SLIDES: The Monumental Legacy of the Antiquities Act of 1906: The Rainbow Bridge National Monument in Context

Presenter: Professor Mark Squillace, Director, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado School of Law 35 slide

Mining Regulation and Takings

10 pages. Contains footnotes

Managing Unconventional Oil and Gas Development as if Communities Mattered

The advent of horizontal oil and gas drilling into relatively impermeable shale rock, and the companion technological breakthrough of high-pressure, multi-stage fracking that frees hydrocarbons along the substantial length of these horizontal wells, has fundamentally altered the oil and gas industry. The Energy Information Administration has gone so far as to predict that North America could become a net energy exporter as early as 2019, largely as a result of the explosive growth of this “unconventional” oil and gas development. Despite its promise, managing unconventional oil and gas development has proved challenging, and many of the communities that find themselves hosting this development have begun to push back in the face of serious public health and community impact concerns. Some communities have gone so far as to enact complete bans on “fracking,” the shorthand way that unconventional development is often described. Yet notwithstanding many legitimate concerns, the flexibility made possible by drilling wells horizontally two, three, and even five miles in length provides an opportunity to manage unconventional oil and gas development in a manner that greatly reduces health and environmental impacts. Efforts to impose proactive management regimes that would effectively address these adverse impacts have thus far proved elusive. Effective management was especially challenging when the prices for oil and gas were high and developers rushed to cash in. But as the price of these commodities collapsed, and as development has waned, an opportunity has emerged to forge a new dialogue over a smarter approach to unconventional oil and gas development that might be deployed when the inevitable boom mentality returns. A smarter approach recognizes that the flexibility afforded by horizontal drilling can minimize the adverse impacts of development even while making development more efficient. Many in the industry will likely resist a system that requires a far more substantial role for regulatory agencies, especially during the planning phase of development. But once the affected parties understand that oil and gas development can be carried out in a manner that is both efficient and compatible with community health and values, then the prospects for a productive relationship should brighten. Let the hard work of building that relationship begin

Day 1: Wednesday, 17 August 2005: Reauthorizing the ESA

1 page. Contains one reference

Restoring the Public Interest in Western Water Law

American Western states and virtually every country and state with positive water resources law are in perfect agreement about the wisdom of treating their water resources as public property. Not surprisingly, this has led most Western states to articulate a goal of managing these resources in the public interest. But the meaning of the term “public interest,” especially in the context of water resources management, is far from clear. This Article strives to bring clarity to that issue. It begins by exploring three theoretical approaches that might be used for defining the public interest in water resources law before urging an approach that prioritizes communal values. It then calls on each state to articulate its own, objective definition of the public interest—one that can serve as a meaningful legal standard. Included in this call to action is an outline of a public, deliberative process that states might use to formulate such a definition. This is followed by an investigation of the current attitudes of Western states toward the public interest standard, which includes a survey of whether and how a public interest review is incorporated into each state’s administration of water rights. The survey reveals that most Western states routinely fail to meet their obligation to consider the public interest in water rights administration, despite unambiguous public interest mandates. I conclude by recommending changes to existing water resource management regimes that will help ensure accounting for public values