The Law of the Environment: A Symbolic Step of Modest Value

Abstract

The original 1965 Restatement of Foreign Relations Law contains two reporters notes on the environment. By contrast, the Third Restatement devotes all of Part VI to this increasingly important area of the law and foreign relations. Unfortunately, the resulting product constitutes only a modest step toward presenting the foreign relations law of the United States pertaining to the environment. Part VI takes a narrow view of the law of the environment, limiting itself to. transfrontier pollution and, even then, relegates most of the discussion of conventional law to reporters' notes. This brief review assesses the structure and substance of Part VI.