On October 1, 2020, 40 legal scholars submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to express their serious concerns with the Trump Administration EPA's proposed revision to air quality standards for ozone, the primary component of smog. The letter, authored by the UCLA Law Emmett Institute's Sean Hecht and Siyi Shen, argues that the composition and role of EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee render the proposed action legally deficient, and will result in National Ambient Air Quality Standards that contravenes Congress’s will.
This guide is for anyone interested in learning more about environmental law offerings at UCLA Law and about careers in environmental law. The goals of this guide are to highlight the breadth of opportunities that exist for environmental lawyers and to provide resources and advice to assist students and graduates with job applications and career development.
Download the guide (Updated September 2024)
On August 24, 2020, UCLA Law faculty members Sean B. Hecht and Charles R. Corbett filed an amicus brief for the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic in a case before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Case No. 20-71196) concerning the regulation of air pollution in Imperial Valley, California. The brief was filed on behalf of Comité Civico del Valle, an environmental justice and public health organization that advocates for better pollution controls in Imperial County.
On July 31, 2020, UCLA Law faculty members Adrien Abecassis, Charles R. Corbett, Benjamin Harris, Edward A. Parson, and Jesse L. Reynolds submitted a comment letter to an independent advisory committee for a proposed Harvard solar geoengineering experiment. The comment letter praises the experiment’s governance framework as a whole and suggests ideas for creating a meaningful, appropriate public engagement process.
全球范围内的城市、省份及国家在减少污染方面都面临着显著的挑战，这些污染损害了当地的空气质量的同时也进一步加剧了气候变化。近年来，多个地区已经开始对污染物进行协同治理。这些地区以“一石二鸟”的原则制定政策，以期同时达到气候变化及空气质量方面的目标。
加州是最早对空气污染与气候变化进行协同治理的地区之一，目前已经在多污染物规划方面积累了丰富的经验。本报告侧重加州经验，对空气与气候的协同治理进行了研究。为探究在中国进行空气与气候协同治理的可能性，我们与中国伙伴合作开展了此次研究。在煤炭用量占总能源比例更高的中国，协同治理将能在传统空气污染物和温室气体排放方面带来更大的协同效益。尽管本报告主要是为中国的政策制定者提供的，它也对来自其他任何地区希望提升协同治理的管理者和学者有所帮助。
本报告的作者是：加州大学洛杉矶分校法学院，教授Alex Wang；自然资源保护协会，高级律师David Pettit；加州大学洛杉矶分校法学院 Emmett/Frankel环境法律与政策研究员Siyi Shen。
Cities, states, and countries around the world face a significant challenge in limiting pollution that harms local air quality and contributes to climate change. In recent years, some jurisdictions have begun to engage in coordinated governance of pollutants, planning policies that “kill two birds with one stone” to achieve climate and air quality goals at the same time.
UCLA Law Welcomes Outstanding New Students
UCLA Law welcomed an outstanding class of 500 new J.D. and LL.M. students in August. The 298 new J.D. students were chosen from more than 5,400 applicants. Demonstrating UCLA Law's unwavering commitment to access and excellence, the incoming J.D. class has a median LSAT score of 167 — tied for second-best among California law schools — a median GPA of 3.76, and 18 percent of 1Ls are the first in their families to complete a four-year degree.
ACTION! UCLA Law Creates Three New Clinics
On behalf of 29 U.S. Senators and 118 U.S. Representatives, the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic filed an amicus brief on July 6, 2020, in a D.C. Circuit case challenging the Trump administration's attempt to revoke California's clean car standards.
Pritzker Brief No. 5 | October 2013
An estimated 20 million tons of plastic litter enters the ocean each year. This litter has a wide range of adverse environmental and economic impacts, from wildlife deaths and degraded coral reefs to billions of dollars in cleanup costs, damage to sea vessels, and lost tourism and fisheries revenues. Despite increased attention to the problem and general agreement about the need for reduction and cleanup of marine plastic litter, there is presently no overarching action plan that would effectively address the problem.