Environmental Law

Generally, when researching legal issues, it is best to start with secondary sources (i. e., books and articles) rather than to delve straight into the statutes, regulations and court cases. Secondary sources will provide exact citations to the laws and regs, making the process of finding them much faster and easier.

Articles:

Start with the full text database Lexis Nexis Academic. Click the "Legal" button in the upper navigation bar. Then choose "Environmental Law Review Articles" from the drop-down box, and enter a search term.

Books:

In MERLIN, search for books using a topical keyword of your choice plus the phrase "law and legislation," or try subject headings such as these:

• Environmental Law
• Endangered Species - Law and Legislation
• Animal Welfare - Law and Legislation
• Water - Pollution - Law and Legislation
• Water rights
• Air - pollution - Law and Legislation
• Liability for Environmental Damages
• Etc.
  

Primary source legal material:

The Lexis Nexis Congressional database provides keyword searching and full text content for current congressional publications, bills, legislative histories, floor votes, public laws, treaties with Indian tribes and foreign countries. In addition, full-text is available for the Congressional Record (1985-present), the Federal Register (1980-present), the Statutes at Large (1789-present), and Committee Prints (1830-present).

Federal Agencies: Department of Agriculture (USDA)

The USDA works to enhance the environment and to maintain production capacity by helping landowners protect the soil, water, forests, and other natural resources. Rural development, credit, and conservation programs are key resources for carrying out national growth policies. The Department, through inspection and grading services, safeguards and ensures standards of quality in the daily food supply.

Selected subagencies:

• United States Forest Service
  Manages public lands in national forests and grasslands, which encompass 193 million acres.
• Natural Resources Conservation Service
  Helps America's private land owners and managers conserve their soil, water, and other natural resources.

Databases:

• Treesearch
  Indexes research publications and conference proceedings from the National Forest Service

Selected Programs:

• National Organic Program
  • Organic Food Standards and Labels This is a pamphlet answering FAQs about organic products.
• Pesticide Recordkeeping Program
• Plant Variety Protection Office

National Forest System This website lists United States federally owned territories.

Forest Research
This website contains links to finding US Forest Service patents, research programs, experimental forests, ranges, and other information.

Natural Resources Conservation Service

• NRCS Conservation Programs
• Conservation Technical Assistance
• Emergency Watershed Program
• Environmental Quality Incentive Program
• National Cooperative Soil Survey
• Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention
• Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program
• Wetlands Reserve Program

Federal Agencies: Department of Commerce

The Department of Commerce encourages, serves, and promotes the Nation's international trade, economic growth and technological advancement. Among other services, it also works to improve our understanding and benefits of the Earth's physical environment and oceanic resources.

• U.S. Census Bureau This website is great for maps and has a link to Statistical Abstracts which contains information about US environmental conditions.

This website contains data access tools for census statistics, link to Statistical Abstract website, and a comphrensive geography section.

• National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• National Weather Service
• National Environmental Satellite Data This website contains three databases: Climate Data Center, Geophysical Data Center, and Ocean Data Center.
• National Marine Fisheries Service
• National Ocean Service
• Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

Federal Agencies: Department of Energy

The Department of Energy's mission is to foster a secure and reliable system that is environmentally and economically sustainable; to be a responsible steward of the Nation's nuclear weapons; to clean up the Department's facilities; to lead in the physical sciences and advance the biological, environmental, and computational sciences; and to provide premier scientific instruments for the Nation's research enterprise.

Selected subagencies:

• Office of Biological and Environmental Research
• Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• Office of Fossil Energy
• Office of Nuclear Energy
• Office of Electricity Delivery and Reliability
• Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management
• Office of Environmental Management
• Office of Legacy Management This office serves to provide a "long term sustainable solution to the legacy of the Cold War." It manages environmental cleanup sites.

Other:

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information This is a database containing of full text documents and bibliographic citations of reserach published by the Department of Energy.

Databases:

• Renewable Resource Data Center (NREL) This is "the nation's primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development."
• Energy Information Administration (Office of Fossil Energy) This website contains the latest energy statistics and many other sources of reference such as state and US historical energy data.

Federal Agencies: Environmental Protection Agency

• Window to My Environment (EPA) This database contains a "list of federal, state, and local information about environmental conditions. "
• National Environmental Publications Information System (NEPIS) This database contains all EPA publications.

Federal Agencies: Department of the Interior

The Department of the Interior manages the Nation's public lands and minerals, national parks, wildlife refuges, and western water resources, Federal trust responsiblities to Indian tribes and our commitments to island communities.

Selected subagencies:

• United States Fish and Wildlife Service
  • Endangered Species Program
  • Migratory Bird Conservation Commission
• Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

Other Programs/Associations:

• Bureau of Land Management
• Minerals Management Service
• Offshore Energy and Mineral Minerals Management
• Minerals Revenue Management
• National Park Service
• United States Geological Survey

Federal Agencies: Department of Labor

Among other responsibilities, the Department of Labor guarantees workers' rights to safe and healthful working conditions.

• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) This site contains laws and regulations about safety standards for workers and their work areas.

Federal Boards, Commissions, and Committees

• Council on Environmental Quality
  Run by the Executive branch, this council "formulates and recommends national policies to promote the improvement of the quality of the environment." This site has links to the latest press releases.
• Great Lakes Fishery
• US Global Change Research Program This website contains several links to government documents concerning global change and cooperating governmental departments.

Missouri State & Local Agencies

• Missouri Department of Conservation
• Missouri Department of Natural Resources
• Columbia Environmental Research Center (CERC) Located in Columbia, Missouri and part of the US Geological Survey, this facility conducts research concerning land and water contaminants. CERC has several databases housing their research pertinent to Missouri. It works with other state and national government agencies.