Environmental and Administrative Law 101 with Greenhouse Gas and Sustainability Update

This tutorial provides a short course for chemical engineers regarding the basic concepts and structure of administrative and environmental law.  The course begins with a history of legal development, from English common law to the state of common law and legislation in the United States today.  The course reviews basic concepts of administrative law, and outlines the mechanisms by which environmental regulatory agencies implement delegated authority, including delegation of power, appropriate exercise of discretion, rulemaking, investigative and penalty authority, adjudication and judicial review.  Building upon these agency powers of implementation, the course reviews all major federal environmental statutes that are implemented by environmental regulatory agencies, and outlines their scope, goals and primary mechanisms for enforcement.  The course then winds up with a summary of common law claims typically associated with environmental issues, and an update on the most controversial environmental legal developments over the past year.