The past twenty-five years have seen a significant evolution in environmental policy, with new environmental legislation and substantive amendments to earlier laws, significant advances in environmental science, and changes in the treatment of science (and scientific uncertainty) by the courts. This book offers a detailed discussion of the important issues in environmental law, policy, and economics, tracing their development over the past few decades through an examination of environmental law cases and commentaries by leading scholars. The authors focus on pollution, addressing both pollution control and prevention, but also emphasize the evaluation, design, and use of the law to stimulate technical change and industrial transformation, arguing that there is a need to address broader issues of sustainable development. Environmental Law, Policy, and Economics,which grew out of courses taught by the authors at MIT, treats the traditional topics covered in most classes in environmental law and policy, including common law and administrative law concepts and the primary federal legislation. But it goes beyond these to address topics not often found in a single volume: the information-based obligations of industry, enforcement of environmental law, market-based and voluntary alternatives to traditional regulation, risk assessment, environmental economics, and technological innovation and diffusion. Countering arguments found in other texts that government should play a reduced role in environmental protection, this book argues that clear, stringent legal requirements--coupled with flexible means for meeting them--and meaningful stakeholder participation are necessary for bringing about environmental improvements and technologicial transformations.

Environmental Law: Cases and Materials, Third Edition is designed to reflect the vital and symbiotic connection between land-use regulation and the more traditional scope of environmental law. In addition it recognizes the importance of administrative agency decision-making in environmental law. The book begins with a look at the judicial review process of agency decisions and important issues. It examines the common-law remedy of nuisance, the matrix of so much of environmental law and still a significant cause of action, and goes on to look at land-use controls, with particular emphasis on critical areas-landmarks, wetlands, coastal resources-and the de facto taking issue. Air and water quality, waste, toxics and the other areas of comprehensive statutory control, the National Environmental Policy Act, electric generation, and the increasingly important area of international environmental law are also discussed. Since the Third Edition was published three years ago, much has occurred in this fast-shifting field. Several important decisions have dealt with air and water quality and international issues such as global warming have expanded. The Third Edition reflects these recent events.