Appalachian Public Interest and Environmental Law Conference (APIEL) 2025
The Very Small, Very Local, Snail Darter Fish Goes National & Swims Again
Over the past 50 years, the Supreme Court’s iconic “snail darter” case has been used as a political attack weapon against environmental protection and the regulatory process generally. Focusing on how the classic TVA v. Hill case of a small endangered fish versus TVA’s last dam was launched at UTK, the panel will track the legal and political course of the fish as it was carried by local citizens – not by national environmental groups – through the corridors of American power to reach success in the Supreme Court and in the first ever hyper-economic scrutiny of the ESA God Committee, receiving national – and even international – renown. It also is a story of how the political power blocks and the media ultimately turned the successful economic example of this endangered species protection upside down, to make it into a political weapon against environmentalism. Howard Baker wasn’t a hero in the sordid congressional process.
Now, 47 years later, at a time of unprecedented major assaults against the administrative state, a recent Yale scientific paper, promoted in national media, is weaponizing the snail darter to be what it never was, as a supposedly destructive citizen lawsuit, in order to support political attacks on the Endangered Species Act and environmental laws and science.
Reconceptualizing Modern Public Interest [Environmental] Lawyering
Environmental public interest lawyering emerged from the social ferment of the
1960s. Stressing governmental accountability, largely federal, to confront a host of vividly harmful systemic health and ecosystem problems, the field grew both doctrinally and conceptually. Tactically, public interest environmental lawyers engaged in what best can be called political lawyering. Often derided as “undemocratic,” environmental public interest lawyers nevertheless were massively successful in the 1970s through the early 2000s in presenting their social vision in the courts, in selective legislative advancements, in administrative agencies, and the media.
In Appalachia, environmental public interest lawyering morphed into a unique species of legal services and personal injury lawyering. Big (e.g., the Buffalo Creek disaster) and small (e.g., black lung advocacy) issues were litigated by lawyers, both through nonprofits and in private practices. The more self-conscious of the attorneys worked closely with grassroots organizations in campaigns to diminish the harms of strip-mining and to forge judicial doctrines, legislation, and administrative rulings to benefit people. This was not anti-democratic lawyering, nor was it “dogmatic utopianism” or “disillusioned withdrawal.” At its best, this genre of public interest lawyering was the deployment of legal skills in pursuit of social ends, “a critical component of a complex democracy.”
Today’s public interest lawyering landscape—environmental and other important rights-generating endeavors—is decidedly different from what animated law students and lawyers in the early years. Restrictions on standing and evidence, vanishing remedies, devolution, stilted interpretations of bedrock protections (and more) characterize the current public interest law scheme. Our job today is to survive and to bring into this movement young lawyers and creative ideas to shape the future.
Climate-Washing Litigation: Corporate Accountability, Consumer Protection, and the Role of Environmental Law
This session offers substantive legal content focused on the emerging field of climate-washing litigation. It addresses current issues in consumer protection, environmental law, and corporate accountability, enhancing attorneys’ professional competence in advising clients, assessing legal risks, and navigating evolving case law. Comprehensive written materials will be provided to participants.
Protecting the Clinch River from Radioactive Pollution at Oak Ridge
The Department of Energy operates the Oak Ridge Nuclear site in eastern Tennessee. There is a waste facility on that site that contains radioactive waste. The Environmental Protection Agency has approved a clean-up program pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) which violates the Clean Water Act and CERCLA. This case will be a precedent-setting use of CERCLA and the Clean Water Act. We will discuss the factual and legal issues involved, and why this case is important.
Federal Public Lands under the Trump Administration: Current Use and Future Impact
This session will provide an in-depth look at the status of public lands management under the Trump Administration, with a focus on the National Park Service and National Forest System. Speakers will analyze recent policy shifts affecting environmental review, planning, and public participation, including the administration’s approach to the Roadless Rule and other key protections. The program will also explore how large landscape conservation networks and local community partnerships can adapt to regulatory uncertainty, offering practical insight for attorneys advising conservation organizations, local governments, and stakeholders engaged in public land and natural resource issues in Tennessee and across the Southern Appalachians.
Life After NEPA: Is this sunset for the groundbreaking environmental statute?
Is this sunset for the groundbreaking environmental statute? NEPA is the National Environmental Policy Act, a US law enacted in 1969 that requires federal agencies to evaluate the environmental impact of their proposed major actions and provide opportunities for public input. This CLE focuses on the history of NEPA, the scaffolding of much environmental law, and the threats to its continuation.