Transcript Understanding Our Environment

Environmental Policy, Law, and Planning
Chapter 10
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Outline:
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Environmental Policy Cycle
 NEPA
Environmental Law
 Statutory
 Case
 Administrative
Regulatory Agencies
International Treaties and Conventions
Dispute Resolution and Planning
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
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Environmental Policy - Official rules and
regulations concerning the environment that
are adopted, implemented, and enforced by
a governmental agency.
 Also encompasses public opinion.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Environmental Policy
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Politics as Power
 Politics is a struggle among competing
interest groups as they strive to shape
public policy to suit their own agendas.
Rational Choice
 In choosing between policy alternatives,
preference should be given to those with
the greatest cumulative welfare and the
least negative impacts.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Environmental Policy
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Arguments Against Rational Choice
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Conflicting views are not comparable.
Few agreed-upon broad social goals.
Policymakers not motivated by societal goals.
Large investments create path dependence.
Uncertainty drives policy makers toward past.
Costs and benefits difficult to calculate.
Segmented nature of large bureaucracies.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
The Policy Cycle
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
NEPA
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National Environmental Policy Act (1970)
 Authorizes Council on Environmental
Quality as the oversight board.
 Directs federal agencies to take
environmental consequences into account
during decision making.
 Requires an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for every federal project
having significant environmental impact.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
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Environmental Law - Body of rules, decisions,
and actions concerning environmental quality,
natural resources, and ecological
sustainability.
 Statute Law - Formal documents enacted by
legislative branch declaring, commanding,
or prohibiting something.
 Case Law - Derived from court decisions in
both civil and criminal cases.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Environmental Law
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Administrative Law - Rises from executive
orders, administrative rules and regulations,
and enforcement decisions in which statues
passed by the legislature are interpreted in
specific applications and individual cases.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Statutory Law: The Legislative Branch
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Federal laws (statutes) are enacted by
Congress and must be signed by the
President.
 After introduction, each bill is referred to a
committee or sub-committee with
jurisdiction over the issue for hearings and
debate.
 Language is modified, multiple bills may be
combined, and then the overall bill is
passed on to the full committee.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Legislative Branch
A bill succeeding in full committee is
reported to full House or Senate for a floor
debate.
- Amendments proposed at each stage.
 House and Senate versions are often
different, and must be sent to conference
committee to meld differences.
 Bill goes back to House and Senate for
confirmation.
 Passed on to President for signature.
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Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Legislative Riders
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Legislators who cannot gain enough votes to
pass projects through regular channels, will
often try to add authorizing amendments
(riders) into un-related funding bills.
 Ideally, riders are added onto stronglysupported legislation.
 President now has line-item veto.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Case law: The Judicial Branch
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Establishes environmental law by ruling on
constitutionality of statutes and interpreting
their meaning.
Court System
 US divided into 96 federal court districts.
- Over these are circuit court of appeals.
 US Supreme Court.
First judge to hear a case arising from a
particular situation has the greatest latitude
to interpret the law and set a precedent.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
The Judicial Branch
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Criminal Law - Derives from federal and state
statues that prohibit wrongs against the state
or society.
 Charges always initiated by a government
prosecutor.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
The Judicial Branch
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Civil Law - Defined by a body of laws
regulating relations between individuals or
corporations.
 Common Law - Customs and previous court
decisions establish precedent.
 Tort Law - Civil action seeking damage
compensation.
 Purpose of civil suit may be an injunction
from the actions of an individual or
corporation.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
SLAPP
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Strategic Lawsuits Against Political
Participation - Practice of suing citizens who
criticize businesses or government agencies
over environmental issues.
 Legal defense costs can be exorbitant.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Administrative Law: The Executive Branch
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More than 100 federal agencies have
environmental oversight.
 Federal agencies often delegate power to
a matching state agency to decentralize
authority.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
The Executive Branch
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Regulatory Agencies
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EPA - Primary agency with responsibility for
protecting environmental quality.
 Cabinet-level department.
Department of Interior (Natural Resources)
 National Park Service
 Bureau of Land Management
 US Fish and Wildlife Service
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Regulatory Agencies
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Department of Agriculture
 US Forest Service
Department of Labor
 Occupational Health and Safety Agency
(OSHA)
Revolving door with workers moving back
and forth between industry and government.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Administrative Courts
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Hear challenges to agency rules and
regulations.
 Administrative judge can consider both the
validity and the rule, and its application to a
specific case.
- Parties can appeal to district court.
 Also hear enforcement cases.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
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INTERNATIONAL TREATIES AND
CONVENTIONS
Over past 25 years, more than 170
environmental treaties and conventions have
been negotiated.
 Unfortunately many of these are vague.
- Most nations unwilling to give up
sovereignty.
 International court has no
enforcement powers.
 Accords and sanctions
 World opinion
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND PLANNING
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Wicked Problems - Environmental problems
tend to be intractable because they are
nested within sets of interlocking issues.
 Often poor match between bearers of
costs and bearers of benefits.
Adaptive Management - A solutions
approach designed to test clearly formulated
hypotheses about the actions being taken.
 “Learning by Doing”
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Environmental Decision Making
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Resilience in Ecosystems and Institutions
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Most important characteristic of natural
systems is their resilience, or ability to recover
from disturbance.
 Ability to reorganize in creative and
constructive ways.
- Researchers found trying to manage
ecological variables one factor at a time
leads to less resilient ecosystems.
 Focused on solving single problem.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Arbitration
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Arbitration is a formal dispute resolution,
based in a trial-like setting.
 Arbitrator takes a more active role than a
judge, and is not constrained by precedent.
- Useful when winning an entire case might
be difficult.
- Does not create legally-binding
precedent.
- Less opportunity to appeal.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Mediation
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Mediation is a process in which disputants
are encouraged to come up with a solution
on their own.
 Useful in complex issues with multiple
stakeholders with different interests.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Collaborative Approaches to Planning
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Collaborative Approaches - Working with
local communities to gain traditional
knowledge and gain local acceptance of
management plans.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Summary:
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Environmental Policy Cycle
 NEPA
Environmental Law
 Statutory
 Case
 Administrative
Regulatory Agencies
International Treaties and Conventions
Dispute Resolution and Planning
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.
Cunningham - Cunningham - Saigo: Environmental Science 7th Ed.