Chapter 39 Environmental Law

1. Chapter 39Environmental Law

2. Learning Objectives • Under what common law theories may polluters be held liable? • What is an environmental impact statement? What is the EPA and what does it do? • What major statutes regulate air and water pollution? What is Superfund?

3. Environmental Law • The principal sources of environmental law are: • Common Law Actions. • State and Local Regulation. • Federal Regulation.

4. Common Law Actions • Nuisance. • Person liable if they use their property in a manner that unreasonably interferes with others’ rights to use or enjoy their own property. • Negligence and Strict Liability. • Business or person alleged failure to use reasonable care toward a party whose injury was foreseeable and, or course, caused by the lack of reasonable care.

5. State and Local Regulation • States regulate the degree to which the environment may be polluted. • City, county, and other local governments control some aspects of the environment. • Local zoning laws. • Methods of waste and garbage removal. • Location and conditions of parks, streets and other public areas.

6. Federal Regulation • Federal environmental policy is achieved through federal agencies: • Example: Environmental Protection Agency [http://www.epa.gov] (EPA). • Regulatory agencies must take environmental factors into consideration when making significant decisions.

7. Federal Regulation • National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). • Does not directly deal with pollution control. • Require preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) when major federal action in the environment is to be undertaken. • Media Specific Pollution Control Legislation.

8. Environmental Impact Statement • An EIS must analyze: • The impact of the proposed action on the environment. • Any adverse effects of the action and alternatives to the action. • Any irreversible effects the action might generate.

9. Air Pollution • Clean Air Act. • This act provides the basis for issuing regulations to control pollution coming primarily from stationary (factories) and mobile (cars) sources of air pollution. • It prescribes the use of pollution control equipment that represents the maximum achievable control technology. • Violations: civil penalties up to $25,000/day. Willful violations carry criminal penalties and fines.

10. Water Pollution • Clean Water Act’s goals: • Safe swimming and drinking water. • Protection of fish and wildlife (wetlands). • Elimination of the discharge of pollutants into waterways (navigable waterways). • Pollution control is largely achieved through the use of the best available control technology.

11. Noise Pollution • Noise Control Act. • Establishes noise emissions standards (maximum noise levels below which no harmful effects occur from interference with speech or other activity). • Prohibits distributing products manufactured in violation of the noise emission standards.

12. Toxic Chemicals • Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). • Regulates the use of pest control chemicals in the process of food growth to food packaging, to minimize their presence in foods consumed. • Toxic Substances Control Act. • Requires anyone planning to use chemicals first determine their effect on human health and the environment. • Require special labeling, limit the use of substance, set production quotas, or prohibit the use of a substance altogether.

13. Hazardous Waste Disposal • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. • Authorizes the EPA to issue regulations for the monitoring, transporting, storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous substances. • CERCLA. • Designed to ensure the clean-up of hazardous waste sites and to assign liability for the costs of the cleanup operations. • Joint and Several Liability for cleanup costs can be assigned to any potentially responsible party (PRP).