Law
US Environmental Law
US Environmental Law refers to the body of laws and regulations that aim to protect the environment and natural resources within the United States. It encompasses a wide range of issues, including air and water quality, waste management, and conservation of natural habitats. These laws are designed to promote sustainable practices and hold individuals and organizations accountable for their impact on the environment.
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10 Key excerpts on "US Environmental Law"
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.
eBook - ePub- James V. Calvi, Susan Coleman(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
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 For centuries the common law has recognized that a person is not entitled to the unfettered use of his or her land and that society may impose limits on the use of one’s property.Because environmental law touches so many other areas of law, is fast growing, and is a relatively new field of law, it is somewhat difficult to define. For our purposes, environmental law may be defined as “a technique of environmental engineering designed to control human and nonhuman objects, in order to preserve a stable environmental system.”3
eBook - PDF- Richard J. Lazarus(Author)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- University of Chicago Press(Publisher)
18 Pollution Control and Natural Resources Law The term “environmental law” came into common usage only in the 1970 s, mostly in reference to the laws then being enacted for the purpose of regu-lating pollution or waste disposal activities. The actual field of environmen-tal law, however, extends more broadly than the pollution control laws that triggered environmental law’s formal naming. As described in chapter 4 , modern environmental law seemed to many in the 1970 s to be a “move-ment without a history,” but actually its historical pedigree was quite ex-tensive. Not only did a smattering of federal, state, and local air, noise, and water pollution laws exist before 1970 , but the nation’s natural resources laws had played a central role in the founding, expansion, and industrial-ization of the country. These natural resources laws are a necessary and sig-nificant aspect of what constitutes environmental law in the United States today. Perhaps because they evolved during different moments of history, pol-lution control laws and natural resources laws in the United States have reflected different hierarchies of values and different theoretical founda-tions. Natural resources laws historically equated the public interest with the economic exploitation and development of natural resources, although resource conservation and “public trust doctrine” principles had emerged as a significant counterweight by the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, followed more recently by increased emphasis on preservation. The legal principles underlying natural resources law, however, were pri-marily grounded in property law principles, which emphasized the prerog-atives of owners of property to decide how property should or should not be used. Pollution control law, by contrast, emphasized limits on the exer-cise of private rights over natural resources, especially common resources such as air and water, which had historically been freely used for waste disposal activities.
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.
eBook - PDFEnvironmental Management
Concepts and Practical Skills
- Marc Lame, Richard Marcantonio(Authors)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
Federal regulations are codified annually in the US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Title 40: Protection of Environment is the section of the CFR that deals with the EPA’s mission of protecting human health and the environment (US EPA 2021k). 4.3 Environmental Laws of the United States 55 As noted in earlier chapters, states have “primacy” or have been authorized by the EPA to enact these laws by way of their state statutes that approximate the CFR 40 regulations. Each federal environmental law has a primary intent and a number of major provisions. For the purpose of this textbook, we will use language that is not legalese but more practical, so as to be more understandable and memorable. We try to relate the intention of each law to the mission of the EPA, and each provision is a statement of what needs to be “provided” to achieve that intent. As a baseline of foundational knowledge, we believe it critical for the environmental manager to know the intent and major provisions of each law and to be able to compare and contrast them, and also to leverage each appropriately in pursuit of their mission. This skill will let the professional better understand the “arena” they are managing in. 4.4 The “Environmental” Laws The first three “environmental” laws listed below, which were the first three national environmental Acts passed by the US Congress, are general in nature and in our opinion stem directly from and are related to the problems and solutions Carson discusses in Silent Spring (Carson 1962). They apply to the actions of government, landowning citizens, and industry and the effect they each have on both human health and the environment. Further, they provide a non-media-specific process for preventing pollution. The second set of “environmental media” laws, related to “byproducts of process as pollution” laws, pertain to specific “media” – air, waste, and water.
eBook - PDFHandbook of Environmental Fluid Dynamics, Volume One
Overview and Fundamentals
- Harindra Joseph Fernando(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
143 12.1 Introduction Any. understanding. of. how. fluid. dynamics. impacts. environ-mental. law. necessarily. must. start. with. a. basic. understanding. of.environmental.law . .This.chapter.will.provide.a.general.over-view.of.some.of.the.important.environmental.laws.in.the.United. States.and.throughout.the.world . .In.the.United.States,.these.laws. predominantly. come. in. the. form. of. statutes. (laws. enacted. by. Congress.and.the.states).and.regulations.(rules.created.by.regu-latory.agencies) . 12.2 Principles 12.2.1 Environmental Protection in the United States 12.2.1.1 Environmental Protection Agency In. 1970,. Congress. created. the. United. States. Environmental. Protection. Agency. (“EPA”. or. the. “Agency”). to. protect. human. health. in,. and. the. physical. environment. of,. the. United. States . . Currently,. the. Agency’s. five. main. goals. are. (1). clean. air. and. global. climate. change,. (2). clean. and. safe. water,. (3). land. pres-ervation.and.restoration,.(4).healthy.communities.and.ecosys-tems,.and.(5).compliance.and.environmental.stewardship . .EPA. primarily. accomplishes. these. goals. by. writing. and. enforcing. environmental. regulations . . As. of. 2009,. the. Agency. employed. approximately.17,000.people,.including.a.staff.largely.made.up. of.scientists,.engineers,.lawyers,.and.policy.analysts . .EPA.imple-ments. and. ensures. compliance. with. its. programs. through. a. variety.of.mechanisms,.including.civil.and.criminal.penalties.as. well.as.cleanup.programs . 12.2.1.2 National Environmental Policy Act In. 1970,. the. United. States. Congress. enacted. the. National. Environmental. Policy. Act. (NEPA) . . NEPA. establishes. national. environmental. policies. and. goals. for. “the. protection,. main-tenance,. and. enhancement. of. the. environment,. and. provides. a. process. for. implementing. these. goals. within. the. federal. agencies.” .Under.NEPA,.the.federal.government.is.required.to.
eBook - PDFEnvironmental Law from the Policy Perspective
Understanding How Legal Frameworks Influence Environmental Problem Solving
- Chad J. McGuire(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
Remember, environmental law is functionally defined as a societal response to externalities that result from individual decisions. Thus, environmental law is fundamentally a func-tion of public institutions, meaning government plays a significant role in defining and advancing environmental law principles. The hierarchy of law, as a concept, helps us understand this government function. How do the different branches of government operate within legal frameworks to help make environmental law? How do these different roles of govern-ment interact with one another; for example, do they ever conflict? If they conflict, how are these conflicts resolved? By answering these questions, a deeper understanding of what we are calling environmental law emerges. Importantly, this understanding is not limited to environmental law in practice , but a keener sense of the philosophy behind the concept of envi-ronmental law. Like Newton’s discussion of gravity helped us understand the concept of gravity itself, thinking about environmental law from the different roles of government can help us come to a deeper understanding of the concept of environmental law itself. With this conceptual under-standing, one is better able to think about the role of government in advancing environmental goals, including many of the formative policy questions that help to begin the process that leads to the formal creation of laws. 154 • Environmental Law from the Policy Perspective 3.4 LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORKS The kind of law that is developed from legislative frameworks —statutory law—is closely related to public policy preferences because, in many ways, legislation reflects societal preferences (Grafstein 1999). The fact that legis-lative frameworks are so closely connected with societal preferences stems from both the purpose of the legislative branch and the practicalities associated with the actors who make up the legislative body.
eBook - PDFThinking Ecologically
The Next Generation of Environmental Policy
- Marian R. Chertow, Daniel C. Esty(Authors)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- Yale University Press(Publisher)
e l e v e n Toward Ecological Law and Policy E. Donald Elliott Most of today's environmental law violates the basic principles of ecology. Nature teaches the connectedness of all activities, but most cur-rent-generation law regulates separate pollutants with little considera-tion of ecosystems as a whole. The continuums of nature generally adapt gradually, but today's environmental law makes sharp distinctions between safe and unsafe, attainment versus nonattainment areas, permis-sible versus impermissible levels of pollution. Instead of shaping industrial adaptation with incentives, today's fed-eral pollution-control laws usually set federal standards as absolute legal edicts that brook no local exceptions. Rather than empowering decentral-ized authorities to adapt standards to local conditions, today's environ-mental law is premised too often on the fiction of an omniscient center— and depends too heavily on control at the federal level as a precondition to action. Many of the problems this structure has created are identified in chapter 1. This chapter will explore how the legal system in particular can be moved in a more ecological direction. It will also review more flexible and cost-effective ways to achieve environmental protection. The claim that most U.S. environmental law is not ecological in its structure and philosophy does not apply equally to all aspects of today's legal policies. For example, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which mandates assessments of the effects on the environment of major federal actions, cannot be said to be anti-ecological in philosophy, only cumbersome and ineffective in implementation. Nor are those parts of national policy that strive to preserve portions of the environment as wilderness for future generations contrary to the ecological worldview in the same way as the great pollution control statutes of the 1970s and 1980s. The pollution-control statutes that sought to clean up the air,
eBook - PDFIntroduction to Waste Management
A Textbook
- Syed E. Hasan(Author)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
Law-making and enforcement is a complex and challenging task that frequently becomes the focus of public controversy and debate. Political interests sometimes lead to actions that prove harmful. Safeguards must be provided by lawmakers to not alter the fundamental principles enshrined in the environmental laws. It is a testimony to the strength of US Environmental Law that many other countries have devel- oped their own environmental laws following the US model. Its first major policy act, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), has been adopted by at least 100 countries. 3.2 Important Environmental Laws The decades of 1970s stand out as the period when the majority of key environmental laws were passed in the United States. The trend continued during the 1980s and 1990s when a substantial set of legislation had been enacted to address major environmental concerns during the 30-year period. The process of monitoring the nation’s environmental quality is continuing and appropri- ate laws are being enacted as and when necessary. Table 3.1 lists about 30 major environmental laws that had been enacted during the past 50 years; a few passed before 1970 have also been included due to their relevance to environmental protection. Table 3.1 Important environmental laws, years enacted and purpose. Federal regulation and year enacted Purpose/Scope National Environmental Policy Act, 1970 The 1969 Act signed into law on 1 January 1970 established a broad national framework for protecting the nation’s environment. It directed all branches of government to give due consideration to the environment prior to undertaking any major federal action that significantly affects the environment. Over 100 countries have adopted laws similar to NEPA. Clean Air Act, 1970 Amended the 1967 Air Quality Act, setting goals to comply with the air quality standards.
eBook - PDF- David M. Hassenzahl, Mary Catherine Hager, Nancy Y. Gift, Linda R. Berg, Peter H. Raven(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
These citizen suits have contributed significantly in the enforcement of environmental legislation. Environmental Policy Since 1970 Although legislation to manage many environmental prob- lems existed before 1970, the regulatory system that exists to- day was largely put into place during the 1970s. Congress has passed many environmental laws that address a wide range of issues, such as endangered species, clean water, clean air, energy conservation, hazardous wastes, and pesticides TABLE 2.1 Some Important Federal Environmental Legislation General Freedom of Information Act of 1966 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 National Environmental Education Act of 1990 Conservation of Energy and Renewable Energy Resources Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 Northwest Power Act of 1980 National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987 Energy Policy Act of 1992 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2008 Conservation of Wildlife Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 Anadromous Fish Conservation Act of 1965 Fur Seal Act of 1966 National Wildlife Refuge System Act of 1966 Species Conservation Act of 1966 Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 Endangered Species Act of 1973 Federal Noxious Weed Act of 1974 Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 Whale Conservation and Protection Study Act of 1976 Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act of 1978 Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980 Fur Seal Act Amendments of 1983 Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992 National Invasive Species Act of 1996 Conservation of Land General Revision Act of 1891 Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 Soil Conservation Act of 1935 Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act of 1960 (re: national forests) Wilderness Act of 1964 Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 National Trails System Act of 1968 Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 National Reserves Management Act of 1974 Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Act of 1974 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 National Forest Management Act of 1976 Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of
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