WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., August 26, 2002 – A recent article in The Harvard Environmental Law Review, In Praise of Parochialism: The Advent of Local Environmental Law documents Pace University Law School Professor John R. Nolon’s discovery of a new field of law, local environmental law.

Dean David Cohen said, "As the law evolves to meet the changing needs of society, there are moments when something truly new appears. Professor Nolon’s recent work, his just-published article, and the comments on his work by distinguished professors from other law schools indicate that he has truly discovered a new field of law."

This new field of environmental law offers local municipalities a means to combat urban sprawl, a geographic disease affecting most local communities throughout the United States. Local environmental law is also an effective means through which citizens and their elected leaders can protect their water supplies, combat traffic congestion and preserve their precious natural resources.

"Engaging citizens in the protection of assets critical to the survival of their local environment allows them to connect what is being built to what is natural and to understand the essential separations needed between the two to ensure environmental protection." Said Professor Nolon. "Recognizing the importance of local governments in the process of environmental protection allows citizens to become engaged directly in protecting the quality of their lives and communities to become more active partners with state and federal officials encouraging integration rather than perpetuating the fragmentation of policy and practice."

In 1999, while drafting a model law for the Metropolitan Conservation Alliance, Professor Nolon noticed that some communities in New York State were adopting local laws to protect their own natural resources and environments. Professor Nolon and a group of environmental law students scoured the nation for more examples of local environmental law. As Professor Nolon and the students compiled a national collection of ordinances, it became clear that numerous local governments in other states had recently enacted local environmental laws similar to those adopted in New York.

Through a seminar conducted in the fall of 2001, Pace Law School students researched state law throughout the country to determine the extent to which local governments are authorized to adopt local environmental laws. Their conclusion was that state legislatures and courts are finding a variety of creative ways for sustaining locally adopted environmental laws and that this trend is gaining momentum but is not widely recognized.

In the spring of 2001 Nolon began documenting his findings in a series articles for the New York Law Journal. He later co-authored an article with Pace student Kristen Kelley for The New York Environmental Law Journal and then he authored the article for The Harvard Environmental Review.

This fall, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) will publish a collection of papers and commentary, New Ground: The Advent of Local Environmental Law, edited by Professor Nolon with chapters authored by distinguished scholars and practitioners who participated in a Pace sponsored symposium on the discovery held last Spring. ELI will also publish a book for non-lawyers authored by Professor Nolon, Open Ground: Effective Local Strategies for Protecting Natural Resources.

In addition his full professorship and his role as director of the Land Use Center at Pace, Professor Nolon teaches local environmental law as a Visiting Professor of Environmental Law at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Science. He received a Fulbright Scholarship to develop a framework law for sustainable development in Argentina in 1994. A collection of articles produced as a result of this work appeared in a symposium edition of the Pace Environmental Law Review. He has been designated several times as the recipient of the Charles A. Frueauff Research Professorship and, with that support, produced several law review articles and books on land use and environmental law. Professor Nolon was selected by the Pace University Law School faculty to receive the first annual Richard L. Ottinger Faculty Achievement Award in1999. Professor Nolon served as a consultant to President Carter's Council on Development Choices for the 1980's, President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development, and as a member of Governor George Pataki's Transition Team.

The Land Use Center conducts seminars for local leaders and legislators and trains them to address effectively the environmental problems that affect their communities. The training program aims to educate local representatives on the problems of sprawl and empower them to find practical ways of achieving smart growth.

Founded in 1976, Pace Law School is located in White Plains, New York, 20 miles north of New York City. The School offers the J.D. program for full-time and part-time day and evening, students. Its post-graduate program includes the LL.M. and S.J.D. degrees in environmental Law and the LL.M. in Comparative Legal Studies. Pace has one of the nation's top-rated environmental law programs and its Clinical Education Program also is nationally ranked, offering clinics in domestic violence prosecution, poverty law, environmental litigation, securities arbitration, and disability law. Pace Law School is part of Pace University, a comprehensive, independent and diversified University with campuses in New York City and Westchester County, and a Hudson Valley Center located at Stewart Airport in New Windsor.