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Environmental Law Research. Marin Dell, JD MLIS Fall 2007. Environmental Law. It can be confusing to research in this area because you may have to research federal and state statutes, federal and state regulations AND your state’s principles of common law and equity. .
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Environmental Law Research Marin Dell, JD MLIS Fall 2007
Environmental Law It can be confusing to research in this area because you may have to research federal and state statutes, federal and state regulations AND your state’s principles of common law and equity.
What is a Looseleaf? • A popular type of legal source which brings together a variety of types of information concerning a particular topic or area of law. • A looseleaf service is so called because it is made up of pages or pamphlets filed in looseleaf binders, often a multivolume set. • This format allows current information to be easily added to the existing materials, even weekly in some cases.
Environment Reporter • Only currently available online
International Environment Reporter • Only currently available online
Current Awareness Newsletters • Newsletters with the latest highlights from an area of law that BNA covers come to your email. You choose those you want to sign up for. • Contact a librarian to sign up.
Environmental Resources • Subject list of secondary sources • Environment Tab • Statutory Materials • Survival Guide • Training – Topical Seminars
Lexis Environmental Resources • Subject List of Secondary Sources • Tab (add Environment Tab; adds a research tasks link on page) • Environmental Law Tutorial • http://w3.lexis.com/lawschoolreg/tutorials/environ/default1.asp • Statutory materials
USC/USCA/USCS • USC – official code; only contains the statutory language, takes a long time to print, so not updated frequently. • USCA (West) & USCS (Lexis) – most recent code versions with annotations. • Check both USCA and USCS if you can, the case annotations and recommended secondary sources are not the same! • Federal Primary law is available at many free online websites.
Code of Federal Regulations • Available online and in print • Sometimes only way to find what you are looking for is to check the print volume. • Different colors for different years, parts of set are updated at different times. • If no changes made to a volume, just cover is changed.
Federal Register • Print (about a year of print copies are kept in the library’s Federal section) • Online (Hein is best resource, although the FR is available at free gov’t sites). • Chronological organization of proposed rules, notices, etc for federal administrative agencies. • Federal Register content is put into subject order in the Code of Federal Regulations.
Internet Websites • Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Environmental_law • Environmental Law Net http://lawvianet.com/
EPA website • Hearings (OALJ) • Compliance - Echo search • Documents and publications • Docket for proposed regulations
Florida Department ofEnvironmental Protection (DEP) • Agency responsible for Florida air, water and land. • The DEP is divided into three primary areas: Regulatory Programs, Land and Recreation and Planning and Management.
Florida Statutes • Florida Statutes (official gov’t resource) Online sunshine website • Florida Statutes Annotated (West) (available in print and on Westlaw) • Florida Annotated Statutes (Lexis) (available in print and on Lexis)
Florida Administrative Code • Print (red loose-leaf binders) KFF 35 • Available online at FL Dept. of State website
Florida Administrative Weekly • Chronological list of proposed rules and regulations for FL administrative agencies
FALR and ER FALR • Some administrative decisions are scattered online, but do not have FALR citations. • Westlaw and Lexis are trying to build libraries of decisions, but if you have a FALR citation from another source, must use the print resource. • ER FALR has final orders from environmental and land use agencies.
Treaties and International Agreements • HeinOnline is good place to access Treaties in Force (TIF), but if you have never used TIF, use the paper first to understand how it is organized. • The UN website and other international sites have treaty texts, or use Westlaw or Lexis to get the text with the TIF citation.
What is that abbreviation? • Use Biebers to find the resource in an unfamiliar citation. • Bieber's dictionary of legal citations : reference guide for attorneys, legal secretaries, paralegals and law students. • KF245 .D54 • Available at the Reference Desk
Confused about what to do next? For more help: • see a librarian at the reference desk (9am – 5pm), • use the red reference phone after hours (Sun – Thurs, 6pm – 9pm), • Or call us (644-4095)!