Social Ecology PPD133/C128                                                                                    Julia Gelfand

Issues in Environmental Law & Policy                                                                       Science Library 228

Winter 2008                                                                                                                jgelfand@uci.edu

                                                                                                                                    (949) 824-4971

 

This course provides an overview of environmental protection within a legal context.  It will introduce you to issues that reflect the background of environmental planning, urban & regional planning, environmental management and the legal, social and policy framework that directs this work.  You will also gain insights in the business, economic and management issues and have a change to understand how the physical and natural sciences inform the issues.

 

You are being asked find a law review on a topic of environment law and also to find a web page on international or comparative environmental law.  This handout will serve as a departure point for those searches and introduce you to appropriate sources to find that information.

 

First of all, legal citation is different than other forms - for a law review article, it will be in this order:

Volume #, accepted abbreviated title of law review/journal, first page of article or referenced page, sometimes followed by (year)

An example will be 34 B. C. Envtl. Aff. L. Rev. (2007) for volume 34 of the Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review. 

 

For additional information on this citation style, consult the Bluebook, 18th ed.

at LL Ref Desk KF 245 U55 and to translate the legal journal abbreviations, consult Bieber's dictionary of legal abbreviations : a reference guide for attorneys, legal secretaries, paralegals, and law students, 2001 also at the LL Ref Desk KF 246 B46 2001

 

Nature of law reviews - these forms of scholarly journals are associated with law schools and edited by law students who invite, solicit, review, edit and author articles.  There are two types of law reviews - general with articles that may be thematic by the issue or composed of a range of articles on different topics and specialized ones on different legal subjects, such as Environmental Law.

 

Sources of law reviews - there are four:

 

a.      LegalTrac – another legal database with abstracts – access to related journals and law reviews.  Indexes the LA Daily Journal.  Only an indexing source - you will have to consult ANTPAC to determine whether we have the specific journal by title of the Law Review and in what format

      b.   LexisNexis Academic - a fulltext database with NEWS and LEGAL sections - can find local,             regional & national newspapers, and law reviews and state and federal caselaw and statutes -             is selective coverage not cover to cover nor obtainable in order of  table of contents.  There is                         a new search  interface or platform - can browse or search law reviews.  When searching, you                         have the choice of using "Terms & Connectors" or "Natural Language" for phrases.  Use and              explore pull-down menus to refine search strategy for dates of coverage, etc.  Searching by                  Full Text is probably the most comprehensive and allows you to note proximity within your                   strategy.  Also note that every journal or law review title has different years or span of                                 coverage and not every article may be included - thus you will need to reset the box under                  "DATE" - you can review the list of  sources included.  Output is re-keyed and not in pdf                                format - and is provided in relevancy based order - not chronological or reverse chronology,                    unless you use the pull-down menu and change it.  Results can be eMailed - the citation is from                 the summary or found on the title page.  Notes and references are usually incorporated in the                        text or numbered at the end.

c.       Westlaw Campus - another legal database containing legislative, statutory, case law - law reviews are part of the journal database and restricted to searching by state

d.     Hein Online - full online content of law reviews except current year - Click on "Law Journal Library" and then on Search on the top bar and enter your topic.  Output will be scanned individual pages that have to be turned with the arrow functions.  An outline of the article will appear on the left sidebar.  If you have a citation you can click on the corresponding letter of the title of the law review and go to the volume # and scroll through the issues and table of contents to you find the article; if you click on "Resources" and then under "Collections" you can find the Index to Legal Periodicals and use that as an index to search topically.  Use the help functions found throughout the database if needed.

e.      ANTPAC - access can also be determined by searching the UCI's online catalog by title of the law review or using "Find Online Resources" and entering the title in that search box on the Library website

 

Evaluating Web Cites:  Several considerations -

  1. Authority - refers to the author, is it an academic, practicing attorney, editorial member of law review (usually means a law student), jurist, scientist, etc
  2. Audience - scholars and academics, attorneys, lay public, etc
  3. Purpose - entirely academic or to influence future caselaw or legislative action
  4. Objectivity - provides different opinions on topic or multiple viewpoints
  5. Currency - point of reference and accuracy, timeliness, ability to contextualize with other social, political actions
  6. Coverage - extent of incorporating notes and references, point of focus, extensions to related topics, jurisdictions, etc
  7. Accuracy - verified facts in other sources
  8. Relevancy

 

Sources of appropriate websites for International Law or Clean Air Act:

            1.  Associations Unlimited - directory of professional associations for international and national     associations of a professional, educational, trade, nonprofit status, quasi-governmental, philanthropic,   etc

            2.  Google - will retrieve websites with all domains, .gov, .edu, .org, .com. - each will retrieve            different kinds of information

            3.  American Society of International Law - Environmental Law

            4.  Environmental Law Prof Blog - will introduce and discuss issues and point you to websites

            5.  LexisNexis' Environmental Law & Climate Change Center

            6.  Clean Water Partners - also covers clean air

            7.  Jurist Legal Intelligence

            8.  from CLS Subject Guide - Environment

            9.  BNA Environment & Safety Library - International - this licensed database is a newsbank of events     chronicled in the news - can be searched and will give you a framework about times, key players or           stakeholders and related issues to track

            10. EPA Website

            11.  California Environmental Resources Website

           

SUBJECT GUIDES - Consult different guides depending on the subject focus of your query.  They correspond to academic departments and then to general subjects such as Government Information.  You may find the Guides for PPD, CLS, EHSP, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Political Science and Government Information helpful.

 

REFERENCE SOURCES - Increasingly a wider range of information products are available on different topics related to Environmental Law and Policy and a larger number of resources are available online.  Many are classified in the Legal area that corresponds to the Call #s KF 3775 found at the LL or at the Science Library in GE 170-190.  UCI has a large collection highlighting environmental law & policy in California, the US, and around the globe, with particular strengths in Europe, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia.  Topical areas of strength include: water resources, contamination, hazardous waste, global warming, technological innovation, sustainable development, zoning & planning, compliance, land use, etc.  As the intersections of subjects blur and there is more of an interest in the science associated with informing legal decisions in environmental law, you see emerging fields like climate change, global warming, etc.

 

The usual tools of legal dictionaries, handbooks, encyclopedias, fact sheets, exist to support research in environmental law & policy.  Jurisdiction usually dictates rulings of law and local, state and federal statutes and regulations define course of action.   Also, Newspapers covering a certain area or region are valuable resources.

            Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed, 2004 - LL REF KF156 B53 2004

            Environmental Regulatory Dictionary, 2005 - LL REF KF 3775 A68 K57 2005

            Dictionary of Environmental Law, 2000 - LL REF KF 3584.6 G55 2000

 

Finding Regulatory Law and Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) - arranged by "Titles" and section #s, you have several options in different formats - you will want to follow legal citation by entering the title of the source first followed by the section #.  Federal law can be found in the two major legal databases:

            1.  United States Code Annotated - LL REF KF 62 1927 W45 - in print - there are several index   volumes - contains full copies of all "Acts" or passed federal statutes -

            2.  Lexis-Nexis Academic - Legal - on the right side bar you will find "Federal and State Codes" - use       the pulldown menu to select either the US Code by Title Section or the CFS - you have to enter a topic           to search - you will retrieve all titles or sections that pertain to that.

            3.  Westlaw Campus - scroll down to "Statutes and Regulations" and you will find both the US Code Annotated and the CFR that can be searched - there is a Table of Contents that you can scroll to identify the specific Title and then section

            4.  BNA Environment & Safety Library - select the Environment & Safety Library and then go to Federal Section on the right box and you will see the CFR & USC - if you click on either of these you will get the list of titles that you can get the fulltext

            5.  Code of Federal Regulations - in print - LL REF KF 70 A34 I46

 

Next Steps - If you need assistance, please consult Liaison Librarian or use the Ask a Librarian services or visit the Reference Desks at either Library.