Abstract

Ownership is commonly regarded as a powerful tool for environmental protection and an essential solution to the tragedy of the commons. But conventional property analysis downplays the possibility of negative-value property, a category which includes contaminated, depleted, or derelict sites. Owners have little incentive to retain or restore negative-value property and much incentive to alienate it. Although the law formally prohibits the abandonment of real property, there remain numerous avenues by which owners may functionally abandon negative-value property. This talk explores these avenues, the political economy behind them, and possible correctives.

Bruce Huber is Professor of Law and Robert & Marion Short Scholar at Notre Dame Law School (USA). His research explores issues in property and natural resources law as well as energy and environmental regulation. He is an editor of CUP ’s journal Transnational Environmental Law and taught previously at Dartmouth College. He holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley.