The Special Case of Pesticides: Science and Regulation

Pesticide regulation is a data-intensive activity that is strongly controlled at the federal level. The pesticide law FIFRA controls pesticide sale, use, and disposal. Normal use of pesticides is excluded under RCRA and CERCLA. There are approximately 1,000 pesticide active ingredients with highly diverse functions ranging from insecticides to disinfectants and pheromones (insect sex attractants). There is a relatively large database on many pesticides, which helps reduce uncertainty in risk assessments. Witnesses subject to Daubert should be familiar with the data as well as the computer models designed for pesticides. “Inert” ingredients that are formulated with the pesticide active ingredients can become issues in torts cases. Federal courts have ruled both in favor and against FIFRA preemption, i.e., the ability of a plaintiff to seek relief in a torts case may be blocked by FIFRA. Golf course permitting provides a special land use whereby fundamental pesticide risk and regulatory issues are debated at the level of local planning and zoning commissions.     

Distributive justice: Theory and research

The concept of distributive justice and the theoretical and empirical work conducted on it during the past two decades are examined. Three questions provide the structure for this examination: (i) What are fundamental conceptual dimensions of distributive justice and the specific substantive issues to which they are related? (ii) What central questions has recent work on distributive justice addressed? and (iii) What are the most important emerging issues on which work in the near-term future should focus? Much of the theory and research examined in the paper is social psychological in nature, but reference is made to related work in related disciplines, particularly sociology and philosophy.     

Access to medical care for HIV-infected individuals under the Americans with Disabilities Act: a duty to treat.

In 1990, Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This Note examines the legislative history of the ADA and uncovers Congress's intent to impose a duty on health care providers to treat people with disabilities unless an individual poses a "direct threat" to the health or safety of others. This Note posits that, with the passage of the ADA, Congress imposed a statutory duty on health care providers to give care to people infected with HIV who qualify under the statute. This Note concludes that while the "direct threat" exception may lessen the impact of the ADA, those infected with HIV should enjoy greater access to health care than ever before.