Overview

The final project for this course is an open-book exam consisting of two questions. To answer these questions, you may utilize materials used in class as well as your class notes and outlines. You are permitted to use online resources to look up statutory provisions and case law identified in class, but it is not necessary to use online resources to complete the exam. You are not permitted to discuss the exam with anyone other than the instructor; any collaboration, appearance of collaboration, or plagiarism will result in a failing grade. It is highly recommended that you begin working on the exam as soon as possible; waiting until the last day before the exam is due may compromise the quality of your work.

There are no page-length requirements for this exam, but you must adhere to the following guidelines:

• Cite your references for statutes, case law, and readings. Follow APA style for citations. Note that the scenario may cover multiple environmental statutes; take each issue separately by identifying the issue and stating the statutes and case law that apply to the issue.
• Provide an analysis that utilizes the facts, statutes, and case law to support your argument.
• State what outcome should or should not happen (and why), supported by law and facts and based on the call of the question.

Clarity is important, so you should organize your answers before you begin writing. Unfocused or off-topic writing is unlikely to be rewarded, and incorrect material will be penalized. If there is any information that is not stated in a question but is needed to properly answer the question, be sure to say what the information is and why it is needed. Do not assume facts that are not stated in the question.

You may use any standard abbreviations used in this course (e.g., CAA, CWA, NEPA, ESA, and NAAQS). The abbreviation EPA refers to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the exam.

Outcomes

In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:

• Spot facts that trigger the requirements of major federal environmental statutes and their implementing regulations in the United States
• Predict environmental law and policy outcomes based on structural and functional features of the political system in which environmental laws and policies are made and implemented in the United States
• Identify viable strategies for influencing environmental law and policy outcomes based on structural and functional features of the political system in which environmental laws and policies are made and implemented in the United States

• Reach a defensible conclusion about the extent to which current federal environmental laws and policies are sufficient to enable the

United States to achieve sustainability

• Reach a defensible conclusion about the extent to which the U.S. political system lends itself to remedying any insufficiencies of current federal environmental laws and policies in the above regard

Prompt

Submit your responses to the questions below in a single document, formatted according to the guidelines described in the Final Project Rubric section.

Question One

Over the past 15 years, snowmobile use in Jellystone National Park has gradually increased. Last year, an average of 1,800 snowmobiles entered the park each day, mostly in unsupervised groups of one or two. A network of 180 miles of roads and trails was groomed nightly, but snowmobiles were not restricted to those trails. Snowmobiles use internal combustion engines, which produce air pollution and noise and can frighten wildlife. There is also some evidence that groomed trails alter the behavior and travel patterns of several species, including the Jellystone bison. However, the expansion of snowmobile use has brought significant tourist dollars to the local community in the winter, traditionally a very slow season.

Until now, the park has not regulated snowmobile use. This year, the park decided to formally evaluate snowmobile use. The park supervisor announced the park’s intention to strike a workable balance between facilitating public access to the park and protecting its resources.

After preparing an environmental assessment (EA), the park decided to limit the number of individual snowmobiles allowed to enter the park to 900 per day and to require that snowmobiles stay strictly to the groomed trails. Unlimited numbers of snow coaches (the snowmobile equivalent of buses) will be allowed on the groomed trails. Snow coaches are slower and less comfortable than snowmobiles, and the view from snow coaches is limited. The extent of the market for snow coach tours is unknown. The park has promised to reexamine snowmobile use next year.

The EA considered the alternatives of no action, total closure of the park to snowmobiles, and the proposed action. The park determined that no environmental impact statement (EIS) was required because snowmobiles would not create significant environmental impacts during the one year for which the decision would apply. It did not consider possible long-term impacts of continued snowmobiling. While the EA was being prepared, the park began taking reservations for the upcoming snowmobile season. Reservations are always made “subject to changes in park management.”

Fund for Jellystone (an environmental group consisting of members who regularly use the park) and the Jellystone Area Chamber of Commerce (a coalition of local businesses) have both challenged the decision under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Fund for Jellystone argues that an EIS was required and should have considered the long-term impacts of snowmobile use in the park. The group also claims that the

EA was impermissibly biased because the decision had already been made. The Jellystone Area Chamber of Commerce agrees that an EIS was

required. The chamber further argues that the discussion of alternatives should have included guided group snowmobile trips, restricting access to new four-stroke snowmobiles (which are quieter and cleaner-burning than the two-stroke models), restricting access to particularly sensitive areas, or other steps that would limit the environmental impacts of snowmobiles without removing them from the park.

You represent Jellystone National Park. Advise park officials of the prospects of success against the NEPA claims raised by Fund for Jellystone and the Jellystone Area Chamber of Commerce. For the purposes of this question, do not consider the effects of any other statutes. Assume that all issues were raised during public comment opportunities.

Question Two

You have graduated from SNHU and are doing environmental work for the Conservation Law Foundation. A group of citizens has contacted you with complaints about a nearby pig farm that they claim is causing environmental problems. You and one of your colleagues are doing a preliminary assessment. You are addressing issues that arise under the federal environmental statutes. Your colleague is addressing any common-law actions, so you should not spend any time on the common-law aspects of this case. Your organization has done some preliminary investigation that reveals the information given below.

The pig farm is owned and operated by a company called Oh My Porky Inc. The operation is one of the largest pig farm operations in the United States. Raising pigs is a messy business, as the pigs prefer wet, dark piles of mud and manure. The operation sluices water through manure piles with a series of pipes and collects runoff from the piles in ditches. The ditches flow out of one of the farm buildings down to a large collecting pond. From the pond, the water is pumped back up into an open holding tank before being recirculated through the manure piles. The operation reuses its water in part because it is efficient to do so, but more importantly, the manure-infused vat of water contains a high concentration of nutrients that facilitate growth of organisms that pigs enjoy.

The operation is extremely smelly. Especially on warm, sunny days, the farm produces an odor noticeable for many miles. Oh My Porky Inc. borders on a residential neighborhood, and the smell has produced hundreds of complaints. The drainage ditches, collection pond, and the holding tank for the recirculated water are all completely exposed to the elements. On rainy days, the drainage ditches commonly overflow and run off over land into the Found River, a small river that runs adjacent to Oh My Porky Inc. On very rainy days, the storage tank also overflows. Finally, during periods of heavy rain, often in the spring, the pond overflows its banks and spills over into the Found River. On these occasions, the river carries the smell of raw manure many miles downstream.

Simply putting a roof over the storage tank would avoid much of this problem, as it would reduce the extent of overflow. Oh My Porky Inc., however, has refused to do this. Even if it did, some problems would remain unresolved. Overflow from the pond (which would be difficult to cover) would still sometimes occur, and ditches and the like on the property also leak into the river.

Your research reveals that the EPA has never granted a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for a pig farm and has

identified no particular set of technological requirements that would be appropriate for such an operation.

The Found River flows for another five miles from Oh My Porky Inc. in Maine before it flows into New Hampshire, and from there on to Great Bay, which goes out to the ocean. Maine has designated its stretch of the Found River as a drinkable waterway. New Hampshire, by contrast, designates the waterway as a fishable waterway, thereby demanding higher water quality than Maine does. Although the Found River’s water quality is such that it satisfies the drinkable standard, it does not satisfy New Hampshire’s fishable standard. Specifically, sewage treatment plants upstream from Oh My Porky Inc. deposit so much inadequately treated water into the Found River that it does not support New Hampshire’s fishable designation. Part of the river’s failure to meet the standard, however, arises from the fact that the Narragansett River joins the Found River just north of the Maine border. The Narragansett River is a fairly heavily polluted waterway, as a small Maine town known as Needs People pours an enormous amount of poorly treated sewage into the Narragansett River just before it flows into the Found River.

Finally, a fish listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) also inhabits the Found River. This fish, known as the artful dodger bass, has dwindled in population in recent years, owing to the inflow of sewage from both the treatment plants in Maine and from the Oh My Porky Inc. farm operation. The FWS has determined that the size of the artful dodger bass population has declined in rough proportion to the amount of untreated organic compounds in the river. The FWS has also designated the Found River as a critical habitat for the fish. A study conducted by the FWS has identified the sewage treatment plants in Maine and the Oh My Porky Inc. farm operation as contributing jointly to the fish’s decline.

The individuals who have contacted you reside alongside the banks of the Found River in both Maine and New Hampshire. They complain that the water smells bad. They contend that the smell is so bad in the summer that they have to keep their windows closed. Several report that they used to swim in the river but no longer feel safe doing so. The residents closest to the facility also report that the odors keep them indoors with windows closed for much of the year.

Sketch out what kinds of actions your organization could take against Oh My Porky Inc. to get them to alter their activities. Assume that your organization is prepared to sue Oh My Porky Inc. directly using any aspect of law at its disposal and is willing to sue any state or federal agency to get it to crack down on Oh My Porky Inc. Again, remember that you are only addressing the issues that arise under federal environmental law, and not the common law.

Final Project Rubric

Guidelines for Submission: Your submission should use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Include at least three references, which should be cited according to APA format. The references should be listed at the end of the document and should have corresponding in-text citations.

Critical Elements	Exemplary (100%)	Proficient (85%)	Needs Improvement (55%)	Not Evident (0%)	Value
Main Elements	Includes almost all of the main elements and requirements and cites multiple examples toillustrate each element	Includes most of the main elements and requirements and cites many examples to illustrate each element	Includes some of the main elements and requirements	Does not include any of the main elements or requirements	25
Inquiry and Analysis	Explores multiple issues through extensive collection and in-depth analysis of evidence to make informedconclusions	Explores some issues through collection and in- depth analysis of evidence to make informed conclusions	Explores minimal issues through collection and analysis of evidence to make informed conclusions	Does not explore issues through collection and analysis of evidence and does not make informedconclusions	20
Integration andApplication	All of the course conceptsare correctly applied	Most of the course conceptsare correctly applied	Some of the course conceptsare correctly applied	Does not correctly apply anyof the course concepts	10
Critical Thinking	Demonstrates comprehensive exploration of issues and ideas before accepting or forming anopinion or conclusion	Demonstrates moderate exploration of issues and ideas before accepting or forming an opinion orconclusion	Demonstrates minimal exploration of issues and ideas before accepting or forming an opinion orconclusion	Does not demonstrate exploration of issues and ideas before accepting or forming an opinion orconclusion	20
Research	Effectively incorporates many scholarly resourcesthat reflect depth and breadth of research	Effectively incorporates some scholarly resourcesthat reflect depth and breadth of research	Incorporates very few scholarly resources thatreflect depth and breadth of research	Does not incorporate scholarly resources thatreflect depth and breadth of research	15
Articulation of Response	Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professionaland easy to read format	Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization	Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability andarticulation of main ideas	Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas	10
Earned Total					100%