Environmental Law

Overview

Environmental law is a body of law dedicated to the protection of the natural environment from degradation as a result of human influences. The earliest of legal remedies available for environmental problems can be found in the common law under trespass and nuisance. While these two causes of action are still valid, the "right to farm" laws enacted in all fifty states have limited their effect. Specific statutory protection of the environment began in 1899, when the United States passed the first federal environmental law. Entitled the Rivers and Harbors Act, it provided a legal alternative to limiting the amount of water pollution in the nation's navigable waters. Modern environmental law began developing in the 1950s with the passage of statutes such as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (later referred to as the Clean Water Act) and the Clean Air Act. Read the full overview

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Major Statutes

Regulations

Case Law

Administrative Law Decisions

Center Research Publications

Congressional Research Service Reports

Agricultural Law Bibliography

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