On July 19, 2021, Cara Horowitz, Co-Director of the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic, wrote to staff of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to share information relevant to the potential phase-out of oil and gas production activities in the Inglewood Oil Field, the largest urban oil field in the U.S., and to provide an assessment of how to accomplish such a phase-out. The letter was researched and drafted by Clinic students Madison Dipman ‘22 and Reilly Nelson ‘22 and was submitted on behalf of Clinic client the Natural Resources Defense Council.
On June 10, 2021, ten Emmett Institute faculty members submitted comments to EPA supporting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Preemption rule, which would repeal the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule Part One: One National Program rule (2019 Rule). The comment letter argues the 2019 Rule contravened Congress’ intent in enacting the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and its subsequent amendments, relied on dubious legal authority to adopt a preemption determination, and failed to adhere to bedrock principles of administrative procedure.
California’s drive toward statewide carbon neutrality by 2045 relies on two related transitions: completely decarbonizing the state’s electrical grid; and shifting as many energy sources and fuels to electricity as possible. Transitioning buildings from natural gas to electricity–their heating and cooling systems, water heaters, and cooking equipment–is among the state’s highest priorities for the coming decade.
California has enacted ambitious climate goals, including a statewide carbon neutrality target by 2045. While much of the required greenhouse gas reductions will come from clean technology and emission reduction programs, meeting these targets will necessitate new methods of actively removing carbon from the atmosphere and capturing difficult-to-mitigate emissions, including via technologies broadly known as engineered carbon removal.
On May 18, 2020, Emmett Institute supervising attorney and project director Julia Stein and co-executive director Sean Hecht filed a comment letter to EPA on behalf of 100 U.S. law professors urging the agency to withdraw its revamped “Transparency in Science” rule. As written, the rule would foreclose EPA’s ability to rely on important peer-reviewed scientific studies that inform key environmental protections, like safe drinking water standards and pesticide regulations, where the underlying data supporting those studies are not publicly available.
On July 1, 2020, Sean Hecht and Ted Lamm of Berkeley Law filed a brief on behalf of the National Parks Conservation Association and the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks in Union of Concerned Scientists, et al. v. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The authors show that climate change- and air pollution-related harms occurring in California's National Parks provide direct evidence of the compelling and extraordinary conditions that justify California’s vehicle emissions program.
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.