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Environmental law |
Article Submitted by: Kristen Golmes
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
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The UN Assembly is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and provides environmental resources civil for governments, scientists, journalists, business, civil society, children and youth. The UN has the commitment to "provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of the future generations" The first organization that deals specifically with the environmental laws in Canada is Environment Canada. This federal department performs a number of roles, including protecting the natural resources of the country, dealing with issues regarding climate change and handling waste management. This branch of the government has its headquarters in Gatineau, Quebec with branch offices in approximately 100 communities around the country. Empirical studies of the activities of enforcement bodies in England indicate that a hierarchy of enforcement mechanisms are utilized. The first stage involves advice and education about the environmental problem that constituted the breach of law. Where this mechanism fails in enforcement of particular regulation, warnings are issued and the option of prosecution is exercised only where the offence is either serious or intentional. Given the specific nature of environmental regulations, the work of enforcement agencies is technically and scientifically based and the agencies provide technical guidance and help to the industry for effective compliance. Therefore, education and advice are regarded more important than sanctions and other formal enforcement mechanisms. The emphasis is upon continuing relationship between the regulator and operators in order to prevent harm to the environment and its effective protection. This object can best be achieved through effective cooperation with the industry rather than confrontation which may result from imposition of sanctions. But it is worth remembering that when this fails the regulator can always revert to a more formal sanctioning approach! Research also shows that environmental regulations provide a stimulus for innovation and productivity because it encourages firms to invest in research and development to develop less polluting products. It is equally evident that environmental law is associated with the wider issue of sustainable development, and that firms which proactively encourage compliance and support sustainable development can gain competitive advantage in the marketplace. Government agencies are no longer exempt from environmental laws and a city or municipality must know those laws if they are to make decisions without getting themselves into trouble or cut off from County or Federal Funding. Thus, every city must understand that the water and air pollution they create, they are legally responsible for. It's time for cities to clean up their act. The State of California divided the state into nine different regions realizing that each region had different pollution problems based on industry types, demography and population in the areas. These regions were called 'Regional Water Quality Control Districts' (RWQCD). These were all controlled by the State Board that was defined by the Federal Clean Water Act as the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). Once the problem was broken down into smaller pieces things started to change for the better. Treaty provisions and their inherent obligations can create binding CIL if they are "of a fundamentally norm-creating character such as could be regarded as forming the basis of a general rule of law." (19) A basic premise of this article is that the "relatively exclusive ways (of lawmaking) of the past are not suitable for contemporary circumstances." (20) Jonathan Charney maintains that today's CIL is more and more being created by consensual multilateral forums, as opposed to State practice and opinio juris, and that "[consensus, defined as the lack of expressed objections to the rule by any participant, may often be sufficient... In theory, one clearly phrased and strongly endorsed declaration at a near-universal diplomatic forum could be sufficient to establish new international law." (21) This process should be distinguished conceptually as "general international law", rather than CIL, as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has often done. The Polluter Pays Principles means that the Polluter should bear the expenses of carrying out pollution prevention and control measures in order to ensure that the environment is in an acceptable state. In other words, the cost of these measures should be reflected in the cost of goods and services which cause pollution in production or consumption. This principle is based on the premise that those responsible for causing pollution or who benefit from it must bear the cost of its consequences. Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com |
About The Author:
Read About Study Abroad and also read about ethics and professional responsibility and environmental law
Read About Study Abroad and also read about ethics and professional responsibility and environmental law
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