Mission, History, Recent Accomplishments

Since its founding in 1985, the mission of the Environmental Law Clinic has been to provide law students the opportunity to advocate for the public interest in environmental protection.

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.

Around the country, interests adverse to the activities of environmental law clinics have resorted to a number of tactics other than defending on the merits the cases brought by such clinics. For example, a party to a land-use suit brought by the Environmental Law Clinic invoked New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act to seek a broad range of information from the Clinic. In Sussex Commons Associates v. Rutgers, the Appellate Division ruled that the Environmental Law Clinic, despite its status as a functioning legal services office representing clients, is subject to OPRA. The New Jersey Supreme Court granted certification. The Environmental Law Clinic is working with University Counsel and attorneys for amici curiae – including Professor Frank Askin of the Constitutional Litigation Clinic – to prepare the case for briefing and argument at the Supreme Court.

The Environmental Law Clinic is currently undergoing restructuring. As part of the re-focusing, students working with the clinic’s Director, Steve C. Gold, 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 worked with the New Jersey Public Advocate to draft a model municipal ordinance concerning lead paint. The Director has also emphasized the lead paint issue in meetings with federal environmental officials. The clinic anticipates continued efforts in this area.

Because of the restructuring, the Environmental Law Clinic is not available for student enrollment during academic year 2011-12. The Environmental Law Clinic cannot undertake new client representations at this time. Further information on the restructuring of the Environmental Law Clinic will be posted here as it becomes available.