Legal matters of maritime concern in Hawaii, Oceania, and beyond.
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in the Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker case, posted earlier here.
There were three issues on appeal: 1) does general maritime law allow for corporate liability for punitive damages based on the acts of managerial agents; 2) does the Clean Water Act preempt punitive damages awards in…
The New York Times has an informative article on the California Sonar case, posted earlier here.
Tangentially, NOAA is seeking public input on the Navy's use of sonar in Hawaii's waters, here.
Per NOAA's press release:
NOAA’s Fisheries Service does not expect the exercises to result in serious injury or death to marine mammals…
The California sonar case, posted earlier here, is going to the Supreme Court according to news reports. Supreme Court website confirms.
This case presents a conflux of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Constitutional deference afforded to Executive Branch decisions relating…
The California Sonar case, Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council (posted here, here, and here) may be bound for the Supreme Court.
The United States has filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari seeking relief from adverse rulings from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The opinion below is here…
Can a federal agency's failure to act, pursuant to its statutory authorities, constitute "agency action" under the Endangered Species Act, thereby triggering the agency's duty to consult?
This seems to be the threshold question to resolve in a recent lawsuit filed in California federal court. A California environmental group filed suit seeking an injunction against…
Together with my colleagues, Robert Thomas and Christi-Anne Kudo Chock, we filed an amicus brief on behalf of Hawaii's Ocean Tourism Coalition in support of the Petition a Writ of Certiorari that UFO Chuting filed in the case of UFO Chuting, Inc. v. Smith. My original post is here. The Ninth Circuit opinion is here…
Further to the discussion of the shoreline controversy with the State of Hawaii and the oceanfront landowners in Kahala. The Star Bulletin wrote an editorial which my partner Robert Thomas comprehensively analyzed at his blog at: www.inversecondemnation.com.
I commented on the newspaper story here.
The Department of Land and Natural Resources is pressing Kahala oceanfront landowners on the vegetation growing onto the beach from their lots. There is a brewing conflict between landowners who use naupaka to stabilize their property from the ocean and lateral beach access for the public. The State owns the beach and so the vegetation…
Shoreline construction and land use will be the topic of an upcoming seminar entitled, "Coastal Engineering and Land Use Issues in Hawaii". The date is August 14, 2008. I will specifically present materials and information on construction in the shoreline area.
The seminar reservation information is available here.
Let me know if you can attend…
Heard this report on NPR yesterday and thought it worthy of posting.
Environmental groups announced that the White House is considering use of the Antiquities Act to declare several ocean zones as "monuments," which are tantamount to federal "parks." The White House Council on Environmental Quality did not confirm the report, but did say that…
