About

The Center for Law, Environment, Adaptation and Resources (CLEAR) addresses emerging environmental law issues, particularly serving as a leader on the laws related to climate change adaptation. The center helps inform policymakers, leaders, and practitioners about the circumstances brought about by environmental disruption, options for legal change given this disruption, and it provides a forum for educating the North Carolina and national legal and business communities about opportunities related to these changes.

Over the next 20-30 years, global communities will be confronting an increasing number of environmental law issues, which will affect more and more of the economy. Because of its well-studied complex natural environment, focus on property, resource and business issues, and the academic and scientific research centered there, North Carolina will provide answers to many of these questions. The center provides a focus for the cutting edge research of UNC Law's environmental, property, coastal and climate change scholars, and brings together scholars from other disciplines and institutions to address all facets of environmental law, environmental justice, climate change, legal adaptation, coastal issues and risk.

Center Director

Victor Flatt
Thomas F. and Elizabeth Taft Distinguished Professor in Environmental Law
flatt@email.unc.edu
Office: 919.962.4118

Affiliated Faculty

• Carol Brown, Professor of Law
• Don Hornstein, Aubrey L. Brooks Professor of Law
• Joe Kalo, Graham Keenan Professor of Law
• Maria Savasta-Kennedy, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Externship Program

Current Affiliated Projects

1. Examination of Principles that should generally govern the alteration of legal regimes in the face of climate change adaptation - ongoing, in conjunction with scholars nationwide.

2. Examination and recommendation on the legal regime governing the US Army Corps of Engineer's Decisions on water release and preferred uses from its dams and managed lakes in the Southeast - in conjunction with research at the UNC School of Government.

-This project recognizes that there is increasing demand for water throughout the Southeast and that much of that water is controlled and managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Climate Change may alter the amount of water available, so how does or should the Corps respond to these changes from a legal perspective

3. Examination of Legal Regime governing post disaster response recovery and proposals for addressing flaws - in conjunction with Center for the Study of Natural Hazards and Disasters, Department of Homeland Security, Center of Excellence, Natural Disasters, Coastal Infrastructure and Emergency Management.

-This project recognizes that the response to natural disasters in the US, such as hurricanes and wildfires, is woefully inadequate, and seeks to find optimal solutions to improve the situation. Climate change will presumably exacerbate the problems we already see.

4. Examination of Barriers to the integration of carbon trading regimes - in conjunction with American University Washington College of Law, the Center for Progressive Refrom and the Nicholas Institute at Duke University

-This project examines the disparate systems governing carbon trading, and in particular notes the discrepancies in offset definitions. This raises the question of how offsets are defined and whether or not such offsets do or should focus on environmental or social impacts

5. Presently we are putting together a proposal seeking funding for a study of the issues the inner coast will face over the next decade or two. One aspect of that planned study is the impact of climate change and rising sea levels upon freshwater sources and upon other coastal infrastructure - in conjunction with the North Carolina Coastal Resources Law, Planning and Policy Center at UNC

-The CLEAR portion of this project recognizes the need to examine the management of inner coast development. Most of the coastal plain lies only a few feet above sea level, so any significant rise in sea level will have significant consequences for the many coastal communities and lands lying along North Carolina's coastal rivers, coastal streams, and estuarine waters. There have been a lot of studies about coastal barrier islands but less so of the inner coast even though it is coming under tremendous development pressures with, in some cases, little planning or land and water use controls

6. Comparative examination of impacts and legal responses to climate change impacts on resources and society - in conjunction with the Center for the Study of Natural Hazards and Disasters, Department of Homeland Security, Center of Excellence natural Disaster, Coastal Infrastructure and Emergency Management.

-In order to more fully understand the needs of areas facing climate change challenges, this project compares how different legal regimes address climate problems. In particular, this study will look at Alaska, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. CLEAR has a particular expertise in the mineral leasing laws, U.S. environmental and resources laws, and Native Alaskan legal status.

7. Weatherization Working Group - a pro bono project run by students and a faculty adviser working with the town of Chapel Hill to design a program to weatherize the town's low income, public housing.

- Eventually, with Center researchers, this knowledge will be used to design a prototype weatherization program for small towns across the country.

8. Examination of the failings of various insurance regimes to give proper economic incentives with respect to Natural Disasters and Climate Change.

-Using examples of insurance problems from coastal states in the United States and around the world, the Center hopes to examine sustainable coastal insurance practices in the face of increasing natural disasters due to climate change.

Work has already proceeded on the North Carolina insurance system.
The North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association ("the Beach Plan") is a residual market mechanism that was created by the state to serve as an "insurer of last resort" for properties on the coast that can't otherwise find insurance, particularly to cover wind and hail damage. Membership is compulsory for all insurance companies that write property insurance anywhere in the state, regardless of whether they insure property at the coast. About one year ago, this forced, residual insurance pool became unsustainable. Due to artificially low insurance rates, the Beach Plan had become the insurer of "first resort" for over $132 billion in insured properties. Yet the Beach Plan did not have enough in reserve to cover its liabilities for what insurers call the "probable maximum loss" ("PML"), and would depend significantly on unlimited "nonrecoupable assessments" on all of the state's private property insurers to pay any excess liability. Insurers began leaving the state rather than face the unlimited assessments. In Fall 2008, the Legislature convened a study commission to investigate and make recommendations for corrective legislation.

In Summer 2009, the Beach Plan Reform Bill was passed and made inroads into solving some major Beach Plan problems. Premiums at the coast were raised. A 1% deductible was also enacted to ensure coastal residents were bearing a more appropriate amount of their own risk (and to encourage them to adopt cost-effective mitigation measures like storm windows, reinforced doors and roofs). Coverage limits were reduced from $1.5 million to $750,000, to reduce Beach Plan liabilities. In the event of a loss that exhausted reserves and reinsurance, insurers will contribute up to $1 billion and, for any remaining losses, may be charged "recoupable" assessments, that "may" be recovered from property/policyholders statewide through a 10% (maximum) annual surcharge.