Arizona Journal of Environmental Law & Policy (AJELP)

Registration is now open for our Spring Symposium on Indigenous Land Stewardship on April 6th and 7th! You can register to attend in-person or remotely at https://ajelp.com/spring-symposium . Registration is free.

The AJELP Spring Symposium on Indigenous Land Stewardship brings together a diverse array of leaders from tribal communities, academia, the public sector, and advocacy organizations to discuss current efforts within the field of Indigenous land stewardship and its intersections with domestic and international law and policy.

To make these discussions as accessible as possible to the public, the Symposium will be held in a hybrid format. Speakers and panelists will be attending both in-person and remotely, and the entire Symposium will be streamed live over Zoom

The Symposium Keynote Address will be given by National Park Service Director Charles F. Sams III. The rest of the Symposium consists of four panels: Land Back in Action (Panel I), Protecting Indigenous Sacred Sites (Panel II), Tribal Co-Management of Federal Lands (Panel III), and Indigenous Knowledge in Land Stewardship Law and Policy (Panel IV). Check out the attached flyer for a complete list of all of our amazing panelists!

The Symposium is co-organized with the UofA Native American Law Students Association and the Environmental Law Society. We are receiving sponsoring support from the Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy Program, University of Arizona Indigenous Resilience Center, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, Native Nations Institute, Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice, and the University of Arizona College of Law Diversity Committee.

2021-2022
Journal Applications Now Being Accepted

Morning everyone, hope finals are going well for you all and congrats to the 3Ls who are graduating today.


The Arizona Journal of Environmental Law & Policy (AJELP) is putting out a call for applicants for the 2021-22 school year! Those who wish to join our impressive and innovative journal, now is your chance. The write on process continues until May 24th, we will be accepting applications until then. AJELP, unlike the other journals, does not require your participation in the write on process. We have our own process, and for it you take the application form (found on the homepage of AJELP.com) and send it with a letter of interest and a writing sample to [email protected].

Morning everyone!

AJELP is pretty unique, one of our unique features is that we have a program where we work with undergrad students to give them a taste of legal writing and journal work. We have a crop of pretty great writing from our undergrads out right now, we hope you enjoy their work as much as we did.

Blog | AJELP The Reverse Robin HoodAt their core, various federal energy programs were implemented in hopes of achieving goals such as diminishing climate change and reduci...

Hey everyone, dropping in to promote another great article from our symposium issue!

"Where Did The Pollution Come From? Extending Clean Water Act Liability Under The Hydrological connection Theory" by Isaac Treadaway.

In 1972, Congress passed sweeping amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948. Those amendments created what is known today as the Clean Water Act (CWA) which has fundamentally altered the way the United States protects federal waters. Importantly, the CWA mandates an absolute prohibition against the addition of any pollution to navigable waters from a point source.
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However, recent litigation over what constitutes “from” a point source has caused confusion. For example, if a polluter backs a point source away from a river so that the pollution first hits the ground before reaching the river—does the pollution come “from” that point source or “from” the ground? What if a polluter discharges their pollution from a point source into groundwater that is hydrologically connected to navigable waters—does the pollution come “from” that point source in the context of the CWA? Afterall, the regulation of groundwater is typically left to the individual States.
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This Paper addresses these tough questions by analyzing a recent circuit court split struggling to interpret the CWA.

Symposium Issue 2020 | AJELP In 1972, Congress passed sweeping amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948. Those amendments created what is known today as the Clean Water Act (CWA) which has fundamentally altered the way the United States protects federal waters. Importantly, the CWA mandates an absolute proh...

Next up, we have “Protecting Water Quality Through Tribal Treaty Fishing Rights: An Analysis of Idaho’s Fish Consumption Rate” by Sadie Normoyle. Tribes of the Pacific Northwest consume more fish than any other group in the region and as a result they are at a higher risk for the health impacts from toxins in the fish. This article examines the current standards for water quality and whether the Columbia River tribes can use their treaty fishing rights to require a more stringent water quality regime. As a result, the article touches on health, the power of tribes, and water protection. Sadie Normoyle is a 2020 graduate of the Lewis & Clark Law School.

Symposium Issue 2020 | AJELP The U.S.-Mexico Border is in the midst of a decades-long environmental health crisis. Unsafe and discriminatory land use practices, pollution, and lacking infrastructure are among the problems causing Border residents to become sick. They suffer from “third world” health afflictions in the South...

Hey everyone, we have our symposium issue coming up and we want to tell you about the fantastic articles that we are publishing.

First up, we have “Sick Uncertainty: How Executive Threats To EPA Programs For The US-Mexico Border Threaten Environmental Justice” by Hannah Lustman. In this piece, the author explores the recent cuts to the EPA by the Trump administration and their impact on the US-Mexico Border and the impoverished las colonias. Hannah Lustman is a 2020 graduate from The University of Kansas School of Law.

Symposium Issue 2020 | AJELP The U.S.-Mexico Border is in the midst of a decades-long environmental health crisis. Unsafe and discriminatory land use practices, pollution, and lacking infrastructure are among the problems causing Border residents to become sick. They suffer from “third world” health afflictions in the South...

2020-2021
Call for Submissions

The Arizona Journal of Environmental Law & Policy (AJELP) is putting out a call for submissions on a rolling basis for Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 publication. We are seeking articles that address environmental justice issues. AJELP is an interdisciplinary, online publication that examines environmental issues from legal, scientific, economic, and public policy perspectives. Our student-run journal publishes articles, comments, and editorials with the intention of providing timely legal and policy updates of interest to the environmental community.

The issue of environmental justice encompasses a broad range of topics, from the disparate impacts of specific environmental policies to the lack of diversity in outdoor spaces. Preference will be given to work that challenges assumptions and displays courage in tackling the many difficult issues we are facing today. We welcome diverse voices and perspectives, and we encourage authors from any background to submit pieces: scientists, advocates, journalists, lawyers, academics, and policymakers. AJELP seeks to function as a home for thought-provoking discourse at the intersection of environmental policy and social justice, and to serve as a tool to facilitate and promote necessary change.

Submissions or questions about submitting should be addressed to Editor-in-Chief Joy Parker at: [email protected].

Hi AJELP Community!

This year was AJELP's 10th Anniversary! Unfortunately, in light of the global situation, all of our in-person events celebrating our accomplishments were canceled this spring. In lieu of gathering in-person, please read the newsletter attached to this post.

Thank you so much to our supporters & hardworking members!

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