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Ch. 14

Terms in this set (47)

how governments achieve optimal pollution level
courts enforce property rights accompanying ownership of land through tort law; uses considerable influence to seek voluntary compliance with emission standards by businesses; Congress passes broad legislation that mandate reductions
tort law; trespass to land
unauthorized physical intrusion or entry upon land of another; can occur when one causes the invasion of particulate matter; actual injury doesn't have to be proved but inferred; landowner can only recover damages for past invasions but may obtain injunction
nuisance
more commonly used; unreasonable interference with one's peaceful enjoyment or use of land; can be result of sight, sound, odor, vibrations, etc.; damages can be recovered for past loss of use and enjoyment and permanent injunction can be obtained to prevent future; permanent injunctions more common in public ones (action interferes with health, safety, and property rights of a community); when entire community injury compared with cost of abatement, less disparity than with private nuisance so likelihood of obtaining injunction greater
Toxic Release Inventory
Provides details on emissions of 22000 plants of over 300 chemicals believed to have health consequences
Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Company
defendant cement company sued by neighboring property owners for alleged interference caused by dirt, wtc.; NY ruled plaintiffs entitled to injunction but no available technology that could eliminate nuisance so court couldn't ignore economic costs of injunctions and refused to issue one in this case; other states adopted this rule and rendered nuisance suits ineffective but courts now award permanent damages which amounts to one-time compensation for all future harm
Command-and-control regulations method: placing emission limits for each producer
Advantage: all producers treated equally and amount of emissions can be limited directly
Disadvantage: such limits difficult to enforce bc each firm must be constantly monitored; producers not equal; more recently constructed plants may have incorporated newer emission technology that would give them cost advantage
Command-and-control method: tax certain emissions
Allows firms to decide to pay tax or cut emissions by investing in emission control technology
Advantage: encourages development of use new technology by rewarding, through lower taxes, those who use
Disadvantage: tax must be set so market responds by producing optimal amount of pollution
Command-and-control method: tradable permits system
Government decides optimal annual amount of environmental discharge of particular emission; permits distributed to producers based on % production, or auction; permits allow holder to discharge certain unit; each producer can only discharge amount of emission for which permitted or must adopt emission control technology to eliminate discharge; permits can be freely traded, usually through broker; market price of permits determined by supply and demand and affected by cost of emission control technology, demand for product that produces emissions, and number of permits issued by government so price of last permit traded = marginal cost of eliminating the last unit of emissions
advantage: plants that can most efficiently reduce emissions have an incentive to do so because they can sell their permits; requires monitoring emissions to ensure compliance
advantage: plants that can most efficiently reduce emissions have incentive to do so because they can sell their permits; also produces known amounts of emissions versus others that rely on market to determine amount
history of environmental movement
1652- Boston had water system regulaton; mid-1800s, literary works started calling attention to pollution; Teddy Roosevelt made conservation a theme of his administration and after due to John Muir writings and push; legalized five national parks; passed Antiquities Act (historic landmarks, historic structures, other historic objects); FDR created Civilian Conservation Corps that employed unemployed young men to plant trees and other conservation efforts; Tennessee Valley Authority which helped control flooding in the Tennessee River by creating nine dams and also provided electricity to the Southeast, not to mention recreation areas as well as provision of drinking water; also created Soil Conservation Service that works to reduce erosion in agricultural/farming land; after WWII, more emphasis on ecology with movement into suburbs; Kennedy and Johnson stressed protection of environment in campaign speeches; Nixon too; Congress passed National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to change role of government from conservation to create and maintain conditions for nature and man to exist in harmony so it required all federal agencies to submit Environmental Impact Statements and forced Nixon to create a Council on Environmental Quality
EPA
created by executive order in 1970 but Congress gives it powers; regulates environmental law; independent executive agency; spends most of federal budget on environmental regulation; broad rule-making powers and adjudicatory powers to hold hearings and order remedies for violations of these environmental laws or file suit in federal court against suspected violators of federal environmental law; can issue complaints and grant hearings before administrative law judge; rulings by agency can be appealed to administrator and then to federal court system; certain sanctions, particularly those that provide criminal sanctions must forward to DOJ which may bring suit against alleged violators
Clean Air Act
passed 1963; gave states federal assistance in fighting air pollution; federal gov. regulates standards for both mobile and statutory sources; created NAAQS;
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS)
air-quality standards for stationary sources of air pollution; primary level to protect humans and secondary to protect vegetation, climate, visibility, property, statues, and economic values; specific standards set for known pollutants; state governments have responsibility to enforce but federal has right if state chooses not to do so;
state implementation plan (SIP)
how states enforce EPA standards; sets out that state's plan to implement; nonattainment regions- dirty and must be improved to meet AQCR; also has attainment regions which meet standards; if regions don't meet it within certain time period, penalties issued; federal government can enforce if the states don't
air quality control regions (AQCR)
regions divided by EPA and monitored to ensure regulation compliance; SIPs handle
non-attainment areas
regions that don't meet the AQCRs; state must design plan to bring that area into compliance within set time period and if it doesn't, penalties may apply
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