Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Course Description

This class is a survey course covering substantive and procedural environmental laws and issues at the local, state, national, and international level with a focus on the important environmental laws and issues most relevant to the Pacific Northwest.  

Explores federal, state and regional policies involving environmental law and issues, and cutting edge developments. Explores the relationship between ethics, science, economics, and the law. 

Prerequisites: PL 101. Audit available.

Addendum to Course Description

Intended Outcomes for the course

Apply and utilize federal, state and regional laws affecting environmental issues, including but not limited to the common law, Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, Superfund, land use and zoning, and water law.

Understand the Constitutional provisions that provide the federal government with power to regulate on behalf of environmental quality, and set limits on federal and state regulatory power. 

Knowledge of the history of pollution and environmental law and policy, and the economic, theoretical and scientific basis for environmental regulation.

Issue spot and analyze current environmental legal trends.

Focus on climate change and its laws (and lack thereof), and environmental justice.

Introduction to international and administrative law, as relevant to environmental law.
Course Activities and Design

Flexible, dependent on needs of student population and preferred teaching style of instructor, but may include reading assignments; videos; lectures; guest speakers; small group projects and discussions; independent research; analysis of hypothetical problems; written reports; experiential learning; and student presentations.

Outcome Assessment Strategies

The class includes use of the text; classroom lecture and discussion; learning to summarize, or brief case opinions and other documents; small group work; discussion of fact situations; quizzes; and final.

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

The class will focus on laws, skills and issues relevant to a paralegal working in the environmental law field.  Illustrative examples of paralegal specific practical skills that may be covered include, but are not limited, to case briefing, research and review of federal agency proposed and existing environmental rules, discovery tools with environmental agencies, use of environmental agency websites, and reviewing Environmental Assessments.

No.