Greening China News from Vermont Law School’S U.S.-China Partnership for Environmental Law

A P r o G r A m funded by the u n i t e d S t A t e S A G e n C y f o r i n t e r n A t i o n A l d e v e l o P m e n t Greening China News from Vermont Law School’s U.S.-China Partnership for Environmental Law F A L L 2 0 0 9 ADVANCING THE RULE OF LAW TO PROTECT CHINA’S ENVIRONMENT New Exchange Program $3 Million USAID Funding Strengthens Environmental Law for Young Professionals Vermont Law School has been awarded $3 million Vermont Law School (VLS) has been by the U.S. Agency for International Development awarded a $350,000 federal grant to (USAID) to expand its work on the U.S.-China support a U.S.-China exchange program Partnership for Environmental Law over the next for young professionals working three years. This award, which is an extension of in environmental justice. Funded a $1.8 million USAID funding agreement that by the Bureau of Educational and U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy helped to secure for Cultural Affairs (ECA), the educational VLS in 2006, will enable us to continue to build and cultural exchange will provide on our successes in helping China develop its leadership training opportunities next generation of environmental advocates to to 18 young Chinese and American strengthen the development and enforcement of professionals, particularly members China’s environmental and energy law. of minority groups, who are active in “We thank USAID and the American people Students and scholars cheer for China Program: Lifen Wang, environmental justice. Participants will for their continued support for and recognition of Minzehn Deng, Yuling Liu, Jill Wei, Xin Xu, Guangming Han, Jingjing Liu, Brandon Gillin, and Jiaru Hou jointly examine environmental burdens, the importance and effectiveness of this program,” including climate change impacts, on said VLS President and Dean Jeff Shields. “The minority communities and low-income U.S. and China share a deep interest in reversing trained over 1,000 legal educators, students, judges, populations in the U.S. and China environmental degradation. VLS has proven to be attorneys, and government officials throughout and will propose ways to advance an effective bridge in those efforts.” China. Training has ranged from the completion environmental justice for VLS, in collaboration with Sun Yat-Sen of LLM degrees at VLS to workshops for those communities. University (SYSU), launched the U.S.-China environmental court judges and conferences for law “This program creates a Partnership for Environmental Law in 2006 with librarians. In addition to significantly strengthening rare opportunity for young legal funding from USAID. Since then, the program has SYSU’s environmental law program and creating a professionals in China and the U.S. (Continued on page 2) to learn from each other and to work toward a common goal of advancing environmental justice. It will position New Faces in the China Partnership them for further leadership within their communities and countries,” said Jeff The U.S.-China Partnership for Environmental Law has hiredSiu Tip Lam as its Shields, VLS president and dean. new deputy director and assistant professor of law. Professor Lam was an assistant The program aims to cultivate attorney general in the Environmental Protection Division of the Massachusetts leadership among young legal Attorney General’s Office, where she handled a variety of cases enforcing professionals and to give them insights environmental laws and regulations and defended state agency decisions. Prior to into legal tools, policies, and activism her work at the Attorney General’s Office, she worked as a litigation associate at the that can assist vulnerable communities Boston law firm of Brown, Rudnick, Freed & Gesmer. Professor Lam received her in addressing environmental challenges. Siu Tip Lam BA degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges and her JD degree The participants will attend a series of from Northeastern University School of Law. roundtables, study tours, and hands-on The program’s first LLM fellow isAdam Moser. Mr. Moser will earn his internships in both the U.S. and China. LLM in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School while working closely with They will spend a total of six weeks China Partnership faculty on environmental law research and policy development together in South Royalton, Vermont; projects. While in law school, he received a public interest fellowship to work as a Washington, D.C.; Beijing; Yichang; legal intern for the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims (CLAPV) at and Guangzhou. China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) in Beijing. He received his BA degree in international studies and sociology from Ohio University and his JD Adam Moser degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law. (Continued on page 3) Environmental Courts Workshops In May, the U.S.-China Partnership for Environmental Law’s director Tseming Yang and associate director Jingjing Liu organized a series of environmental courts and litigation workshops in Beijing and Guangzhou, China that involved judges of China’s National Judges College and the Guangdong Province Judges Association as well as environmental court judges from Vermont, Australia, and the Philippines. Judge Maria Cecilia I. Austria of Batangas City Court (Philippines), Chief Justice Brian Preston of the New South Wales Land and Environment Court (Australia), and Chief Judge Merideth Wright of the Vermont Environmental Court gave an overview of the environmental court systems in their respective locations. In Guangzhou, the workshop, which we cosponsored with the Guangdong Judges Association and SYSU Law School, focused on options for enhancing the capacity and effectiveness of judges at all levels to From the Director handle environmental litigation. In Beijing, the workshop, which we cosponsored with the National Judges College and CLAPV explored how to maximize the effectiveness of China’s Our program is growing and our new environmental courts. name, the U.S.-China Partnership for Together with visiting Chinese scholars Minzhen Deng and Qingjun Wang, the China Partnership Environmental Law, reflects the success led an additional environmental courts workshop for U.S. EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board in July. that the program has had in collaborating This workshop identified key challenges faced by these specialized courts, models of effective environmental with nationally well-known universities courts from Vermont, Australia, and the Philippines, and key areas of experiences where EPA judges can and organizations in China. In addition to provide valuable assistance to their Chinese counterparts. Several of the participating EPA administrative our original partnership with Sun Yat-sen judges traveled to China in October 2009 to participate in a workshop with Chinese environmental court University, we are now working with the judges to enhance the effectiveness of Chinese environmental courts. China University of Political Science and Law, the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims, and Tsinghua University as well as China’s State Electricity $3 Million USAID Funding (Continued from page 1) Regulatory Commission and National Development and Reform Commission, Strengthens Environmental Law and the China Environment Forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center. juris master’s degree program in environmental law at SYSU, the program has established a strong, active We were recently awarded an additional network of environmental law professionals in the province. It has also expanded the collaborative effort $3 million by USAID. This three-year to other influential environmental legal clinics and educational institutions on the national level, such as funding will allow us to continue to help CLAPV at CUPL and Tsinghua University, as well as key Chinese government agencies, such as the State China develop its next generation of Electricity Regulatory Commission and the training center for the National Development and Reform environmental advocates to strengthen Commission, China’s agency responsible for developing climate change policies. the development and enforcement of Professor Tseming Yang, who China’s environmental and energy law. has been the director of the program the uSAid support will enable us We also received a $350,000 grant from since 2007, said, “Our work over to develop greater capacity in China for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural the past three years has put us in a “ Affairs of the U.S. Department of State to unique position to further advance citizens, organizations, and institutions support a U.S.-China exchange program environmental governance in to influence the development of for young professionals working in China. The USAID support will environmental law through enhanced environmental justice. enable us to develop greater capacity To help us carry out these exciting in China for citizens, organizations, participation in government. new projects, our staff has expanded to and institutions to influence the —Tseming Yang, Professor and ” include a deputy director, Siu Tip Lam, and development of environmental law Partnership director an LLM fellow, Adam Moser. Meanwhile, through enhanced participation we continue to deliver workshops and in government.” presentations in the U.S. and China, and to With the $3 million in additional funding, the program will continue to provide training to coordinate joint student research projects Chinese legal educators, attorneys, lawmakers, utility analysts, and regulators on environmental law, and faculty exchanges.

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