Program areas at Environmental Law Institute
Research and Policy Division:Provided research, education, training, and technical assistance in environmental law and policy to all sectors in the U.S. and numerous foreign countries. Research programs in 2023 covered the breadth of the field of environmental law and policy, from assessing state protections of nonfederal waters, to promoting good governance to support sustainable management of small-scale fisheries, to operating the Local Government Environmental Assistance Network and the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement. Other initiatives identified best practices for coastal management programs, provided model ordinances and other tools for reducing food waste, supported development of a protected area proposal for sperm whales, provided evidence-based judicial education on climate science and the law, and researched and analyzed the legal authorities to address plastic pollution, among other things. Our ongoing programs also continued to provide guidance, education, and recognition to environmental professionals nationwide such as through the Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review; training for states, territories, and tribes on the Total Maximum Daily Load and other Clean Water Act programs; our Indoor Air Quality program; our annual National Wetlands Awards program; and others. In addition, among its internationally focused initiatives, ELI analyzed customary water tenure in sub-Saharan Africa; supported the Women in Water Diplomacy Network; and continues to lead in the field of environmental peacebuilding, which integrates natural resource management into conflict prevention, mitigation, resolution, and recovery to build resilience in communities affected by conflict. For a fuller description of our programs, please refer to our annual report, which can be found at www.eli.org.
Publications Division:Provided timely, accurate, and practical information to environmental professionals through two nationally recognized publications, the Environmental Law Reporter and The Environmental Forum. The Environmental Law Reporter draws premier authors on current legal events, and the Environmental Forum continues to provide award-winning coverage of the environmental profession and environmental policy. In addition, ELI Press advanced the field by publishing five books: TOXIC INTENT: ENVIRONMENTAL HARM, CORPORATE CRIME, AND THE CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS IN THE UNITED STATES; GOVERNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY; PRINCIPAL TRENDS ON BRAZILIAN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW; REMARKABLE CITIES AND THE SECURITY AND SOVEREIGNTY OF FOOD AND NUTRITION: 41 WAYS TO REGENERATE THE LOCAL FOOD SYSTEM; and PFAS DESKBOOK.For a fuller description of our programs, please refer to our annual report, which can be found at www.eli.org.
Associates & Education Division: Led 75 events, including conferences, webinars, Breaking News webinars, policy forums, networking receptions, topical conference calls, Eastern and Western Boot Camps on Environmental Law, Summer School seminars, annual Supreme Court preview and review, public seminars and more, for 22,116 environmental professionals (virtually and in person). Topics of discussion ranged, including agriculture, carbon capture, utilization, and storage, careers in environmental law, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, climate change, climate disclosures, compliance and enforcement, decarbonization, the Endangered Species Act, energy law, environmental criminal enforcement, environmental justice, ESG, federal environmental updates, international environmental law, land use law, the National Environmental Policy Act, PFAS, products regulation, Supreme Court cases, sustainable development, TSCA, and more. For a fuller description of our programs, please refer to our annual report which can be found at www.eli.org.
Other programs