Knowra Environmental law Environmental law Environmental law comprises statutes, regulations, treaties, and legal principles that govern human effects on the environment and protect natural resources.
Environmental impact assessment : A process for evaluating likely environmental effects before a proposed project or policy is approved. Assessment laws require decision-makers to examine consequences before authorizing major projects.
Administrative law : The body of law governing public agencies, their powers, procedures, and review by courts. Environmental agencies exercise delegated powers through rulemaking, permitting, and enforcement.
Clean Air Act : A United States federal statute that regulates air pollution and establishes national air-quality programs. It is a central example of statutory controls on emissions and ambient air quality.
Market-based environmental policy : Environmental regulation that uses prices, taxes, or tradable permits to influence pollution and resource use. It contrasts with direct legal limits by steering conduct through economic incentives.
Climate change litigation : Lawsuits seeking to address climate change through claims against governments or private entities. These cases test how existing duties and legal remedies apply to greenhouse-gas emissions.
Environmental permitting : A regulatory process that authorizes activities subject to conditions intended to control environmental harm. Permits translate statutory standards into enforceable conditions for particular facilities and activities.
Property law : The legal rules governing ownership, use, transfer, and limits on property. Environmental rules constrain property uses when they threaten shared resources or neighboring interests.
Clean Water Act : A United States federal statute governing pollutant discharges into waters and water-quality standards. Its permits and standards demonstrate how law controls pollution of surface waters.
Command-and-control regulation : Regulation that prescribes required technologies, practices, or limits and enforces them through legal rules. It is the conventional regulatory approach against which flexible market instruments are compared.
Polluter pays principle : The principle that those responsible for pollution should bear the costs of preventing or remedying it. It captures the effort to prevent environmental costs from being shifted to the public.
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