Introduction

• Author: Barry E. Hill
• Profession: Senior Counsel for Environmental Governance, Office of International Affairs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Pages: 1-6

Introduction

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: LEGAL THEORY

AND PRACTICE

The modern environmental movement has evolved through three distinct stages,3each character-

ized by its unique goals, achievements, and principal actors.

The first stage occurred early in the twentieth century and was led by such notable individuals as

John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt. The primary focus of these early environmentalists was conser-

vation of natural resources and protection of a pristine environment. Their efforts led to the establish-

ment of the U.S. system of national parks,4the preservation of forests,5and the designation of wild-

life refuges and recreation areas6for the American people to enjoy for generations to come.

The second stage began in the late 1960s and lasted for a decade, during which environmental

activism took place largely on the legal front, and lawyers played the leading role. Environmen-

tal lawyers in Congress drafted a plethora of major environmental laws; in the executive branch,

environmental lawyers enforced the new laws and regulations.7Lawyers affiliated with newly

established legal advocacy groups, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra

Club Legal Defense Fund, and the Environmental Defense Fund, lobbied for the enactment of the

major laws and filed lawsuits to see that they were implemented. Think tanks, such as the Envi-

ronmental Law Institute, studied environmental laws and regulations, and approached environ-

mental problems from a public-policy perspective. During this period of heightened awareness

of environmental issues, Presidents Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, and Jimmy Carter—two

Republicans and a Democrat—issued numerous executive orders that addressed a myriad of en-

vironment-related situations.8

1

3. Luke W. Cole, Empowerment as the Key to Environmental Protection: The Need for Environmental Poverty Law,19

Ecology L.Q. 634-39.

4. The “Organic Act” of August 25, 1916, established the national park system which is managed by the U.S. Department

of the Interior in order: “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to

provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the

enjoyment of future generations.” H.R. 15522, Chap. 408.

5. Surveying the Public Lands of June 4, 1897 (commonly known as the “Organic Administration Act of 1897”) (30 Stat.

11, 35, chapter 2; 16 U.S.C. §551) (providing that the purpose of forest reservations is “to improve and protect the

forest within the reservation, or for “securing favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish a continuous supply

of timber for the use and necessities of citizens of the United States.”).

6. The Lacey Act, 16 U.S.C. §701, May 25, 1900.

7. The 1970 Clean Air Act Amendments, 42 U.S.C. §§7401-7671q; the 1972 Coastal Zone Management Act, 16 U.S.C.

§§1451-1464; the 1972 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, 7 U.S.C. §§136-136y; the 1972 Marine

Mammal Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. §§1361-1421h; the 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C.

§§1251-1387; the 1973 Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§1531-1544; the 1974 Forest and Rangeland Renewable

Resources Planning Act, which was the precursor to the National Forest Management Act, 16 U.S.C. §§1600-1687;

the 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. §§6901-6992k; the 1976 Federal Land Policy and

Management Act, 42 U.S.C. §§1701-1784; the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. §§2601-2692; the 1977

Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, 30 U.S.C. §§1201-1328; and the 1977 Safe Drinking Water Act

Amendments, 42 U.S.C. §§300f-300j-26.

8. Exec. Order No. 11514, as amended, 3 C.F.R. (1966-1970) Comp., p. 920, “Protection and Enhancement of

Environmental Quality”; Exec. Order No. 11593, 3 C.F.R. (1971-1975) Comp., p. 559, “Protection and Enhancement

of the Cultural Environment”; Exec. Order No. 11644, as amended, 3 C.F.R. (1971-1975) Comp., p. 666, “Use of

Off-Road Vehicles on the Public Lands”; Exec. Order No. 11735, as amended, 3 C.F.R. (1971-1975) Comp., p. 791,

“Assignment of Function Under Section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act”; Exec. Order No. 11738, 3