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ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, 1999
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ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, 1999
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First Problem Set/Exam
INSTRUCTIONS: The following questions are to be answered by each study group in the class. Print a copy of this Web page. Enter your two letter study group code and each of your names in the table, below. Answer the first ten questions by highlighting with a colored, transparent marker the section of the answer table you think is correct. Answer the last question in an essay, word-processed on a separate piece of white paper in 12 point font. The essay should consist of three or four paragraphs and is not, under any circumstances, to be longer than one page, single-spaced. It should refer in the text to supporting cases but need not have footnotes. Each study group must turn in the exam and the essay, stapled together, at the beginning of the class period on Thursday, January 28th, 1999. Correct answers to questions 1-10 are worth five points. The essay is worth 10 points. If your study group is also publishing its answers on the Web, (a) write in the last row of the table the URL of your study group's Web site and (b) to avoid cheating, DO NOT publish your answers to the Web before Friday morning.
| STUDY GROUP IDENTIFICATION CODE (e.g. HN): __ __ |
| Student Names (in block capitals): |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| URL for Study Group Web Site: |
1. Suppose you see a case with the following citation: TVA v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153, 98 S.Ct. 2279, 57 L.Ed.2d 117 (1978). What is the identity of this case?
| a. It's a Court of Appeals case | b. It's a state Supreme Court case | c. It's a Supreme Court case | d. The decision is still pending. |
2. Consider the identity of this case: United States v. Darst, 726 F.Supp. 286 (D. Kan. 1989).
| a. Court of Appeals case | b. Kansas Supreme Court case | c. Federal District court case | d. Agency regulation |
3. What common law rule or rules did the Supreme Court of Utah use in Branch v. Western Petroleum, Inc. (1982) to sustain the judgment of the trial court?
| a. Strict liability | b. Nuisance | c. Strict liability and nuisance |
4. Think very carefully about the exact wording of the following sentence in the light of your reading of the case: The majority opinion in Sierra Club v. Morton (1972) denied that the Sierra Club had standing to sue in the Mineral King case because the Club failed to demonstrate that noneconomic injuries would result from Forest Service approval of the Disney Company's plan. Is the previous sentence:
| a. True | b. False |
5. When courts of law review administrative agency decisions they can use three basic standards of review: substantial evidence review, abuse of discretion review, and de novo review (text, pp. 204-5). When courts review agency decisions about whether or not to prepare environmental impac statements, which of these standards of review do they rely on?
| a. substantial evidence review | b. abuse of discretion review | c. de novo review |
6. Where in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 is there specific congressional authorization for Environmental Assessments (EAs)?
| a. section 101 | b. section 102(2)(H) | c. section 102(2)(C) | d. there is none |
7. In the light of the textbook's discussion of Westlands Water District v. Department of the Interior (1994) and related cases, does NEPA apply to major federal actions the purpose of which is to protect the environment?
| a. Probably so | b. Probably not |
8. In Robertson v. Methow Valley Citizens Council (1989) the Court argued that, by implication, NEPA requires discussion in EISs of the extent to which the adverse environmental impacts of major federal actions can be avoided. Does this mean that federal agencies have an affirmative duty to carry out mitigation actions
| a. Yes | b. No |
9. How many Clauses of the United States Constitution provide authority for Congress to manage and regulate the public lands?
| a. one | b. two | c. three |
10. When Congress in 1897 passed the Organic Act providing for the management of the national forests how many uses of the forests did it formally recognize in the statute?
| a. One | b. Two | c. Six | d. Nine |
ESSAY QUESTION: On a separate piece of paper prepared according to the instructions, above, and stapled to your exam when you hand it in, answer the question posed at the end of the discussion problem that appears on pp. 232-34 of the text, i.e. "Have the agencies involved complied with NEPA?". The hypothetical problem posed in the text has some obvious similarities to the actual facts of Sierra Club v. Peterson (1983). As you try to answer the question, however, keep in mind the other lessons your reading has taught you about procedural compliance with NEPA. Write the essay so that you limit yourself to the two major legal problems you see with the way the agencies have acted.
GW-S/January 1999.