”) agency actions they find to be unlawful. In recent years, however, several justices on the U.S. Supreme Court have openly called for revisiting several administrative law doctrines that underlie this system.
Lecture - 3 hours. Course examines how the U.S. Constitution and the federal Administrative Procedure Act constrain and regulate decision making by government agencies and officials. Topics include administrative due process, separation of powers, delegation of authority to agencies, procedural requirements for agency adjudication and rulemaking, and the extent and limits of judicial review. This course is highly recommended for anyone intending to practice in any public law area or at the intersection of public/private law.
2 hours. This course explores the history, law, and public policy of energy regulation in the United States, emphasizing economic and environmental regulation. Competitive restructuring of the natural gas and electric utility industries is emphasized. The basic regulatory schemes for other energy sources—hydroelectric power, coal, oil, and nuclear power—are explored depending on class interest. This seminar is recommended to anyone interested in the energy sector, various models of economic regulation, or regulated industries.
Discussion - 4 hours. An introduction to environmental law, focusing primarily on federal law. Includes coverage of the historical development of environmental law, including the transition from common law to statutory law; the role of courts, the legislature, and the executive branch in the development and implementation of environmental policy; allocation of authority among different levels of government; the role of market forces in environmental decisions; and the major regulatory strategies that have been applied to control environmental harm.
All King Hall externships have two components. Students perform substantive legal work at a field placement, and under the supervision of a faculty advisor, complete professional development assignments. See the Externship website for more information. Students gain hands-on experience with a variety of environmental law settings. Past placements have included a large number of California state agencies such as the Department of Water Resources, the state EPA, the CA Governor’s Office, Earthjustice and the Sierra Club.
Discussion - 3 hours. Elective Course for Environmental Law Certificate Program. This course provides an overview of the structure and basic principles of international environmental law and policy. The course considers the challenge of addressing global environmental problems in a system characterized by multiple sovereign governments, the regulatory limitations of U.S.
