Law
Environmental Law
Environmental law refers to a set of regulations and statutes that aim to protect the environment and natural resources. It encompasses a wide range of issues such as air and water quality, waste management, and conservation of natural habitats. Environmental law governs the interaction between human activities and the natural world, aiming to promote sustainable practices and minimize environmental harm.
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12 Key excerpts on "Environmental Law"
eBook - PDFGlobal Environmental Careers
The Worldwide Green Jobs Resource
- Justin Taberham(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
100 Global Environmental Careers: The Worldwide Green Jobs Resource , First Edition. Justin Taberham. © 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2022 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 4 4.1 Sector Outline Environmental Law is a vast practice area which encompasses a broad range of substantive areas of law including administrative law, tort law (related to harms caused to others), criminal and regulatory law, constitutional law and property law and has expanded to include international environmental governance, international trade, environmental jus-tice and human rights and climate change. Only a few decades ago Environmental Law was not considered a vital area of international and national concern and was not a high priority on the global agenda. In recent years however, growing recognition that we are on the verge of an ecological and climatic crisis with irreparable consequences has pushed Environmental Law and policy to the forefront of public and media concern. This has forced governments and corporations to pivot and start to more coherently address Environmental Law and policy issues. Those working in the Environmental Law field tackle a wide range issues and problems such as sustainable resource development, contamination of land and water, health and safety, recycling and waste management, international trade, disaster management and assistance with development of alternative or green energy sources (All About Law, 2015). Most modern Environmental Laws started to be enacted in the late 1960s and early 1970s. For example, in the 1970s member countries of the EU introduced laws to ensure the cautious use of natural resources, to minimise the ecological effects of consumption and production with particular reference to waste, conserve biodiversity and areas of key biological importance (EUR-Lex, 2015). Similarly, in the USA, numerous foundational federal and state statutes were passed into law and implemented in the 1970s.
- Brita Bohman(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
The common denominator for these different fields of law where envir- onmental law can make claims is that they also in some aspect regulate natural resources and the protection of the environment and human health, or at least include aspects that play an important role for these objectives of environmen- tal law. Environmental Law can in this way take many different forms. Whether it concerns national, regional or international legislation, the area of law or legal approach chosen will primarily reflect the instrument, the aim and focus on what to achieve as well as the field in which it is placed. Beyond the focus and aim on the environmental problem to be solved, it is noteworthy that an applicable legal instrument or legal structure may also 35 Jans, J. H. and Vedder, H. H. B., 2012, pp. 64ff.; Ja ¨nicke, M. and Jo ¨ rgens, H., 2006, p. 173; von Homeyer, I., 2009. 2.3 The Scope of Environmental Law 25 include completely different functions or considerations than those directly relevant for the environmental goal. Such other considerations can be found in a diverse range of societal issues that need to be taken into account in addition to the environmental issues at stake, but which are also to be regarded as part of Environmental Law. These issues can include factors such as import- ant stakeholder and interest group positions, as well as inter alia politically or economically motivated measures or goals. In a way, these kinds of aspects are also interesting to discuss in relation to the concept of social-ecological resili- ence. They reflect another role of law in this interplay between social and ecological. Besides contributing to effective governance of ecosystem and the environment, law also has an important role in establishing a legitimate and stable State or regime, building on the rule of law.
eBook - PDF- Vierah Hulley(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Delve Publishing(Publisher)
Principles of Environmental Law 2 CONTENTS 2.1. Introduction ...................................................................................... 40 2.2. The Precautionary Principle .............................................................. 42 2.3. The Prevention Principle ................................................................... 46 2.4. The Polluter Pays Principle (Internalization of Costs) .......................... 48 2.5. The Integration Principle ................................................................... 52 2.6 The Public Participation Principle ....................................................... 54 2.7. Accountability and Transparency Principle ........................................ 57 2.8. Equity And Equality Principle ............................................................ 60 2.9. Sustainable Development Principle .................................................. 63 2.10. Transboundary Responsibility .......................................................... 66 Environmental Laws 40 2.1. INTRODUCTION Environmental Law is a term that includes all aspects of law that protect the environment. Environmental Law is shaped by principles which focus on the management of resources that are natural and exist within the environment some of which include forests, minerals, wildlife, and fisheries. Aspects such as impact assessment are components that are important to Environmental Law. Throughout history there has been creation of laws meant to preserve the environment. For example, the common law, the primary protection was found in the law of nuisance which only allowed action to be taken privately for damages in the event there is degradation done to land. In June 1992, government leaders and representatives from over 100 countries and over 30,000 participants met in Rio de Janeiro at a United Nations conference on the environment and development also referred as to the Earth Summit.
eBook - ePub- James V. Calvi, Susan Coleman(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
CHAPTER 9 Environmental LawEnvironmental Law is a fascinating and fast-growing field of law. It is fascinating because it encompasses so many other areas of law covered in this book. Environmental Law deals with property rights and torts as society debates the acceptable uses of the earth’s resources. It raises questions of constitutional law under due process and other clauses of both state and federal constitutions. As governmental agencies, most notably the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are highly involved in the protection of the environment, it involves administrative law. Even the criminal law may be invoked against persons who deliberately harm the environment.Environmental Law is also a fast-growing field of law. One such area centers on the growing concern about global warming. As a result, Congress and the states have enacted laws requiring among other things “environmental impact statements” that assess the potential effects of new projects on the environment. As these new laws are implemented and because the protection of the environment is not without controversy, litigation is inevitable. Another factor contributing to the growth of Environmental Law is the fact that, unlike other areas of law, it is not dominated by the legal profession. New advances in science and technology put pressure on the law to keep up with rapid changes in our knowledge of the environment. At the same time, the limitations of science to provide precise answers to the problems of global warming present a serious challenge to those who wish to use the law to protect our environment.A common misconception is that Environmental Law is a new area of the law. One author, for example, divides the history of environmental protection in the United States into three periods: Premodern (1840–1891), Conservationist (1891–1969), and Modern (1969 to the present).1 While it is true that courses in Environmental Law are relatively new to law school curricula, the idea of using the law to protect the environment dates back at least to the thirteenth century.2
eBook - PDF- David Hayton(Author)
- 2000(Publication Date)
- Hart Publishing(Publisher)
11 Environmental Law TIM JEWELL AND COLIN REID Law has a long history of addressing environmental problems. The result, however, has been law about the environment rather than Environmental Law. Whilst essentially semantic, this distinction does bring some important conse-quences. A legal approach which is simply the application of well-established techniques of administrative, criminal, or tort/delict law to environmental issues, in much the same way that such techniques can apply to any other area of activity, has limitations. Whilst rumours of the maturing of Environmental Law abound—founded, for example, on nascent principles and ideas which can be seen as a basis for an Environmental Law 1 —the longer term question is whether this alone will ensure the development of a coherent or effective response to environmental threats. For if we are going to take environmental issues seriously, not only must specific rules dealing directly with key environ-mental issues be forged, but law as a whole must assimilate environmental concerns and assist, or at least not obstruct, more environmentally beneficial activity. 2 A chapter such as this can only raise questions, however, and very big ques-tions do arise. Fundamentally, the issue may simplistically be one about some ultimate goal, well beyond the particular, often immediate, concerns of lawyers (whether academic or in practice). For example, what would an envi-ronmentally sound society actually require? A key problem is that different arguments which share a concern to change society by having greater regard for the environment may have very different conceptions of the ideal solution. Various sorts of anthropocentric and biocentric ideas will at times conflict, 3 whilst experience of liberal democracy and its reliance on deregulated private 1 M Purdue, Integrated Pollution Control in the Environmental Protection Act 1990: A Coming of Age of Environmental Law? (1991) 54 MLR 534.
eBook - PDFRule of Law for Nature
New Dimensions and Ideas in Environmental Law
- Christina Voigt(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
Generally speak- ing, they also have different procedures for decision-making. But they all have effect on the same natural objects or ecosystems. The environmental legislation in the strict sense – laws with the main objective of environmental protection – may apply across sectors and at 16 Ibid. Hans Christian Bugge 18 least partly be suited to meet this challenge. However, the environmen- tal legislation itself – apart from not being strong enough – is also often quite fragmented, with separate acts for different types of pollution, for chemical substances and products, waste treatment, and different instru- ments for nature protection. To my knowledge, only a few countries have an overarching framework of Environmental Law. Mechanisms for coordination and coherence, and for holistic plan- ning, may be in place. In particular, there is a long tradition for compre- hensive spatial and land-use planning in most of the industrial countries at least. However, the relationship between such systems and the vari- ous sector policies and laws are often unclear and controversial. Again, adequate environmental quality objectives with binding legal force seem to be the required logic and main element of a rule of law for nature to meet this challenge. This touches on the issue of sector responsibility for environmental protection, which I shall revert to under section 4 below. 3.9 The most serious environmental problems cross administrative borders Environmental problems cross boundaries between local communities, between counties and regions, and not least between states. The main environmental harm of a certain activity may appear far away from its source, and under other jurisdictions. Hence, different and mutually independent constituents may, on the one hand, get the benefits from the activity that harms the environment and, on the other hand, be the vic- tims and incur the costs of the environmental degradation.
- Louis J Kotzé(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Hart Publishing(Publisher)
97 and the more common ‘environmental rule of law’. In a May 2015 Issue Brief, the United Nations Environment Programme declared:Environmental rule of law is central to sustainable development … Natural resources that are managed sustainably, transparently, and on the basis of the rule of law can be the engine for sustainable development as well as a platform for peace and justice.98UNEP’s understanding of the rule of law accords with that of its parent institution, the United Nations, ie the rule of law is a principle of governance in which all persons and public and private institutions are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards.99 UNEP believes that the environmental rule of law must play a central role to ‘reduce violations of Environmental Law and to achieve sustainable development overall’, including through good governance practices (access to information and justice, public participation and transparency), enhanced compliance and enforcement, and a deliberate role for independent and impartial courts as constitutional guardians:Environmental rule of law integrates the critical environmental needs with the essential elements of the rule of law, and provides the basis for reforming environmental governance. It prioritizes environmental sustainability by connecting it with fundamental rights and obligations. It implicitly reflects universal moral values and ethical norms of behaviour, and it provides a foundation for environmental rights and obligations. Without environmental rule of law and the enforcement of legal rights and obligations, environmental governance may be arbitrary, that is, discretionary, subjective, and unpredictable.100
eBook - PDFInterpreting Environmental Offences
The Need for Certainty
- Emma Lees(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Hart Publishing(Publisher)
As Moules explains: 61 See pp 121–23 in this book. 62 JR Maxeiner, ‘Legal Indeterminacy Made in America: U.S. Legal Methods and the Rule of Law’ (2006) 41 Valparaiso University Law Review 517, 526. 63 R Macrory, Regulation, Enforcement and Governance in Environmental Law (Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2010). Criminal Law and Environmental Law 35 There are six main ways in which public law regulates the environment. First, public law regulation may involve the setting of standards, for example in relation to water or air quality. Second, public law may require the authorisation of certain activities, such as the town and country planning regime, which requires planning permission to be obtained before development is carried out, or the environmental permitting system created by the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive, which requires certain envi-ronmentally harmful activities to be licensed. Third, public law may prescribe particular procedures to be carried out before an activity may be undertaken. A good example of this is the requirement for environmental impact assessment and strategic environmen-tal assessment. Fourth, public law regulation may identify certain land or species that must be protected. Thus, EU and domestic law provides protection for designated spe-cies and habitats, as well as the greenbelt, Areas of Outstanding of National Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Fifth, public law regulation may lead to the banning of certain activities, for example, fly-tipping. Finally, civil liability may be created, penalis-ing environmentally harmful activity such as contaminating land. 64 The process of, and the factors that bear upon, interpretation will be different, dependent upon which of these methods is chosen.
- Jan Klabbers(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- Hart Publishing(Publisher)
Global Environmental Law Ellen Hey ∗ A BSTRACT : This essay first considers the implications of the term ‘global Environmental Law’ and the challenges that face this body of law. It subsequently focuses on how global Environmental Law seeks to address these challenges. This analysis proceeds in three stages. It considers relevant legal principles, the institutional framework and, by way of conclusion, global Environmental Law as a system of governance. The essay concludes that there is a mismatch between the promise of justice for developing states, reflected in the principles of global Environmental Law, and the institutional structure in which the World Bank, and thus developed states, plays a prominent role. K EYWORDS : Environmental Law, global administrative law, Environmental Law principles, institutional law, environmental governance, South-North relations. 1. Introduction This essay reflects lectures delivered at the ‘Helsinki Summer Seminar on In-ternational Law’, which in 2008 focused on the topic ‘International Law, the Environment and Power’. In my lectures I addressed three topics in order to provide an overview of some salient themes in what is generally referred to as international Environmental Law. 1 * Ellen Hey is Professor of Public International Law at the Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam. I am thankful to the Helsinki Faculty of Law, Professor Jan Klabbers in particular, for inviting me to give the opening lectures at the 2008 Helsinki Summer Seminar on International Law. 1. Note that my lectures, and thus this essay, were informed by and based on work. Relevant are the Daniel Bodansky, Jutta Brunnée and Ellen Hey (eds), Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law, (Oxford University Press, 2007) hereinafter Handbook ), a project that gave me the opportunity to collaborate with a wonderfully inspiring group of individuals and is the main source for further reading pointed to in this essay.
eBook - PDFThe Environment
Science, Issues, and Solutions
- Mohan K. Wali, Fatih Evrendilek, M. Siobhan Fennessy(Authors)
- 2009(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
Thus, it is impor-tant to recognize that environmental policies and laws (a) have both national and international components, and (b) most often involve direct conflicts between public and private ownership of land and resources and the ways in which they are used or abused. This chapter examines how policies and laws that seek to address envi-ronmental problems are developed, how such policies and laws are applied and enforced, and how effective they have been, as illustrated by the history of the last 60 years or so in the United States. Policy-Making and Science The ultimate goal of environmental policy and law-making is to protect the environment and the public from immediate as well as long-term harm. Environmental policy, like all public policy, 434 The Environment: Science, Issues, and Solutions may be defined as broadly agreed-upon guide-lines and rules that govern decisions and actions for the resolution of present and antici-pated problems. Scientific knowledge and tech-nology have a central role in formulating such policies. Decision-making also takes into account economic viability and social accep-tance of the proposed solutions. The following considerations that apply to developing science policy also apply to environmental policy.
eBook - PDF- Richard J. Lazarus(Author)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- University of Chicago Press(Publisher)
Constitution and Bill of Rights. 18 Accordingly, there are individuals on both sides of the environmental protection debate who summarily reject any characterization of environ-mental lawmaking as the attempt to balance competing economic interests. Each camp views their position as being supported by absolute, not relative, rights. The right to human health. The right to a healthy environment. The rights of nature itself. The right to private property. The right to individual liberty and freedom from the will of the majority. Without a common economic denomination, the sharply contrasting nature of these highly moralistic perceptions of the role of environmen-tal law makes compromise difficult. The fundamental disagreement about humankind’s relationship to the natural environment and the proper role for law in addressing that relationship produces a polarization of positions. Each side tends to view the other as beginning from an unacceptable moral premise. c h a p t e r t h r e e The Challenges for U.S. Lawmaking Institutions and Processes of Environmental Protection Law Lawmaking institutions and processes in the United States have many dis-tinct features, reflecting important public values of how legal rules should be adopted, implemented, and enforced. These values necessarily affect the substance of those laws that are enacted. Within the United States, these features are not incidental matters—they are a matter of deliberate design. The basic design is supplied by the U.S. Constitution, which in its first three Articles establishes the essential lawmaking institutions of the federal government and declares the scope of their respective spheres of authority. The Constitution, particularly in the Bill of Rights, further defines the re-lationship of federal governmental authority to that retained by the states.
eBook - PDFThe Impact of Public Policy on Environmental Quality and Health
The Case of Land Use Management and Planning
- Amer El-Ahraf, Ron Dowd, Mohammad Qayoumi(Authors)
- 1999(Publication Date)
- Praeger(Publisher)
5 Legal and Legislative Framework of Environmental Protection In Chapter 2 a number of relevant Environmental Laws concerning land use were introduced. This chapter takes that discussion further by looking at the overall legal framework. Understanding the structure of the legal system helps one realize that the Environmental Laws in the United States are more than a collection of unrelated pieces of legislation. They need to be seen in the context of an evolutionary process that has gone through complex changes over the past several decades. This chapter examines these laws within the context of our legal structure. In other words the laws should be compiled from practically all legal sources namely the U.S. Constitution, federal and state laws, local ordinances, regulations promulgated by many federal agencies, prior court decisions, new interpretations by the courts, and any relevant treaties. Federal laws are initiated in Congress by the introduction of a bill either in the House of Representatives or the Senate. The bill is then referred to the appropriate committee for examination, debate, and recommendation. When the committee chair feels they have reached a consensus, the bill is put in the docket to be considered on the floor of the House or Senate. If the House and Senate pass different versions of the bill, then a joint conference committee deliberates the topic further until the difference is resolved. Afterwards, when both the House and Senate pass the bill, it goes to the president to be signed into law. If the president does not agree with the bill, he vetoes it. A presidential veto can be overturned if a two-thirds majority in Congress supports the bill. Laws passed by Congress and signed by the president are sometimes challenged in courts. Challenges usually deal with the constitutionality of new laws. The underlying basis of the legal system in the country is British Common Law.
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