Zygmunt J. B. Plater is Professor of Law at Boston College Law School, teaching and researching in the areas of environmental, property, land use, and administrative agency law. Over the past 30 years he has been involved with a number of issues of environmental protection and land use regulation, including service as petitioner and lead counsel in the extended endangered species litigation over the Tennessee Valley Authority's Tellico Dam, representing the endangered snail darter, farmers, Cherokee Indians, and environmentalists in the Supreme Court of the United States, federal agencies, and congressional hearings. He was chairman of the State of Alaska Oil Spill Commission’s Legal Task Force over a two-year period after the wreck of the M/V Exxon-Valdez. He was a consultant to plaintiffs in the Woburn toxic litigation, Anderson et al. v. W.R. Grace et al., the subject of the book and movie A Civil Action.  Drawing upon his work for the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Commission he researched and consulted on responses to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Professor Plater has taught on seven law faculties. While teaching public law for three years in the national university of Ethiopia, he redrafted the laws protecting parks and refuges, assisted in publication of the Consolidated Laws of Ethiopia, and helped organize the first United Nations Conference on Individual Rights in Africa.

Articles Professor Plater has published include analyses of environmental law issues, private and public rights in land and resources, equitable discretion, administrative law, and related fields. Several of his articles have been cited in Supreme Court decisions. He is lead author of Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society, now in its fourth edition, Aspen Publishers, 2010. His most recent articles focus on the interaction among environment, economics, and social governance. Several of these most recent articles focus on lessons from the BP Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  He was voted the recipient of the Emil Slizewski Faculty Excellence Award by the BCLS Class of 2000 and received the 2005 David Brower Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Land Air Water Association at the Twenty-third International Public Environmental Law Conference. 

EDUCATION

A.B., Princeton University; J.D., Yale University; LL.M., S.J.D., University of Michigan.

RECENT ACTIVITIES

Works in Progress:

Book: A Little Fish in a Pork Barrel, a history of the first major national litigation under the Endangered Species Act (under contract, Yale University Press). 

Book: The Short Swift Course in Future Interests, a Guide to One of the Most Fiendishly Complex Areas in Modern Property Law (under contract, Thomson/West Publ.). 

Recent Presentations: 

"Iron Triangles: Lessons from Oil Spilled in Two Gulfs," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Regional Retreat Seminar Keynote, Region-1 Boston.

"Classic Lessons from a Little Fish in a Pork Barrel," The Wallace Stegner Lecture, Wallace Stegner Center, University of Utah College of Law, Salt Lake City.

"Oil Spills in Two Gulfs," University of Minnesota Institute for Advanced Study, Minneapolis.

"Oil Spill in the Gulf: Assessing the Effects and Policy Implications of Our Nation's Biggest Environmental Disaster," Annual Meeting Plenary Session, American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, New Orleans.

“Through the Lens of the Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill: The Unpredictable and Critical Role of Citizen Input in Environmental Crisis Management,” Fairbanks Alaska, 2009

“Then and Now: The Alaska Oil Spill at 20,” Anchorage Alaska, 2009

“Ecology and Iron Triangles,” Williams College, 2009

“Aldo Leopold’s Legacy in Natural Resource Management,” Yale Leopold Centennial Conference, 2009

“The Endangered Species Act: Strategic Lessons from Small Fragile Species and a Crude Blunt Instrument Michigan State University, 2007

"Public Interest Environmental Law,” Green Corps Leadership Training Seminar, Suffolk University, Boston, in September 2006.

"Dealing with Dumb and Dumber: The Continuing Mission of Citizen Environmentalism," at the Twenty-third International Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, 2005. 

Recent Activities:

Working with three moot court teams and coaching the BC Law Environmental Moot Court Team in the annual national competition.

Organizing and implementing 20 research memoranda for the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.  (See http://www.bc.edu/environmentallaw).  

Advisor:

Boston College Environmental Law Review, Boston College Environmental Law Society, Harvard Environmental Law Review. 

Other:

Recipient of the 2005 David Brower Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Land Air Water Association at the Twenty-third International Public Interest Environmental Law Conference.

COURSES

Fall 2011: Property; Environmental Affairs Law Review; Environmental Law; National Environmental Law Moot Court
Spring 2012: Environmental Law Seminar (Current Topics); Environmental Law, Advanced: Teaching Seminar

PUBLICATIONS

• "The Exxon Valdez Resurfaces in the Gulf of Mexico ... and the Hazards of 'Megasystem Centripetal Di-Polarity'." Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review 38, no.2 (2011): 389-416.
• "Learning from Disasters: Twenty-One Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, Will Reactions to the Deepwater Horizon Blowout Finally Address the Systemic Flaws Revealed in Alaska?" Environmental Law Reporter 40 (November 2010): 11041-11047.
• Plater et al., Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society. 4th ed. New York: Aspen Publishers, 2010.
• "Will Laxity and Collusion Now Come to an End?" in "Deepwater Horizon: Updating the OPA." The Environmental Forum 27:no.5 (September/October 2010): 46, 50.
• With Robert H. Abrams et al. "The 'Three Economies.'" In Environment: An Interdisciplinary Anthology, [edited] by Glenn Adelson...[et al.], 727-730.  New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008. (Excerpted from Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society, 2nd ed. by Abrams, Plater...[et al.] St. Paul, Minn.: West Group, 1998.)
• "Tiny Fish/Big Battle: 30 Years After TVA and the Snail Darter Clashed, the Case Still Echoes in Caselaw, Politics and Popular Culture." Tennessee Bar Journal 44, no. 3 (April 2008): 14-20.
• "30 Years of Notoriety: A Kaleidoscope of Lessons from the Eastern District of Tennessee's Biggest Fish Story Ever." Dicta; A Monthly Publication of the Knoxville Bar Association 35, no. 4 (April 2008): 18-19.
• With Robert H. Abrams et al. 2007-2008 Teacher's Manual Update: Update and Handout Materials for Teaching Environmental Law:Environmental Law & Policy: Nature, Law & Society, 3rd ed. New York: Aspen Publishers, 2007.
• “Law, Media, & Environmental Policy: A Fundamental Linkage in Sustainable Democratic Governance.” Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review 33, no.3 (2006): 511-549.
• With Robert H. Abrams et al. 2006-2007 Teacher’s Manual Update: Environmental Law & Policy: Nature, Law and Society. 3rd ed. [New York]: Aspen Publishers, 2006.
• “Dealing with Dumb and Dumber: the Continuing Mission of Citizen Environmentalism.” Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation 20 (2005): 9-47.
• “Simulated Pre-trial Conferencing.” In Teaching the Law School Curriculum by Steven I. Friedland and Gerald F. Hess, 332. Durham, N.H.: Carolina Academic Press, 2004.
• Plater et al., Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society. 3rd ed. New York: Aspen Publishers, 2004.
• “Endangered Species Act Lessons Over 30 Years, and the Legacy of the Snail Darter, a Small Fish in a Pork Barrel.” Environmental Law 34, no. 2 (Spring 2004): 289-308.
• "Citizen Environment Suits: Dinosaurs? Unguided Missiles? Needed Now More Than Ever?" Environmental Law Reporter (News and Analysis Section) (September 2003): 10721-10742.
• "Environmental Law in the Political Ecosystem -- Coping with the Reality of Politics." Eighth Annual Lloyd K. Garrison Lecture. Pace Environmental Law Review 19: no. 2 (2002 Special Edition): 423-488.
• "Lopsided Journalism in Public Policy Debates -- Professor Plater Responds to Mann & Plummer." [letter to the editor] Environmental Law 32 (Summer 2002): 591-597.
• "Law and the Fourth Estate: Endangered Nature, the Press, and the Dicey Game of Democratic Governance." Environmental Law 32 (Winter 2002): 1-36.
• "Environmental Law and Three Economies: Navigating a Sprawling Field of Study, Practice, and Societal Governance in which Everything is Connected to Everything Else." Symposium: Environmental Law: Trends in Legal Education and Scholarship, Harvard Environmental Law Review 23 (1999): 359-392.
• "The Three Economies: An Essay in Honor of Joseph Sax." Ecology Law Quarterly 25 (1998): 411-438.
• With Robert H. Abrams, William Goldfarb, and Robert L. Graham. Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law and Society. 2nd ed. St. Paul, MN: West Group, 1998. (Accompanied by 2003-2004 Teacher's Manual Update, by Plater, Abrams, Goldfarb and Graham. Minneapolis: WestGroup, 2003; 1999-2000 Teacher's Manual Update, by Plater, Abrams, Goldfarb and Graham. St. Paul, MN: WestGroup, 1999; Teacher's Manual, by Plater, Abrams, Goldfarb and Graham. St. Paul, MN: West Group, 1998; Supplementary Teacher's Manual for Teaching Environmental Law & Policy: Nature, Law & Society as a First Law Course, by Plater, Abrams, Goldfarb and Graham. St Paul, MN: West Group, 1998.)
• "The Three Economies: Rethinking the Connections Between Society, Ecology, and Money." Boston College Law School Magazine 6 (Spring 1998): 29-33.
• "The Embattled Social Utilities of the Endangered Species Act -- A Noah Presumption and Caution Against Putting Gasmasks on the Canaries in the Coal Mine." Environmental Law 27 (Fall 1997): 845-876.
• "HCP's and the Embattled Social Utilities of the Endangered Species Act." Endangered Species Update 14: no.7/8 (July/August 1997): 15-17.
  
• "Assault on Ranger Rick: A Political Backlash against Teaching Environmental Citizenship." The Environmental Communicator (December 1996): 22-23.
  
• "Environmental Law as a Mirror of the Future: Civic Values Confronting Market Force Dynamics in a Time of Counter-revolution." Boston College Environmental Law Review 23 (Summer 1996): 733-80.
  
• "Facing a Time of Counter-Revolution-The Kepone Incident and a Review of First Principles." University of Richmond Law Review 29 (May 1995): 657-713.
  
• With Charles Lord and William Shutkin. "Following Up the AALS Symposium: An Environmental Justice Network." West Virginia Law Review 96 (Summer 1994): 1079-1082.
  
• "From the Beginning, A Fundamental Shift of Paradigms: A Theory and Short History of Environmental Law." Symposium: Twenty-Five Years of Environmental Regulation. Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 27 (April 1994): 981-1008.
  
• With Robert H. Abrams and William Goldfarb. Environmental Law and Policy: A Coursebook on Nature, Law and Society. Cases, Materials and Text. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1992. (Supplemented by 1994 Supplement to A Casebook on Nature, Law, and Society, by Plater and Abrams. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., 1994.)
  
  • (Accompanied by Supplementary Manual, For Teaching Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society as a First Law Course, St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1992; Teacher's Manual, To Accompany Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society, St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1992; 1993-94 Update Supplement for Teachers for Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society, by Plater, Abrams and Goldfarb. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., 1993; 1994-95 Teacher's Manual Update for Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society, by Plater, Abrams and Goldfarb. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., 1994; 1995-96 Teacher's Manual Update for Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society, by Plater, Abrams and Goldfarb. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., 1995.)
    
• "Demystifying the Law: Adding an Environmental Law Course to Environmental Studies Curricula." In Confronting Environmental Challenges in a Changing World, edited by John H. Baldwin, 41-44. Troy, OH: The North American Association for Environmental Education, 1991.
  
• With Harry Bader, Ralph Johnson and Alison Rieser. Spill: The Wreck of the Exxon Valdez. Volume III. Appendix M. State of Alaska: Alaska Oil Spill Commission, 1990. Chapter author for:
  
  • "The State of Alaska's Power to Petition for Federal Rulemaking under APA §553(e)." Chapter 3.2.
    
  • "An Emergency Resource Requisitioning System for Response to Future Oil Spills." Chapter 5.2.
    
  • "Some Suggested Elements for an Improved Oil Spill Response System." Chapter 6.2.
    "Judicial Remedies for Prevention of Future Oil Spills." Chapter 7.2.
    
• Keynote Essay. "A Modern Political Tribalism in Natural Resources Management." The Public Land Law Review 11 (Spring 1990): 1-17.
  
• "Multilateral Development Banks, Environmental Diseconomies, and International Reform Pressures on the Lending Process: The Example of Third World Dam-Building Projects." Boston College Third World Law Journal 9 (Summer 1989): 169-215.
  
• With William Lund Norine. "Through the Looking Glass of Eminent Domain: Exploring the 'Arbitrary and Capricious' Test and Substantive Rationality Review of Governmental Decisions." Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review 16 (Summer 1989): 661-752.
  
• "Damming the Third World: Multilateral Development Banks, Environmental Diseconomies, and International Reform Pressures on the Lending Process." Denver Journal of International Law and Policy 17 (Fall 1988): 121-153.
  
• "In the Wake of the Snail Darter: An Environmental Law Paradigm and Its Consequences." University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform 19 (Summer 1986): 805-862. [Also appears in Land Use and Environment Law Review 19 (1988): 389-446.]
  
• "Reflected in a River: Agency Accountability and the TVA Tellico Dam Case." Tennessee Law Review 49 (Summer 1982): 747-787.
  
• "Statutory Violations and Equitable Discretion." California Law Review 70 (May 1982): 524-594.
  
• With David Hiller. "Legal Factors." In The Value of Time in Environmental Decision Processes: Concepts and Issues. Volume I, 55-68 and Volume II, 72-132. Ann Arbor: School of Natural Resources, The University of Michigan, 1979.
  
• "The Snail Darter: It's More than a Little Fish." Frontiers (Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia) 41, no. 4 (Summer 1977): 15-19.
  
• "The Nonstatutory Public Trust - Affirmative New Environmental Powers for Attorneys General." Environmental Control Newsletter (National Association of Attorneys General) 4, no. 4 (April 1976): 26-35.
  
• "Coal Law from the Old World: A Perspective on Land Use and Environmental Regulation in the Coal Industries of the United States, Great Britain, and West Germany." Kentucky Law Journal 64 (1975-76) : 473-506. [Also appears in Environment Law Review 8 (1977): 101-134.]
  
• "Legal Development and Public Administration." In Proceedings of the First United States Conference on Ethiopian Studies, edited by Harold G. Marcus, 319-322. East Lansing, MI: African Studies Center, Michigan State University, 1975.
  
• Special Concerns for Multi-lot Land Sales and Second Home Developments. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Municipal Technical Advisory Service, 1975.
  
• "The Takings Issue in a Natural Setting: Floodlines and the Police Power." Texas Law Review 52 (January 1974): 201-256.
  
• With Joseph H. King. "The Right to Counsel Fees in Public Interest Environmental Litigation." Tennessee Law Review 41 (1973): 27-92.
  
• With Thierry Verhelst. "Garanties Constitutionnelles Relatives à L'Individu Face à La Justice." In L'Individu Face à La Justice en Afrique Eléments de Documentation (Conférence de Juristes Africains, 1971, Addis Ababa), edited by Thierry Verhelst, 9-76. Addis Ababa: Centre de Developpement Juridique Africain, 1971.