1. ©2001 West Legal Studies in Business. All Rights Reserved. 1 Chapter 25: Environmental Law

2. ©2001 West Legal Studies in Business. All Rights Reserved. 2 IntroductionIntroduction Concern over protecting the environment has prompted laws that regulate the use of property to protect natural resources and endangered species. Compliance with environmental law can be very expensive. The principal sources of environmental law are: –Common Law Actions. –State and Local Regulation. –Federal Regulation.

3. ©2001 West Legal Studies in Business. All Rights Reserved. 3 §1: 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. –Case 25.1: Maddocks v. Giles (1996). 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.

4. ©2001 West Legal Studies in Business. All Rights Reserved. 4 §2: 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.

5. ©2001 West Legal Studies in Business. All Rights Reserved. 5 §3: Federal Regulation Federal environmental policy is achieved through: –Federal Agencies. »Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).Environmental Protection Agency »Department of the Interior.Department of the Interior »Regulatory agencies must take environmental factors into consideration when making significant decisions.

6. ©2001 West Legal Studies in Business. All Rights Reserved. 6 Federal Regulation –National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).National Environmental Policy Act »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.

7. ©2001 West Legal Studies in Business. All Rights Reserved. 7 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.

8. ©2001 West Legal Studies in Business. All Rights Reserved. 8 §4: Air Pollution Clean Air Act. –This act provides the basis for issuing regulations to control pollution coming primarily from mobile sources and stationary sources. –It prescribes the use of pollution control equipment that represents the maximum achievable control technology. –Violations: up to $25,000 per day. Persons who provide information about violators may be paid up to $10,000. Willful violation carry criminal penalties and fines.

9. ©2001 West Legal Studies in Business. All Rights Reserved. 9 §5: Water Pollution Clean Water Act goals: safe swimming, protection of fish and wildlife; and elimination of the discharge of pollutants into waterways. Pollution control is largely achieved through the use of the best available control technology. Wetlands: permit from Army Corps of Engineers –Case 25.2: Hoffman Homes v. EPA (1993).Hoffman Homes v. EPA Drinking Water (Safe Drinking Water Act).Safe Drinking Water Act Ocean Dumping Act.Ocean Dumping Act

10. ©2001 West Legal Studies in Business. All Rights Reserved. 10 §6: Noise Pollution Noise Control Act.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.

11. ©2001 West Legal Studies in Business. All Rights Reserved. 11 §7: Toxic Chemicals Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).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.

12. ©2001 West Legal Studies in Business. All Rights Reserved. 12 Hazardous Wastes Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. »Authorizes the EPA to issue regulations for the monitoring, transporting, storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous substances. CERCLA.CERCLA –Designed to ensure the clean-up of hazardous waste sites and to assign liability for the costs of the cleanup operations. –Liability for cleanup costs can be assigned to any potentially responsible party (PRP) –Case 44.3: Browning-Ferris Industries of Illinois Inc. v. Ter Maat (1999).Browning-Ferris Industries of Illinois Inc. v. Ter Maat

13. ©2001 West Legal Studies in Business. All Rights Reserved. 13 §7: Radiation Atomic Energy Act regulates nuclear energy through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.Atomic Energy Act Nuclear Regulatory Commission EPA sets standards for radioactivity levels. NRC regulates use and disposal of nuclear materials. Liability may be based on strict liability.

14. ©2001 West Legal Studies in Business. All Rights Reserved. 14 Law on the Web Virtual Law Library at Indiana U. Environmental Protection Agency.Environmental Protection Agency Legal Research Exercises on the Web.