Environmental Policy
Terms
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- Policy and science
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⬢ policy & science combination is controversial - science: works on basis of tentative results, positive analysis (what is) - policy: works on basis of definite results, normative analysis (what should be)
⬢ sounds science must be a part of policy!
- Political action
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Statutes
Regulations
Presidential orders
Institutional
Private initiative - Policy types
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standards
Incentive based
Product bans
Liability and insurance rules
moral suasion
Information based programs - NAAQS
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• National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) - never exceed levels for entire country - apply only to outside air quality - primary standards: aimed at protecting human health - secondary standards: meant to protect public welfare (nonhealth, i,e, impacts on crops)
• State Implementation Plan (SIP) - plan to achieve NAAQS in specific states (different states have different air quality) - must be a balance/take cost into account --> we can’t completely stop all emissions b/c it would cripple economy
- Cap and trade
- - authorities set max cap on total emissions of some pollutant, distribute permits among those responsible for discharges - polluters can then buy and sell the permits among themselves
- ⬢ Municipal Wastewater Treatment
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Facilities - under CWA, sewage cannot be directly discharged
- grant programs provided $ to build, but not to operate
---> as a result, many sewer systems in US are not in great condition
- publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) - Safe Drinking Water Act 1974
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- federal gov’t regulates local water supplies
- Maximum Containment Level Goal (MCLG) vary for each substance in drinking water
- need to invest in drinking water treatment systems
--> unfunded mandates = big problem - RCRA: Resource Conservation & Recovery Act
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- main concern: hazmat was being disposed into municipal landfills
- establishes:
a) definition of hazardous wastes
b) manifest system for tracking waste
c) operating requirements for handlers
d) permit system
e) authorization for states to implement control programs - CERCLA: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, & Liability Act - AKA Superfund
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- Love Canal: galvanizing event in getting bill passed
- deals w/ sites that were active chemical dumps in past
- aggressive liability policy towards those who have dumped chemicals in the past
- strict, joint, and several liability
a) dumpers are liable for full cleanup costs, even if it was legal many years ago, or they were not the only dumpers
b) potentially responsible parties (PRPs) not always properly identified
c) creates massive amnt of litigation among polluters themselves
- National Priority List (NPL)
⬢ How Clean Is Clean?
- what are the regulations for cleaning up hazardous waste sites... must everything be removed?
⬢ Brownfields
- potentially contaminated area, but not on NPL - program to clean these sites, make them usable, better for community
- Municipal solid waste flow
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⬢ how do we reduce production (how realistic?)
- taxes on products
- laws, i.e. on packaging materials
⬢ how do we reduce waste?
- technical options: redesigning products, lengthening lives of products, using less material
- policy approaches: command/control, incentive based, information based, voluntary
- producer take back programs: not really in use in US
- unit pricing: gives people incentive to search for ways to reduce amount of solid waste they produce by charging price per bag/pound of trash they produce
- MSW Landfills
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- have become fewer, but on larger scale
- many are now privately owned and operated
- transporting trash across state borders
---> Interstate Commerce Clause of Constitution: can’t interfere with interstate commerce
- flow control: local communities are allowed to limit trash exports in order to meet supply commitments to local handling companies
---> private operation companies can’t practice flow control