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TEXT 3. TYPES OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS
One of the nation's first environmental laws was the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1970, which requires that all federal administrative agencies prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) before undertaking any major action which is likely to have a significant effect on the environment. Although the utility of the EIS in protecting the environment has been debated by scholars in law and economics, the high ideals represented by NEPA have earned the statute the label "Environmental Magna Carta." Since then, various kinds of regulations have been developed to deal with varying environmental concerns, such as cleanup procedures for past environmental abuses, recordkeeping programs that detail the use and storage of toxic wastes, and regulations governing emissions of pollutants into communities and natural areas.
Regulations Protecting Citizens
One major area of regulatory concern is to protect workers and other citizens from toxic materials used by industry. In the 1970s, the majority of environmental regulation applied to business facilities could be described as "command and control" regulation. Such regulation, most of which is still in effect, consists of detailed standards set down by an administrative agency. For example, if a business applies for an emissions permit pursuant to the Clean Air Act, the EPA will base the terms of that permit on EPA regulations (standards) for that chemical. The permit will specify what chemicals can be emitted and in what amounts. If a business exceeds the limits of its permit, it is subject to civil or criminal penalties.
During the 1980s, "command and control" regulations began to be supplemented by a new kind of regulation known as "Right to Know" (RTK). In the early 1980s, workers advocated the adoption of Worker Right to know laws, which were designed to give workers access to information about the presence and identities of toxic chemicals in the workplace. OSHA formalized Worker RTK laws across the nation under its Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) in 1984, and by 1989 coverage had been extended to protect workers in all public businesses. Following the example of workers, environmentalists began to advocate Community Right to Know laws during the 1980s. Community RTK on the federal level was created through the 1986 Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act. Such laws give citizens access to information about chemicals located on the premises of businesses in their communities.
Worker RTK and Community RTK laws place duties on employers and businesses to provide information to workers and communities through documents called Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), which describe chemicals, their properties, and the hazards associated with their use. Further, the Community RTK program requires that a business inventory toxic materials on its premises and document all releases into the environment of such materials. That information, in turn, is made available to citizens and various committees and regulatory bodies. Thus, RTK is primarily an information policy that allows citizens, including workers, to make better-informed decisions about dealing with toxic (hazardous) materials in their workplaces and communities.
Pollution prevention statutes are designed to prompt business facilities to examine their production processes and change those processes to reduce their use of toxic chemicals. Some comprehensive statutes impose planning and reporting requirements on business facilities with respect to toxic chemicals used. Such statutes also cover: 1) protection of the business' proprietary interests; 2) worker and community involvement in planning processes; 3) technical assistance and research to assist business facilities and funding for such programs; and 4) enforcement mechanisms and penalties for non-compliance.
Regulations Relating to Disposal and Cleanup of Toxic Substances
A variety of other environmental laws and statutes regulate businesses' handling of toxic substances. Laws such as the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA), for example, regulate the manufacture of economic poisons and other chemicals. Such laws require approval and licensing by the EPA before a chemical product can be produced and marketed. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Clean Up, and Liability Act (CERCLA - the Superfund program), meanwhile, is a program that aims to identify, evaluate, and clean up hazardous waste sites. The program relies on public funds, taxation of the chemical industry, and a "polluter pays" principle (collection of cleanup costs from those who contributed hazardous wastes to the site) as funding sources. To prevent the creation of future "Superfund" sites, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) requires licensing and close monitoring of hazardous waste generators, transporters, and disposal or treatment sites. The program creates a "cradle to grave" written record of each and every batch of hazardous waste produced by a business facility in the United States.