Environmental law achieves reform by attacking procedure, not substance or outcome

Evidence

The crux of successful lawsuits based on environmental law is the focus on procedure. Many state and federal environmental laws, especially those related to permitting facilities, are procedurally oriented: they set out a series of procedural hoops to be jumped through; once an applicant has successfully jumped through the hoops, the applicant receives a permit. For example, lawyers using this approach filed suit on behalf of Mothers of East Los Angeles to point out flaws in the environmental review of a proposed toxic waste incinerator. When the community group won the lawsuit, the incinerator company withdrew its application rather than complete a full environmental review. — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 557 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: EJ activism shifts from facility opposition to contesting decision-making legitimacy; Environmental-law suits succeed by attacking permitting procedure rather than outcomes — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 557

Related

• Environmental-law suits succeed by attacking permitting procedure rather than outcomes (similarity 0.93)

Broader Connections

• Environmental-law suits succeed by attacking permitting procedure rather than outcomes #corroborates (0.95) — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 557