U.S. Environmental Law

Environmental Law:

"The field of law dealing with the maintenance and protection of the environment, including preventive measures such as the  requirements of preparing environmental-impact  statements, as well as measures to assign liability and provide cleanup for incidents that harm the environment. Because most environmental litigation involves disputes with governmental agencies, environmental law is heavily intertwined with administrative law."

[Source: Black's Law Dictionary, 11th ed., 2019 )

Keywords
Suggested terms for searching library catalogs, databases, and websites on U.S. environmental law and related topics include:

• "carbon finance" / "carbon tax" / "greenhouse gases" / GHG
• "carbon capture" / CCS
• "chemical safety" / TSCA
• "clean air" / "air pollution"
• "clean water" / "drinking water"
• "climate change" / "global warming"
• "endangered species"
• "environmental crimes"
• "environmental justice"
• "fossil fuels"
• "hazardous waste" / "solid waste" / Superfund / CERCLA / RCRA
• "National Environmental Policy Act" / NEPA
• "navigable waters"
• "renewable fuel standard" / "fuel economy"
• "water pollution"
• "waters of the US" / WOTUS
• wetlands

Subjects
Subject links below retrieve print and online materials in the Library collection:

• Air -- Pollution -- Law and Legislation -- United States
• Chemicals -- Law and Legislation -- United States
• Climatic Changes -- Law and Legislation
• Endangered Species -- Law and Legislation -- United States
• Energy Development -- Environmental Aspects
• Environmental Justice
• Environmental Law -- United States
• Environmental Policy -- United States
• Hazardous Substances -- Law and Legislation -- United States
• Liability for Environmental Damages -- United States
• Offenses Against the Environment
• Sustainable Development -- Law and Legislation
• United States National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
• Water -- Pollution -- Law and Legislation -- United States
• Water Resources Development -- Law and Legislation -- United States
• Wildlife Conservation -- United States

Study aids, which generally focus on particular areas of law that correspond to the subjects of law school courses, can help law students gain a basic understanding of legal principles and clarify complex concepts. They can be used both when preparing for class and when studying for exams, as supplements to the assigned reading of a course. Additional study aids in the Law Library's collection can be found through the Library's Study Aids guide.

Online:
Note: When prompted to login, use your GW Law email address and password.

• Aspen Learning Library includes the Examples & Explanations series and CrunchTime study guides.
• LexisNexis Digital Library includes the Understanding and Q&A series. 

Print:

• Print study aids may be borrowed from the Reserve Collection at the Law Library's Circulation/Reserve Desk for up to 2 hours.
• Older print editions may be found in the Law Library stacks.

CALI lessons are interactive online tutorials written by law professors at CALI member schools. They can be used for studying topics in environmental law.

Ask any Reference Librarian for the GW Law CALI code.