The IT Decision

The Louisiana Environmental Lawyer, a publication of the State Bar Association's Environmental Law Section, has published its Summer 2004 edition [pdf]. The issue features an article I wrote for the section's annual essay contest last year. It details the facts underlying the Louisiana Supreme Court's IT decision, a case which any environmental lawyer in the state is intimately familiar with, and its subsequent and continuing impact on business development in the state today. It's easy reading and should benefit anybody with commercial and/or industrial clients. The following quote evidences the applicability of the topic to present-day construction projects and activities:

The constitutional and statutory construction of the “IT Decision” mandates that environmental factors should be a primary concern when decisions are made that have the potential to impact the environment. In a proper application, the “IT Requirements” should be considered in the very initial stages of a proposed project. Such consideration requires that business partners responsible for developing a business plan or feasibility study coordinate their efforts with environmental staff or consultants. If a court is convinced that an applicant seriously considered the “IT Requirements” when it developed its project, it is much more likely to prevail on a showing that the environmental impact costs have been avoided to the fullest extent possible and that they do not outweigh the social and economic benefits of the proposed activity.

Posted by AJR at August 6, 2004 10:18 PM