Mission, History, Recent Accomplishments

The mission of the Environmental Law Clinic is to provide law students the opportunity to advocate for the public interest in environmental protection.

Since its founding in 1985, the Environmental Law Clinic has won many important victories for national, state and local environmental organizations. The clinic’s advocacy, for example, has helped clarify the legal standards governing whether environmental regulation takes property of those affected by the regulation (Mansoldo v. State), protected public access to beaches under the public trust doctrine (Raleigh Ave. Beach Ass’n v. Atlantis Beach Club, Inc.), defended state regulations establishing 300-foot buffer zones along category one waters (In re Stormwater Management Rules), reversed improperly issued permits for building in wetlands (In re Freshwater Wetlands General Permits), defeated claims of federal pre-emption asserted by railroads operating waste transfer stations (Hackensack Riverkeeper v. Delaware Otsego Corp., New York Susquehanna and Western Ry. Corp. v. Jackson), forced the state to issue required Clean Air Act regulations (American Lung Ass’n v. Kean), and enjoined illegal water pollution (PIRG of NJ v. Top Notch Metal Finishing).

Most recently, in March 2009 the Environmental Law Clinic secured a settlement in New Jersey Coalition Against Aircraft Noise v. Federal Aviation Administration. The clinic’s client, which is concerned with noise pollution resulting from the FAA’s effort to reconfigure flight patterns into and out of airports in the Philadelphia-Newark-New York corridor, requested certain documents from the FAA under the Freedom of Information Act. When the FAA withheld numerous documents, claiming they were privileged to protect the agency’s “deliberative process,” clinic attorneys filed suit. Under the settlement, the FAA has agreed to provide all of the previously withheld documents.

The Environmental Law Clinic is currently undergoing restructuring. The clinic plans to focus more on environmental justice advocacy concerning pollution, hazardous sites and other environmental problems that directly affect communities and ecosystems in Newark and northern New Jersey. As part of the re-focusing, students working with the clinic’s Director, Steve C. Gold, recently conducted a needs assessment and outreach to potential clients. One result of that effort was a factual and legal assessment of the problem of childhood lead poisoning, which is particularly severe in several cities in the Newark area. Students made a presentation to local tenants’ organizations and are now working on the issue with the New Jersey Public Advocate. The clinic anticipates continued efforts in this area.

Further information on the restructuring of the Environmental Law Clinic will be posted here as it becomes available.