Harvard Environmental Law Review

Harvard Environmental Law Review
Title	Harvard Environmental Law Review
Discipline	Environmental law
Abbreviation	HELR
Publisher	Harvard Law School
Country	United States
History	1976–present
Frequency	Quarterly

Contents

Harvard Environmental Law Review is a student-edited legal journal devoted to environmental law and policy, founded at Harvard Law School in 1976. It publishes scholarship by scholars, judges, practitioners, and students addressing statutory interpretation, administrative practice, and public policy related to environmental regulation. Contributors have included academics from Yale Law School, Stanford Law School, and Columbia Law School, as well as judges from the United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

History

The Review was established during the era of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's formative rulemakings and following passage of landmark statutes such as the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 and the Clean Water Act of 1972. Early leadership included students and faculty connected to centers like the Harvard Environmental Law Program and the Harvard Kennedy School. Over decades, the journal has engaged with Supreme Court decisions from cases like Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. and Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, and with international agreements including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. Its archive reflects shifts in doctrine stemming from rulings by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, litigation before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and administrative actions by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Review covers topics ranging from regulatory law under statutes such as the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act to climate change law tied to the Paris Agreement and cross-border disputes implicating the World Trade Organization. Articles address energy regulation in contexts like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy, land-use and property law involving the Supreme Court of the United States's takings jurisprudence, water rights disputes exemplified by cases involving the Colorado River and the Bureau of Reclamation, and environmental justice matters related to decisions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The Review also publishes work on corporate governance issues involving the Securities and Exchange Commission and sustainability reporting influenced by frameworks such as the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.

The journal operates under a student editorial board drawn from students at Harvard Law School who serve roles similar to editorial boards at journals like the Yale Law Journal and the Columbia Law Review. Leadership positions have included Editors-in-Chief who later clerked for judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Membership is selected through a write-on competition and academic record considerations, comparable to selection processes at Stanford Law Review and the University of Chicago Law Review. The Review collaborates with faculty affiliated with centers such as the Harvard Environmental Economics Program and the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis to host symposia and select pieces for publication.

As a quarterly publication, the Review has printed symposia and special issues focusing on events like the United Nations Climate Change Conference and litigation such as Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency. Notable contributors have included scholars from Harvard Law School, practitioners from firms litigating before the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and public officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice. Influential articles have examined administrative deference doctrines stemming from Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., federalism issues in cases like Arizona v. United States, and international arbitration under the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. The Review has also published work engaging with scholarship from journals such as the Michigan Law Review and the California Law Review.

The Review's scholarship has been cited in opinions by the United States Supreme Court and in briefs before the International Court of Justice, as well as in rulemaking records at the Environmental Protection Agency and reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Alumni have gone on to positions at institutions including the United States Department of the Interior, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and academic posts at Yale University and Princeton University. The journal is regarded alongside publications like the Environmental Law journal and the Ecology Law Quarterly for shaping debates on subjects from wetlands regulation under the Clean Water Act to greenhouse gas regulation under the Clean Air Act.

The Review organizes symposia and panels in collaboration with entities such as the Harvard Kennedy School, the Harvard Office for Sustainability, and the Harvard Environmental Law Program, often timed with international meetings like the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Events have featured speakers from the Environmental Protection Agency, the World Bank, and NGOs such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace International. Workshops connect students to externships at the United States Department of Justice, the Sierra Club, and global organizations including the United Nations Environment Programme.