Test 1 Flashcards
What is the structure of the US government
Constitution
Legislative (congress, house of rep and senate, bills)
Executive (president, vice, agencies)
Judicial (Supreme Court)
4 primary sources of law
Us constitution
Statutory law
Regulatory law
Case law (common law)
US constitution
Supreme law of the land; Pennsylvania constitution
Statutory law
Laws made by the lawmakers; NEPA, CAA
Regulatory law
Laws made by government agencies; pollutant regulation
Case law
Common law, precedent from other judges; torts
Vertical separation of power
Federalism; national, state, local
Horizontal separation of power
Executive legislative judicial
Commerce clause
Regulates commerce with foreign nations and among states/Indian tribes, often basis for environmental law, national
supremacy clause
national law trumps state law
three types of environmental law ethics
humankind, nations, generations
differentiate between statutory and common law
statutory law is law made by lawmakers, common law is the precedent set by judges in previous cases
common law causes of action relevant to environmental law
negligence, strict liability for abnormally dangerous activities, public nuisance, trespass, nuisance, products
in what situations would negligence apply to environmental law
dumping toxic waste or trash, polluting with big trucks, etc
in what situations would strict liability for abnormally dangerous activities apply to environmental law
if you are transporting something dangerous and it leaks you are responsible for the damage even if it was an accident
in what situations would public nuisance apply to environmental law
if the public is complaining that the air isn’t clean
in what situations would trespass apply to environmental law
if someone is doing something environmentally harmful on your property
in what situations would nuisance apply to environmental law
if someone is messing with your personal enjoyment such as manure smell from a neighboring farm
in what situations would products apply to environmental law
if products are defective they could be harmful to the environment
explain what constitutes a tort claim
there must be some form of breach of duty to the defendant, some form of injury to the plaintiff and causation
explain how the burden of proof in a tort case is different than that of a criminal case
in a criminal case the proof has to outweigh everything, in a tort it merely has to tip the scale
explain the remedies that might be rewarded to a plaintiff in a tort case
compensatory damages ($$), injunctive relief (make them stop what they’re doing), punitive damages (punishment for conduct)
explain who has standing
whoever is directly affected has the right to sue
explain the most common types of evidence in toxic torts and their challenges
general causation (x can cause y), specific causation (a did cause y), scientific uncertainty (can’t wait for research), medical complexity (what % of x caused y) and latency (time lag in reconstructing dates)
