Chapter 24

1. Chapter 24 Environmental Policy, Law, and Planning Ellen Heinke March 23rd 2010

2. What is Environmental Policy? • Policy • a plan or statement of intentions, either written or stated, about a course of action and inaction intended to accomplish some end. • Environmental Policy • official rules and regulations concerning the environment that are adopted, implemented, and enforced by some government agency as well as general public opinion about environmental issues.

3. Politics as Power • Politics is the struggle between the unequal interest groups attempting to form their own agendas • Political system manages conflict with • establishing rules to ensure civil competition • encouraging compromise and balancing interests • codifying compromises as public policy • enforcing rules and laws based on said policy • Not always effective • can lead to elite majority taking over the masses • does not always account for ideals and values (i.e. civil rights)

4. Rational Choice • Rational Choice • a utilitarian policy • no policy should have greater costs than the benefits • model for public decision making • Negatives of public decision making • many needs cannot be met • few achievable and similar goals • policymakers not motivated by societal gain • decision making cannot usually be coordinated

5. Predictable Policy • Policy Cycle • how problems are identified and acted upon in the public arena • Cycle Stages • problem identification, whether by government or general public • create different policy options • implementation, through regulation and different targets • Different Cycle Routes • carried out by special economic interest groups to gain public attention and will carry out legislation • carried out by public interest groups, with dramatic protests and media events

6. Environmental Law • Environmental Law • 1982 World Commission on Environment and Development stated that all have a right to a safe and sustainable environment • a special body of official rules, decisions, and actions concerning environmental quality, natural resources, and ecological sustainability • Statute Law • formal documents or decrees enacted by the legislative branch and representing their position • Case Law • derived from decisions in both civil and criminal cases • Administrative Law • executive orders, administrative rules and regulations, and enforcement decisions

7. Environmental History • For most of history, America took little notice of environmental degradation • Rivers and Harbors Act • 1899, illegal to dump refuse blocking any waterways • little effect • Silent Spring • written by Rachel Carson in 1962 • detailed the environmental destruction from pesticides • such as DDT • Closing Circle • written by Barry Commoners in 1971 • warned of overall pollution • Santa Barbara Oil Spill • 1969, off the coast of Southern California, washed up on beaches • was popularized by the media and wealthy socialites of the area • Early Policy • 1972 Clean Water Act • National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1970s, federal government needed to evaluate environmental impact before starting a large project

8. Santa Barbara Oil Spill Images Condition of Beach after Spill Protest after Spill

9. The Legislative Branch • Statutory Law • originate as legislative proposals (bills), enacted by Congress, than signed by the president • these bills can have many coauthors or one sponsor • The Process • referred to committee with jurisdiction for debate and hearings • includes public testimony • if supported, language is revisable to be made more passable • once compromised bill written, sent to larger committee • approved sent to Congress, if not sent back • different amendments can completely destroy the bill • Congressional Quarterly Weekly, a paper that keeps track of proposed legislation • if approved by House and Senate, united version created • once signed by president, becomes law (unless vetoed)

10. The Legislative Branch (cont’d) • Legislation can either authorize bills to law, or sign bills allowing funds for federal agencies and programs • Riders • authorizing amendments to try and gain more votes • these amendments are completely unrelated to the bill • i.e. 2004 Omnibus Spending Bill, prevent appeal and judicial review of environmentally destructive policies (logging in Alaskan Tongass National Forest) • Lobbying • to use personal contacts, public pressure, and political action to get politicians to vote in their favor • hundreds environmental lobbyists • personal contact is most effective • Local Involvement • attempt to gain media attention • get involved in local election campaigns

11. EPA Research

12. The Judicial Branch • Courts will determine the spread of the superfund • 96 federal courts • circuit court of appeals hears environmental disputes • Precedent • an example in subsequent trials for judge rulings • distinguished case is different from all those before it • Legal Thresholds • standing, whether the participant has the right to stand before the bar • must be a live case and carry importance through verdict • case cannot be moot • i.e. Sierra Club v. Disney, argued that they could represent trees as people, but they lost • Establishes environmental law by ruling on its constitutionality and interpreting their meaning • Environmental Defense Fund brings lawsuit to define environmental policy

13. Judicial Branch (cont’d) • Criminal Law • prohibits wrongs against state or society, definitions of crimes vary from state to state • Criminal Cases • initiated by a government prosecutor (i.e. the State) • innocence determined by peers (jury) • includes environmental crimes • Environmental Crimes • 1975, Supreme Court ruled corporate officers can be found liable for violation of environmental laws • 1982, EPA created Office for Criminal Investigation • under Clinton, over 600 cases in environment persecuted per year for gross negligent or highly illegal activities • under Bush, dropped over 60% • i.e. 1999 sentencing of a Colorado company sentenced to fourteen years prison for dumping chlorinated solvents in local water tables • however, budget now cut over 50% under Bush

14. Judicial Branch (cont’d…) • Civil Law • a body of laws regulating relations between individuals and between individuals and corporations • dignity, freedom, and property rights protected • usually only financial penalties • i.e. 2000 case, Koch Oil Company paid 35 million in fines for negligence in over 300 Texan spills • Common Law • precedents that create a definition of individual rights and responsibilities • Tort Law • those that seek compensation for damages (such as pollution) • SLAPP • strategic lawsuits against public participation • citizens who criticize polluting businesses are countersued • i.e. Texas woman called a nearby landfill “dump” her husband sued for 5 million for not controlling his wife

15. Executive Branch • Can set rules, adjudicate, and settle disputes • Formal v. Informal • if informal, notice and background are made public for all citizens • if formal, more like civil trial with more regulation • Regulatory Agencies • includes 1970 EPA • Department of Interior and Agriculture for natural resources • National Park Service, oversees 376 parks • Bureau of Land Management administers 140 million hectares of land • US Fish and Wildlife Service, protects 500 refuges and endangered species protection • Executive Orders • used in Antiquities Act for national monuments • Clinton’s Executive Order 12898 developed strategies for environmental justice, pollutant effect on minorities • Administrative Courts • environmental rules objected to in court, i.e. 80% of EPA regulations • hear challenges to agency rule and regulation , or enforcement cases • no jury, looser implications on evidence, administrative judge

16. International Law • Many nations are likely to join international environmental sanctions • Environmental Governance • the process of making environmental decisions and who makes the decisions • Globalization • revolution in communications, transportations, finances, and commerce causing interdependent national economies and opportunity or challenge in handling environment • Environmental Treaties • CITIES, or Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species • Convention on Biological Diversity • Conferences • United Nation Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) only urged more than 100 countries to limit greenhouse gases in 1992 Brazil • Montreal Protocol, halted CFCs and ozone hole in 1987 • Aarhus Convention in 1988recognizes basic right to healthy environment and proper government handling of protest and information, citizens allowed to investigate environmental issues • when agreement not reached by all nations, qualified majority adds stronger measures, all are bound to legal document • Global Demonstration • 2001, 100 000 protested meeting of Group of Eight Industrialized Nations in Genoa, where one was killed and hundreds wounded

17. Problems and Solutions • More information would lead to more environmental management • Wicked Problems • problems with no simple right or wrong solutions • nested within interlocking issues • best solution is community based planning and consensus building • Adaptive Management • designed from the outset to test a hypothesis about the different impacts of an action • “learn by doing” • carefully monitor to fix possible mistakes in policy • enable population to live and deal with the unexpected environmental issues • produce understanding as well as solutions • similar though more experimental than ecosystem management (chapt. 13)

18. Resilience and Caution • Resilience • ability to recover from disturbance • ecosystem does not always recover to same level, but will recover eventually • best in face of surprise • Precautionary Principle • when an activity raises a threat of harm, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships have not yet been established • Precautionary Action • people have duty to take precautionary steps • burden of proof of carelessness of new technology or chemical lies with corporation not general public • before using new technology, obligated to examine full range of alternatives, including scenario of technology not used • decisions applying the precautionary principle must be open and informed, and involve all affected parties

19. Arbitration and Community Based Planning • Arbitration • formal process of dispute resolution like a trial • arbitrator takes more active role • does not create publicity, legal bonding, or prevent discrimination • Mediation • disputants form a solution with each other • useful in complex issues • Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota, argued over use of motorboats, nothing agreed upon • Community Based Planning • seen in Atlantic Coastal Action Programme (Canada), develops restoration and maintenance of environmentally degraded harbors and estuaries in both social and biological views • different social groups are fairly represented • Green Planning • comprehensive long range environmental plans • in Netherlands, 223 policy changes to reduce pollution and conserve energy while keeping economic stability • environmental quality cannot deteriorate, clean up at source, polluter pays, prevention of pollution, careful waste disposal, motivate local population

20. Works Cited • http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://alternativeenergy.procon.org/files/alternativeenergy/sb_oilspill_1969.jpg • http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/bawwg/images/mt/mtecoreg.gif