Environmental Policies, Laws, and Regulations

This chapter introduces the history and basics of environmental policies, laws, and regulations. It explains why governments regulate actions that affect the environment. While policies outline the intention to act on a topic to achieve certain objectives, they do not carry legal force. Environmental law therefore includes a combination of rulemaking, interpretation, and enforcement. The chapter expands on the concept that rulemaking and law enforcement can take place at different levels which can be driven by geographical scope (international, multi-country, country, state, etc.) or by subject matter (e.g. agricultural, industrial, etc.). It stresses that a hierarchy of laws exists and determines which law has ultimate control or primacy. Given the complexity of environmental issues and the range of adverse impacts, the reader is reminded of the importance of understanding what laws govern and identifying which one has primacy, especially if there is a conflict of laws whereby different laws coexist but are contradictory. The chapter also stresses the importance of understanding in which jurisdiction a law applies and determining which court or institution has the power, right, or authority to interpret and apply the law. The chapter also reviews the forces that shape regulations. Unlike most other types of law that shape business and finance — contract law, labor law, and corporate law, etc. — environmental law arouses intense political passions and commands vibrant (though not always accurate) news coverage. The chapter describes how the rules governing air, water, or land pollution typically include not only a mix of considerations of science, technical feasibility, and economics, but also both explicit and hidden political agendas. The chapter concludes by presenting the main tools of economic regulations ranging from traditional command-and-control approaches to market-based instruments that policymakers can employ.