The Supreme Court,the commerce clause,and natural resources

The Supreme Court's interpretation of the commerce clause controls the balance of power between state and federal governments in the United States. An understanding of the relationship between the different government levels is essential for resource managers concerned with resource and environmental issues. This study examines selected Supreme Court decisions between 1976 and 1988 to answer three questions raised by the commerce clause: (1) Is the regulated item an article of commerce? (2) Do state laws burden interstate commerce? (3) Is federal commerce regulation limited? The balance of power among the justices and the commerce clause theories affecting the federal role in resource management are also examined. Since ratification of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has continuously increased federal power, but states have power to act independently as long as contradictory federal laws do not exist and state law does not impermissively affect commerce. If Congress regulates an individual's use of resources, their power is unquestioned. Future Court decisions will not significantly reduce the federal role in resource management even if the Court's membership changes. Even the supporters of states' rights on the Court realize increased federal power is a necessary part of the country's evolution. The purpose of the commerce clause is to create a national economic unit with free location principles. The Court supports this purpose today and will in the future.     

Environmental protection in Hong Kong amidst transition: Is Hong Kong ready to manage its environment by law?

Within the context of political democratization, this article explores environmental protection in Hong Kong since the government lauched a ten-year program to “save the environment” in 1989. Examining environmental management by law from a social-choice perspective, it argues that the government has yet to reach an integrative policy orocess. Hence the preconditions for an integrative set of environmental legislation are absent. Institutionally, without a comprehensive green policy, the current arrangements lack a vision as an integrative force to promote effective coordination among various sectoral environmental coordination among various sectoral environmental programs. The dominant approach of policy and law enforcement through consultation has rendered impossible strict enforcement of environmental rules and regulations as local economic growth enjoys a priority over environmental protection. At a time of environmental awakening, the people of Hong Kong are not yet prepared awakening, the people of Hong Kong are not yet prepared to participate in environmental management in a strict legal manner. The overall observation is that Hong Kong has yet to see more mature political, legal, administrative, and social conditions for managing its environment within a legal framework.     

WATER MARKETS AND DECENTRALIZED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: INTERNATIONAL PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES1

ABSTRACT: Because of its importance and the perceived inability of private sector sources to meet water demands, many countries have depended on the public sector to provide water services for their populations. Yet this has resulted in many inefficient public water projects and in inadequate supplies of good quality and reliable water. Decentralization of water management, including the use of water markets, cannot solve all of these water problems, but it can improve the efficiency of water allocation. When given adequate responsibility and authority, water user associations have effectively taken over water management activities at a savings to tax payers. Moreover, water markets add the potential benefit of improving water efficiency within a sector as well as providing a mechanism for reallocating water among sectors. The key question involves developing innovative mechanisms for reducing the transaction costs of organizing water users and of making water trades. Water rights need to be established which are recorded, tradable, enforceable, and separate from land if markets are to operate effectively. Also, institutions are needed that effectively resolve conflicts over water rights, including third party impacts and water quality concerns.     

THE LAW OF THE COLORADO RIVER: COPING WITH SEVERE SUSTAINED DROUGHT1

ABSTRACT: The waters of the Colorado River are divided among seven states according to a complex ‘Law of the River’ drawn from interstate compacts, international treaties, statutes, and regulations. The Law of the River creates certain priorities among the states and the Republic of Mexico, and in the event of a severe sustained drought, the Law of the River dictates the distribution of water and operation of the elaborate reservoir system. Earlier work indicated that there is remarkable resilience in the system for established uses of water in the Lower Basin of the Colorado River. This work shows, based on an application of the Law of the River using computer modeling of operations of facilities on the Colorado River, that there may be serious environmental consequences and related legal restraints on how the water is used in times of shortage and that the existing legal and institutional framework governing the Colorado River does not adequately address all the issues that would be raised in a severe sustained drought. Several possible legal options for dealing with drought in the context of the Law of the River are identified.     

MITIGATING IMPACTS OF A SEVERE SUSTAINED DROUGHT ON COLORADO RWER WATER RESOURCES1

ABSTRACT: We evaluated the effects of institutional responses developed for coping with a severe sustained drought (SSD) in the Colorado River Basin on selected system variables using a SSD inflow hydrology derived from the drought which occurred in the Colorado River basin from 1579–1616. Institutional responses considered are reverse equalization, salinity reduction, minimum flow requirements, and temporary suspension of the delivery obligation of the Colorado River Compact. Selected system variables (reservoir contents, streamflows, consumptive uses, salinity, and power generation) from scenarios incorporating the drought-coping responses were compared to those from Baseline conditions using the current operating criteria. The coping responses successfully mitigated some impacts of the SSD on consumptive uses in the Upper Basin with only slight impacts on consumptive uses in the Lower Basin, and successfully maintained specified minimum streamflows throughout the drought with no apparent effect on consumptive uses. The impacts of the coping responses on other system variables were not as clear cut. We also assessed the effects of the drought-coping responses to normal and wet hydrologic conditions to determine if they were overly conservative. The results show that the rules would have inconsequential effects on the system during normal and wet years.     

DIFFERENTIAL ACCUMULATION OF SELENIUM AMONG AXIAL MUSCLE,REPRODUCTIVE AND LIVER TISSUES OF FOUR WARMWATER FISH SPECIES1

Bluegill (Lepotmis macrochirus), largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), white catfish (Ictalurus catus), and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), collected from an electric power plant cooling reservoir and a municipal water supply reservoir near Roxboro, North Carolina, were analyzed for selenium concentrations in axial muscle, reproductive and liver tissues. Fishes from the municipal water reservoir had lower selenium concentrations (≤0.2-2.1 μg/g - wet weight) than found in the cooling reservoir fishes (1.6-70.0 μg/g - wet weight) but similar distributions of concentrations among the tissues was evident. Selenium was differentially accumulated, with higher concentrations in liver tissues (0.7-70.0 μg/g - wet weight), followed by female reproductive tissues (0.7-25.0 μg/g - wet weight), axial muscle tissues (≤0.2-23.0 μg/g - wet weight) and male reproductive tissues (0.2-7.2 μg/g - wet weight).     

Wastewater reuse in Muslim countries: An Islamic perspective

Recycling wastewater seems to have become a highly useful technique for meeting the shortage of fresh water in all parts of the world. It seems all the more important for Muslim countries because a large number of these countries face acute fresh water shortage. This paper views the problem from an Islamic viewpoint, that is, in the light of the Qur'n, theSunnah, andFiqh works.In Islamic law, water is classified into three categories oftahr,thir, andmutanajjis. The last two categories can be transmuted intotahr water and thus may be used for all mundane as well as religious purposes if they are assimilated into the overall supply oftahr water. This would be lawful from the Islamic viewpoint even without treating the water. To make use of modern technology in order to recycle wastewater effluents after treatment seems quite in keeping with the spirit and letter of the Islamic teachings.     

加快培育和提高中国企业的国际竞争力

本文以中国企业在国际企业中排名情况论述了中国企业的国际竞争力及其应采取的培育措施。     

环保执法难点浅析

环保执法是贯彻实施我国环境保护这一基本国策的重要保证。但是，在基层环保执法工作中常常遇到诸如被执法企业受地方保护主义的庇护、公众的环保意识薄弱、环保执法队伍自身素质差、执法水平低、执法力量薄弱、技术装备落后等问题。为维护环保法的尊严，严肃执法程序，确保环保执法顺利进行，分析研究这些问题的实质和存在的背景条件是必要的，并为解决这类问题作有益的探讨。