Number: RL30670
Title: Constitutional Bounds on Congress' Ability to Protect the Environment
Authors: Robert Meltz, American Law Division 
Abstract: Federal protection of the environment must hew to the same constitutional strictures as any other federal actions. In the past decade, however, the Supreme Court has invigorated several of these strictures in ways that present new challenges to congressional drafters of environmental statutes. This report reviews five of these newly emergent constitutional areas, with special attention to their significance for current and future environmental legislation. Finally, the report sketches two constitutional doctrines that, while recently active, have not received Supreme Court resuscitation.
Pages: 45
Date: December 18, 2002