Glossary | Judging the Environment

Terms in their legal setting

These definitions provide a short route into the explanations elsewhere in the reference. A term can identify an institution, a procedural stage or a legal requirement. The linked page supplies the context in which it is used.

The appointment terms draw on the Congressional Research Service’s process account; standing follows Cornell’s Legal Information Institute; discharge terminology follows EPA’s statutory summary; and federal-power terminology is introduced in Wikipedia’s Commerce Clause article.

Advice and consent: The Senate’s constitutional participation in appointments, explained in the Senate guide, through consideration of presidential nominations.
Agency rule: A regulatory measure issued by an administrative agency under statutory authority, discussed in the environmental-law guide.
Appointments Clause: The constitutional provision dividing nomination and appointment responsibilities, examined in the selection guide.
Article III judge: A judge holding an office in the constitutional judiciary with good-behavior tenure, described in the courts guide.
Blue slip: A form requesting home-state senators’ views on a nominee; the blue-slip page explains its changing use.
Caseload: The body of cases handled by a court, considered alongside staffing and administration on the judgeships page.
Certiorari: A process for seeking discretionary review, distinguished from automatic further appeal in the Supreme Court review explanation.
Citizen suit: A private action to enforce statutory duties or prohibitions, described in the citizen-suit guide.
Cloture: A procedure for bringing debate toward an end, distinguished from confirmation itself on the cloture page.
Commerce Clause: The constitutional grant concerning commerce with foreign nations, among states and with tribes, examined on the federal-power page.
Commission: The formal presidential instrument of appointment following the relevant appointment process, discussed in the vacancy-to-commission guide.
Committee hearing: A committee proceeding examining a nominee’s qualifications and record, distinguished from the floor vote in the nominee-record guide.
Committee vote: Committee action on whether to report a nomination to the Senate, described alongside hearings in the record-building guide.
Confirmation: The Senate’s approval of a nomination within the appointment process, explained in the selection guide.
Constitutional review: Judicial examination of whether government action conforms to constitutional requirements, discussed on the judicial-review page.
Court of appeals: An appellate institution reviewing application of law in lower-court or agency proceedings, described in the courts guide.
Court of Federal Claims: A specialized federal court hearing monetary claims against the United States, including takings claims; the courts guide explains its jurisdiction.
Critical habitat: An area designated under the species statute, with consequences for federal consultation described on the species-law page.
D.C. Circuit: The federal appellate court for the District of Columbia, whose agency-review role is explained on the D.C. Circuit page.
District court: A federal trial court that determines facts and applies law to resolve disputes, described in the trial-court explanation.
En banc: Consideration by a broader judicial body within an appellate court, distinguished from ordinary panel review in the courts guide.
Environmental impact statement: A document evaluating potential effects of proposed federal actions under the environmental-review statute, introduced in the issue guide.
Fifth Amendment: A constitutional amendment containing the public-use and compensation requirements for takings, examined on the takings page.
Filibuster: Action prolonging debate or delaying a vote on Senate business, distinguished from cloture on the debate-procedure page.
Floor vote: A vote by the Senate as a chamber, distinct from committee action in the advice-and-consent explanation.
Hold: A senator’s procedural objection affecting consideration through unanimous consent, discussed on the holds page.
Judgeship: A judicial office authorized within a court, distinct from the person occupying it; the judgeships guide explains vacancies and staffing.
Judicial independence: Freedom of courts from improper institutional or private influence, considered alongside tenure on the independence page.
Judicial review: A court’s examination of whether a law or regulation conforms to governing law, explained on the review page.
Judiciary Committee: The Senate standing committee that considers judicial nominations, whose role is described in the nominee-record guide.
Jurisdiction: A court’s legal authority to hear particular categories of dispute, considered for different federal institutions in the courts guide.
Life tenure: Continued judicial service subject to the constitutional conditions of office, distinguished from appointment procedure on the tenure page.
Major questions: A reasoning approach requiring specific congressional authority for the agency action at issue, discussed on the clean-air cases page.
NAAQS: National ambient air-quality standards established under the Clean Air Act, introduced on the air-law page.
Ninth Circuit: A regional federal appellate court with western and territorial jurisdictions, whose organization is discussed on the circuit-split page.
Nomination: The President’s submission of a candidate for an office requiring Senate consideration, distinguished from appointment in the selection guide.
Nuclear option: A procedure used to change Senate precedent through majority action, described for nominations on the cloture-change page.
Nullification: A historical theory asserting state authority to invalidate federal laws deemed unconstitutional, examined on the federalism page.
Point source: An identifiable conveyance for a discharge, such as a pipe, within the permitting framework explained on the water-law page.
Preemption: The displacement of conflicting state law by governing federal law, examined alongside supremacy on the federal-power page.
Public use: The constitutional requirement addressed when government takes private property, considered on the takings page.
Regulatory taking: A property restriction assessed under constitutional compensation doctrine, distinguished from ordinary regulation on the takings page.
Remand: Return of a case for further proceedings, as in the Rapanos judgment described on the Clean Water Act page.
Senatorial courtesy: A convention concerning colleagues’ objections to home-state appointments, discussed alongside blue slips on the consultation page.
Senior status: A judicial status available to judges who meet statutory age-and-service conditions; it is one way a judge leaves active service, which the judgeships page connects to vacancies.
Significant nexus: A relationship between waters used in a separate approach to statutory coverage, explained on the Clean Water Act page.
Standing: A party’s capacity to bring a dispute, requiring a sufficient connection and legally relevant harm, explained in the standing guide.
Statutory interpretation: Determining the meaning and scope of enacted law, considered alongside agency deference on the interpretation page.
Supremacy Clause: The constitutional basis for federal law’s priority over conflicting state law, examined on the federalism page.
Take: Defined conduct concerning wildlife, including harm, within the species statute; the species-law page explains its interpretation.
Thurmond rule: A debated election-year nomination practice rather than a formal Senate rule, described on the delays page.
Vacancy: A judicial office lacking an active occupant, creating an occasion for nomination in the vacancies guide.
Waters of the United States: The statutory term defining relevant Clean Water Act jurisdiction, whose interpretation is examined on the water-law page.