Winter 2012
Issue 86
Table of Contents
• Chair Message
• Denton Named Chair
• Promote Section Events
• Upcoming Events
Featured Articles
• Envt'l Legislation
• Stuart Rule, Part 2
• Detroit's Vacant Land
• Wild Hogs
• Renewable Energy
Section Links
• ELS Section Website
• Council Information
• Committees
• Events
• Deskbook
• EL Journal
• SBM Website
• Calendar of Events
• Public Policy Updates
Subscribe
View Past Issues
Editor
Christopher J. Dunsky
Christopher J. Dunsky, PLLC
cdunsky@comcast.net
Guest Editor
Jeffrey Haynes
Co-Editors
Kelly M. Drake
Rebecca Dukes
Charles E. Dunn
Ross Hammersley
H. Kirk Meadows
Jason Newman
Michael H. Perry
Kevin M. Plumstead
Kaitlyn Sundt
Brad H. Sysol
|
|
By Anna Maiuri, Miller Canfield Paddock & Stone PLC
I wanted to greet you all with a “Happy New Year” but just realized it’s already February 2012. It seems that the older I get, the faster the time goes by and the less time I have to keep up with all the exciting developments in our area of law. Thankfully, the folks who put together this journal every quarter help to keep us current. In fact, this particular issue of the MELJ has an informative article by Rebecca Dukes and Chris Dunsky that efficiently summarizes Michigan’s most important public acts of 2011 on environmental and natural resource issues. In addition, we have the second part of Dustin Ordway’s two-part article on the Stuart rule for determining property lines and access to beach and water for properties on the Great Lakes—this topic will surely make you long for the summer during these cold winter months.
This issue also includes an award winning essay by Benjamin Muth of the renowned Vermont Law School. This essay discusses how California’s legal system for determining water rights could be applied to vacant land in Detroit to encourage urban farming while preserving the City’s legal ability to return vacant land to urban areas in the future. We have an excellent article by Evan Oxhorn of the Georgetown Law Center about how recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission orders may make it possible for states to adopt feed-in tariffs that would encourage modern green energy infrastructure growth. Finally, Michelle Reese, a student from Case Western contributes a fun read entitled, “Wild Hogs Going Hog Wild: Michigan’s Approach to Managing Feral Swine.” A big “thanks” to all these authors for helping us stay current—and entertained.
Another efficient way to stay current these days is use of webinars. I am pleased to say that our section will be hosting its first webinar sometime in February. Check out the section website for upcoming webinar details and events. Also, please join your fellow ELS practitioners for an informal cocktail reception for law students, new members, and attorneys interested in learning about membership in the Environmental Law Section. The reception is February 9, 2012, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at GP Sports, 187 Monroe Street NW, Grand Rapids. Be sure to register with Joan O’Sullivan at jmosullivan9@comcast.net. Looking forward to seeing you there. Till next time ….
Charlie Denton Named Chair of Barnes & Thornburg LLP Environmental Law Department
The national law firm of Barnes & Thornburg LLP has announced that Charlie De
nton, the immediate past-chair of the State Bar of Michigan Environmental Law Section, has been named as chair of the firm's national Environmental Law Department, which includes 25 legal professionals in the firm's offices in nine jurisdictions. In addition to serving as a Council member and chair of the Environmental Law Section, Charlie has served the legal profession by his active leadership of the Michigan Association of Environmental Professionals, the American Bar Association, the Detroit Bar Association, the Air and Waste Management Association, and the Michigan Chemistry Council. The MELJ editors congratulate Charlie for this accomplishment, and thank him again for his outstanding service to the legal profession.
Help Promote Section Events and Activity!
Connect with the Environmental Law Section on Facebook and LinkedIn
Follow ELS on Facebook and Linkedin
Join the Environmental Law Section on Facebook and LinkedIn to stay informed of environmental law seminars, forums, education, and networking.
February 2, 2012
The DEQ's new Acting Remediation Division Chief, Anne Couture, will make a presentation (conference call format) to the Section on Thursday, Feb. 2, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Anne will brief us on the current objectives of the Remediation Division and the new Collaborative Stakeholder Initiative (CSI) reviewing the Division's cleanup programs, and she will answer questions. In addition to her RD role, Anne also remains senior policy advisor to Director Dan Wyant. This presentation is organized by the Section's Hazardous Substances and Brownfields Committee. E-mail Joan O’Sullivan at jmosoullivan9@comcast.net to register.
February 9, 2012
The Section is hosting a new member and law school student mixer at GP Sports, Thursday, Feb. 9, 5:30–7:30 p.m., in Grand Rapids. This is a great opportunity for attorneys and students to meet, socialize, and network with environmental practitioners and learn first-hand about environmental law and membership in the Environmental Law Section. Drinks and appetizers are provided. It is informal and fun. See our website for more information. E-mail Joan O’Sullivan at jmosullivan9@comcast.net to register.
February 2012
Siting Renewable Energy Project—information will be available soon.
May 16, 2012
2012 Air Committee/Michigan Manufacturers Association Conference—information will be available soon.
Summary of 2011 Michigan Environmental Legislation
By Rebecca Dukes and Christopher Dunsky
The environmental and natural resources legislation that the Michigan legislature enacted during 2011 is modest compared with some past years. In contrast with years when the legislature created sweeping new regulatory programs, 2011 was marked by deregulation of certain subject matters, attending to fiscal issues, and requirements that the Department of Environmental Quality and other state agencies improve their permitting processes and revise their enforcement procedures. Read More
The Stuart Rule, Part 2: Multi-Jurisdictional Common Law on
Private Property Interests Along the Shores of the Great Lakes
By Dustin P. Ordway
The Michigan Supreme Court articulated a common law rule for locating property lines to divide riparian neighbors’ rights across the beach and the water along the Great Lakes shore in Stuart v. Greanyea, 154 Mich. 132 (1908). The Stuart Rule is a particularly useful tool for resolving disputes regarding conflicting claims to lakefront property interests below the meander line on the Great Lakes where the shoreline is curved. See Ordway, “Resolving Great Lakes Shoreline Property Dispute: The Stuart Rule,” Vol. 30 Mich Env Law Jnl (Fall 2011). As noted there, the Stuart Rule is an elegant method because it solves the problem of equitable division of interests along the Great Lakes shore in a simple way; it preserves access to the water and property rights for every littoral owner regardless of the shape of the shoreline or the upland lots; and the results it mandates will continue to work with the passage of time despite changing lake levels and shoreline conditions. This article expands on that introduction by providing additional background concerning the Stuart Rule and its application. Read More
An Urban Agriculture Permit System for Detroit’s Vacant Land
By Benjamin M. Muth
The city of Detroit encompasses 139 square miles. An estimated 40 percent of those 139 squares miles, or 55.6 square miles, roughly the size of San Francisco or Boston is vacant. The vacant land is blighted with abandoned homes, high unemployment, and high crime. The Mayor of Detroit, David Bing, has proposed an ambitious plan for the future of Detroit called the Detroit Works Project. Mayor Bing proposes to maintain the 139 square miles of Detroit, but move the bulk of the population to existing neighborhoods closer to the downtown “urban core.” Over the next two years he plans to bulldoze a total of 10,000 vacant homes. A condensed population would enable the city to provide quality social services to citizens, as well as promote urban density and ultimately economic growth. Municipal costs would ultimately decline and the city could begin rebuilding. Read More
Wild Hogs Going Hog Wild: Michigan’s Approach to Managing Feral Swine
By Michelle Reese
Michigan is facing a serious environmental problem: feral swine. The feral swine problem is the result of hogs escaping from commercial hunting preserves, otherwise known as sport-swine ranches, sport-hunting preserves, or “canned-hunt ranches.” At these ranches, hunters pay a fee to hunt sporting swine in a controlled environment. This variation of traditional hunting has been marketed as giving hunters the opportunity to experience a hunt similar to one in the wild, but with a higher probability of walking away with a prize catch. Unfortunately, these ranches have led to a serious issue for Michigan, as the swine are often able to break through or dig under the fences at the ranches. Once freed, the swine become feral and wreak havoc on the environment, surrounding farms, and communities. This essay discusses the feral swine problem in Michigan, the decision to declare sport swine as an invasive species, and the problems Michigan still faces in attempting to eradicate feral swine. Read More
America’s Quasi Feed-in Tariffs: Leveraging Recent FERC Orders to Kickstart a Renewable Energy Revolution
By Evan Oxhorn
Germany has pioneered a new tool for renewable energy growth that has resulted in a 76% increase in solar photovoltaic installations in 2010 at the average cost of $3 per month, per person. Unfortunately, federal legislation has prevented the United States from using this tool. Two recent orders by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission change that. Read More