His publications include, among others, "State Environmental Law" in The Law of Environmental Protection (Clark, Boardman, Callaghan 1987 updated annually), the book The Environmental Regulation of Coal Mining (Envtl. L. Inst. 1989), "Learning From the Past and Looking to the Future" in John Nolon's New Ground: The Advent of Local Environmental Law (Envtl. L. Inst. 2003), and approximately 50 ELI research reports and scholarly articles. McElfish served on the American Planning Association’s Directorate for its Growing SmarterTM Legislative Guidebook. He is a 1979 graduate of Yale Law School.