Course previously numbered 419.
The course is intended to provide students with exposure to actual environmental law matters, with particular emphasis on skills required for practicing in a sophisticated regulatory area. The skills you develop in the class will be transferable to other areas of law beyond environmental law. The class will also expose students to substantive environmental law, primarily under the federal and state laws and regulations governing water and air pollution. Although prior environmental law courses may be helpful, they are not prerequisites. Depending upon the needs of the cases on which we are working, case work as a class may involve fact investigation, working with a scientific expert, document and file review (including permit evaluations and compliance determinations), site investigations, participation in regulatory or litigation proceedings and/or work on environmental policy issues. Each student will also work on a smaller team project which will be either litigation-related or policy-related.
While it is difficult to identify actual matters this early, we anticipate that the clinic will focus on some type of regulatory issues, such as rulemaking proceedings, permit appeals, administrative hearings, or policy development. It is possible that the clinic may take part in some aspects of major litigation, perhaps an appeal of an EPA rulemaking. We will likely be working with California Communities Against Toxics, The Environmental Rights Coalition, the Coalition for Clean Air, the Pollution Prevention Center and other groups.
The course will be graded, and enrollment is limited to 12 students.