On Thursday July 30, 2009, the Center for Progressive Reform hosted a one-hour webinar on the Public Trust Doctrine and its use in defense of the nation's water resources. Participing in the call were water-protection organizations from across the nation, and from as far as away as South Africa. Webinar presenters Alex Klass (CPR Member Scholar and Associate Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School), Isaac Moriwake (Attorney, Hawai'i Earthjustice) and Yee Huang (CPR Policy Analyst) previewed CPR's forthcoming manual on the subject, Restoring the Trust: Water Resources and the Public Trust Doctrine, A Manual for States, to be published later this summer. Read more about the issue, here. Listen and watch a recording of the webinar, here.
Send follow-up inquiries about the webinar to Yee Huang.
CPR Conference on Regulatory Reform
The Center for Progressive Reform's May 22, 2009 symposium on regulatory reform, gathered experts from across the spectrum to debate the future of regulatory review policy. The event, Reforming OIRA: The Future of Regulatory Review, aimed to contribute to the discussion on the Obama Administration's upcoming new executive order on regulatory review.
In attendance were many of the most prominent advocates and critics of the existing system of centralized review of individual rules using traditional cost-benefit analysis. Through a series of four panel-led discussions, the symposium examined and critiqued this system and evaluated possible options for reform.
At right, Peter Barton Hutt makes a point, while Celeste Monforton and Michael Taylor look on.
On Wednesday, March 25, 2009, CPR joined the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA) in hosting a working conference in Washington on the future of state and local air quality regulation. At the heart of the conversation was an issue about which CPR Member Scholars have written extensively: whether federal legislation on climate change (such as a bill instituting a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions) could or should preempt state and local laws and initiatives on climate change.
The conference brought together administrators from state and city clean air agencies from across the country (members of NACAA) with Member Scholars of CPR who research preemption law. CPR Member Scholars William Andreen, William Buzbee, Kirsten Engel, Victor Flatt, Robert Glicksman, David Hunter, Alice Kaswan, and Nina Mendelson, along with CPR President Rena Steinzor and CPR Policy Analyst Shana Jones, participated.
NACAA and CPR members discussed the importance of existing state and local climate initiatives and the possible legal implications of different types of fede
ral climate change legislation on those initiatives.
By one count, 33 states and many more local jurisdictions – together representing the source areas of a majority of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions – have either completed or are about to complete climate change action plans. Their various plans are tailored to the specific needs of their state economies, as well as to the pollution sources within their borders. CPR Member Scholars are concerned that carbon-producing industries will work to use preemption in future federal legislation as a tool to eliminate these controls.
On Thursday, January 8, 2009, CPR President Rena Steinzor participated in an the American Constitutional Society for Law & Policy (leaving CPR site) panel discussion on the "mechanics of quick change" during the first weeks and months of a new presidency. The discussion covered a variety of topics, including: What is the process for rescinding old Executive Orders and issuing new ones? What can be done by agencies and Congress to deal with “midnight regulations,” the 11th hour administrative rulemaking that often occurs in the waning days of an outgoing presidential administration? Are there other ways that a new administration can signal its priorities, such as through its proposed budget?
The panel featured:
Moderator, David C. Frederick, Partner, Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, P.L.L.C. (Windows Media Player)
Todd F. Gaziano, Director, Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, The Heritage Foundation (Windows Media Player)
Peter M. Shane, Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law (Windows Media Player)
Rena Steinzor, Professor of Law, University of Maryland School of Law; President, Center for Progressive Reform (Windows Media Player)
On Wednesday, December 17, 2008, CPR hosted a conference on regulatory preemption at the Hotel George, just off Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Attended by congressional staff, legal scholars, practicing attorneys, and representatives of numerous advocacy groups, the conference was organized to vet legal and regulatory policy reforms devised by CPR Member Scholars to preserve state law.
Increasingly, consumers who sue manufacturers to obtain compensation for injuries suffered as a result of dangerous products are met with claims that the lawsuit is preempted by federal regulation. During the Bush Administration, federal agencies supported manufacturers’ arguments, claiming that state tort law stands as an obstacle to effective safety regulation. By contract, CPR Member Scholars have spent years highlighting the importance of state tort law as a complement to federal regulation in the quest to improve public health. Read more about their efforts.
CPR Member Scholars William Buzbee, William Funk, Thomas McGarity, Nina Mendelson, Sidney Shapiro, and David Vladeck are working on a new white paper that will propose legislative and regulatory solutions to the defense bar’s and Bush Administration’s abuse of the federal preemption doctrine. The December 17, 2008 conference was an opportunity to share their proposals with a group of highly respected experts in the field.
A final white paper will be released in early 2009.
You may also be interested in these Media Room/Events Related Resources
On Thursday, January 8, 2009, CPR President Rena Steinzor participated in an the 
On Wednesday, December 17, 2008, CPR hosted a conference on regulatory preemption at the Hotel George, just off Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Attended by congressional staff, legal scholars, practicing attorneys, and representatives of numerous advocacy groups, the conference was organized to vet legal and regulatory policy reforms devised by CPR Member Scholars to preserve state law.