The Incidental Environmental Agency

State oil and gas conservation agencies are the gatekeepers to oil and gas development: as the agencies charged with granting drilling permits, they decide if, when, where, and how oil and gas will be developed. As such, oil and gas conservation agencies sit on the front lines in the emerging, and increasingly irresolvable, struggle between fossil energy development and the environment. Current oil and gas conservation regulation is designed to promote development, maximize recovery of the resource, and protect the individual property rights of mineral owners. However, advocacy by environmental constituencies, including surface owners and local governments, has challenged the entrenched paradigm whereby production must be maximized at the expense of all other interests. These efforts are pushing courts to redefine oil and gas conservation according to twenty-first century environmental values. This Article examines the emergent environmental regulation function of oil and gas conservation agencies and identifies opportunities for these agencies to regulate according to their historic mandates in a manner that is inclusive of public values

Waste and the Governance of Private and Public Property

Common law waste doctrine is often overlooked as antiquated and irrelevant. At best, waste doctrine is occasionally examined as a lens through which to evaluate evolutions in modern property theory. We argue here that waste doctrine is more than just a historical artifact. Rather, the principle embedded in waste doctrine underpins a great deal of property law generally, both common law and statutory, as well as the law governing oil and gas, water, and public trust resources. Seen for what it is, waste doctrine provides a fresh perspective on property, natural resources, and environmental law. In this Article, we excavate the old waste cases in multiple fields of property and natural resources law to make novel connections across these fields and demonstrate the doctrine\u27s continuing relevance for contemporary lawyers, legal theorists, and environmental advocates. The Article is unique in its articulation of a universal waste principle and its examination of how this principle facilitates communication and cooperative self-governance by and among owners of common property. It suggests that underenforcement of civil and administrative waste law in the context of common pool natural resources contributes to failures in modern law to respond to pressing environmental challenges

Transmission and Transport of Energy in the Western U.S. and Canada: A Law and Policy Road Map

This collection of short essays arose from the inaugural meeting of the Idaho Symposium on Energy in the West, which was held in November, 2014. The topic for this first Symposium was Transmission and Transport of Energy in the Western U.S. and Canada: A Law and Policy Road Map. The essays in this collection provide a notable introduction to the major energy issues facing the West today. Topics include: building a resilient legal architecture for western energy production; natural gas flaring; transmission planning for wind energy; utilities and rooftop solar; special considerations for western states and the Clean Power Plan; the Clean Power Plan\u27s implications for the western grid; siting renewable energy on public lands; and implications of utility reform in New York and Hawaii for the Northwest

The Incidental Environmental Agency

State oil and gas conservation agencies are the gatekeepers to oil and gas development: as the agencies charged with granting drilling permits, they decide if, when, where, and how oil and gas will be developed. As such, oil and gas conservation agencies sit on the front lines in the emerging, and increasingly irresolvable, struggle between fossil energy development and the environment. Current oil and gas conservation regulation is designed to promote development, maximize recovery of the resource, and protect the individual property rights of mineral owners. However, advocacy by environmental constituencies, including surface owners and local governments, has challenged the entrenched paradigm whereby production must be maximized at the expense of all other interests. These efforts are pushing courts to redefine oil and gas conservation according to twenty-first century environmental values. This Article examines the emergent environmental regulation function of oil and gas conservation agencies and identifies opportunities for these agencies to regulate according to their historic mandates in a manner that is inclusive of public values

Waste and the Governance of Private and Public Property

Common law waste doctrine is often overlooked as antiquated and irrelevant. At best, waste doctrine is occasionally examined as a lens through which to evaluate evolutions in modern property theory. We argue here that waste doctrine is more than just a historical artifact. Rather, the principle embedded in waste doctrine underpins a great deal of property law generally, both common law and statutory, as well as the law governing oil and gas, water, and public trust resources. Seen for what it is, waste doctrine provides a fresh perspective on property, natural resources, and environmental law. In this Article, we excavate the old waste cases in multiple fields of property and natural resources law to make novel connections across these fields and demonstrate the doctrine\u27s continuing relevance for contemporary lawyers, legal theorists, and environmental advocates. The Article is unique in its articulation of a universal waste principle and its examination of how this principle facilitates communication and cooperative self-governance by and among owners of common property. It suggests that underenforcement of civil and administrative waste law in the context of common pool natural resources contributes to failures in modern law to respond to pressing environmental challenges

The New Oil and Gas Governance

As technologies change and the scale of human activity grows, so too does the law. The surge of oil and gas production in the United States, spurred by hydraulic fracturing in shale formations, has fomented a sea change in oil and gas law, substantially infusing this area with more complex environmental and property principles. Widespread demands for legal and policy-based solutions to the environmental and social impacts of oil production and fracking have transformed the field from one focused on maximizing fossil fuel production into one of environmental conservation. This is dramatically demonstrated by sweeping Colorado legislation in 2019, changes to the common law of oil and gas by local governments and landowners, and the extension of procedural environmental protections and state constitutional environmental rights to the oil and gas realm. Collectively, though not uniformly, a spectrum of changes to state statutes and common law has rendered an expansive reshaping of oil and gas law that amounts to a legal revolution

The New Oil and Gas Governance

As technologies change and the scale of human activity grows, so too does the law. The surge of oil and gas production in the United States, spurred by hydraulic fracturing in shale formations, has fomented a sea change in oil and gas law, substantially infusing this area with more complex environmental and property principles. Widespread demands for legal and policy-based solutions to the environmental and social impacts of oil production and fracking have transformed the field from one focused on maximizing fossil fuel production into one of environmental conservation. This is dramatically demonstrated by sweeping Colorado legislation in 2019, changes to the common law of oil and gas by local governments and landowners, and the extension of procedural environmental protections and state constitutional environmental rights to the oil and gas realm. Collectively, though not uniformly, a spectrum of changes to state statutes and common law has rendered an expansive reshaping of oil and gas law that amounts to a legal revolution

The Law of Oil and Gas: Cases and Materials

This is a detailed and informed casebook examining major aspects of property, contract, conservation, and environmental law governing oil and gas exploration and development. It provides original text and explanatory materials. The appendices include sample forms and a Glossary of Oil and Gas Terms new to this edition. Chapter titles discuss: A Brief Introduction to the Scientific and Engineering Background of Oil and Gas Law; The Nature and Protection of Interests in Oil and Gas; The Oil and Gas Lease—A Close Look at Its More Important Clauses; Covenants Implied in Oil and Gas Leases; Title and Conveyancing Problems Arising From Transfers by Fee Owners and Lessors; Transfers Subsequent to a Lease; Pooling and Unitization; Public Lands; Federal Environmental Regulation of The Oil and Gas Industry; and State and Local Oil and Gas Regulation.https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/books/1113/thumbnail.jp