Inside the Equal Access to Justice Act

Lowell E. Baier

doi:10.5771/9781442257450

Summary

Next Generation INDIE Book Awards Grand Prize Winner, Best Non-Fiction Book in 2017; and Winner in the Science/Nature/Environment category

Finalist for Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards in Ecology and Environment

In this book, Lowell E. Baier, one of America’s preeminent experts on environmental litigation, chronicles the century-long story of Americas’ resources management, focusing on litigations, citizen suit provisions, and attorneys’ fees. He provides the first book-length comprehensive examination of the little-known Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) and its role in environmental litigation. Originally intended to support veterans, the disabled and small business, EAJA, Baier argues, now paralyzes America’s public land management agencies. Baier introduces readers to the history of EAJA, examines the many beneficiaries of the law, describes in depth 20 of the most prominent litigious environmental groups in America, and recommends carefully tailored amendments to the EAJA to correct environmental abuses of the law while protecting legitimate interests. Inside the Equal Access to Justice Act will be a valuable resource for the environmental legal community, environmentalists, practitioners at all levels of government, and all readers interested in environmental policy and the rise of the administrative state.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2015
ISBN-Print: 978-1-4422-5744-3
ISBN-Online: 978-1-4422-5745-0
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 648
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
2. List of Illustrations No access
3. Preface No access
4. Prologue: Environmental Litigation and Its Consequences No access
1. The New Deal and the Foundation of the Administrative State No access
2. The Administrative Procedure Act and Control Over Agencies No access
3. Expanding Entitlements No access
4. The Great Society: Kennedy and Johnson No access
5. The Era of Public Interest Law: Civil Rights, Consumerism, and Environmentalism No access
6. Environmental Litigation and Broadening the Waiver of Sovereign Immunity No access
1. Early EAJA Proposals: Expanding the Public Interest Mandate No access
2. Narrowing and Focusing the Legislation: Responding to a Devastating Economic Crisis and Bureaucratic Blitzkrieg No access
3. EAJA: The Evolution of a Unique Small Business Bill No access
4. The 1980 Presidential Election and the Reagan Revolution No access
5. Wisconsin’s 1980 2nd District Congressional Election Campaign: A Microcosm of the Presidential Election No access
6. The Voice of the Silent Majority: America’s Small Business Community Resonates Through the Presidential Election Campaign No access
7. 1980 EAJA Hearings and Chairman Kastenmeier’s Dilemma No access
8. The September 3–4, 1980, Markup of EAJA S. 265: Resurrection of a Pariah, the 501(c)(3) Financial Exemption No access
9. Paranoia in the Capitol: EAJA’s Enactment Becomes Politically Pragmatic No access
1. EAJA 101: How It Works No access
2. Moving EAJA from Temporary Legislation to Permanent Legislation No access
3. The Financial Exemption for 501(c)(3) Organizations No access
4. President Reagan’s Rejection of EAJA’s Reauthorization No access
1. Expanding EAJA’s Coverage and Reporting EAJA’s Successes No access
2. Imitating EAJA No access
3. Successful Users of EAJA No access
4. Exceptions: Cases Where EAJA Does Not Apply No access
5. Regulatory Shifts in the 1980s and 1990s No access
6. Further Amendments to EAJA No access
1. The Constellation of Environmental Advocates No access
2. The First Generation: 1886–1936 No access
3. The Second Generation: 1947–1970 No access
4. The Third Generation: 1970–2000 No access
5. Anthropocentric Versus Biocentric Man, and Deep Ecology No access
6. The Secret World of Animal Rights No access
1. Profiles of the Third Generation’s Eco-Warriors: 1970–2000 No access
2. Environmental Public Interest Law Firms No access
3. Conclusion to a Century of Change No access
1. The Endangered Species Act: A License to Sue No access
2. The Cost of Endangered Species No access
3. Megafauna to Megalitigation: Multidistrict Litigation No access
4. The MDL: Courtroom Access for Special Interests No access
5. A Temporary Reprieve: How the MDL Will Beget More Lawsuits No access
6. An Answer to Litigation-Driven Species Management: Cooperative Conservation No access
1. The Future Challenge: An Exercise in Trust No access
2. The Dunes Sagebrush Lizard No access
3. The Lesser Prairie Chicken No access
4. The Greater Sage Grouse No access
5. Cooperative Conservation and Greater Sage Grouse No access
6. Cooperative Conservation: An Endangered Future? No access
1. Armageddon: Litigating Solely to Delay Federal Agency Action No access
2. Of Wolves and Men: Using Litigation to Delay Delisting No access
3. EAJA and Endangered Species: Statutory Limitations on Attorneys’ Fees Provisions No access
4. 501(c)(3)s and the Equal Access to Justice Act: America Foots the Bill No access
5. Evading Pierce: The Inflation of EAJA Fees No access
6. The Prevalence of Settlements No access
7. The Sue-and-Settle Gambit: A New Phenomenon No access
8. Rule Making by the Courts and Environmentalists No access
9. The Cost of EAJA No access
1. Recent Scrutiny of EAJA No access
2. Congressional Scrutiny of EAJA No access
3. Recommendations for Future EAJA Reform No access
4. A Time for Action No access
Epilogue: A New Beginning? No access Pages 501 - 510
Acknowledgments No access Pages 511 - 518
Appendix A: The Equal Access to Justice Act No access Pages 519 - 540
Appendix B: EAJA Payments by the Department of Veterans Affairs, 2003–2012 No access Pages 541 - 542
Appendix C: EAJA Payments by the Social Security Administration, 2004–2012 No access Pages 543 - 544
Appendix D: Model Bill for Reform of the Equal Access to Justice Act No access Pages 545 - 560
Appendix E: Acronyms No access Pages 561 - 564
Bibliography No access Pages 565 - 608
Index No access Pages 609 - 646
Biography No access Pages 647 - 648