In 1980, with the passage of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, Congress created the Superfund as a mechanism to clean up the toxic legacy of the industrial and chemical revolutions. Over a decade later, the consensus is that the program has failed: too much has been spent and too little accomplished. Harold Barnett unravels the history of this failure, examining the economic and political factors that contributed to it and suggesting policy changes necessary to create a viable cleanup program. Barnett argues that the Superfund has failed because of conflict over who will pay the toxic debt and the impact of this conflict on interdependent funding and enforcement decisions at state, regional, and national levels. He argues that the inability of legislators and regulatory agencies to take effective and timely action is related to the economic and political power of major corporate polluters. Spanning the Reagan and Bush administrations, the book highlights the ongoing conflict between deregulatory policies and environmental programs. Originally published in 1994. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Originally published in 1998. While there is a growing academic literature on corporate crime, much of this focuses upon variants of economic or financial crimes; there is a relative absence of studies of safety, health and/or environmental crimes. This is curious given that recent years have witnessed a resurgence in popular, academic and indeed state attention to questions related to environmental degradation and human safety. Certainly in the latter context there is some recognition that environmental degradation must be understood partly in terms of environmental crimes by corporations. Moreover, recent experience in both the US and the UK attests to the fact that there is no ineluctable trend towards safer and healthier workplaces, as deregulatory movements have resulted in increased risks for most workers and, this text argues, an increased opportunity for, and incidence of, safety crimes. At the centre of environmental, safety and health isses lie the chemicals industries. These industries are of strategic importance to national economies, while also having almost unique hazard and risk potential and it is for these reasons that these are the focus of this text. Any understanding of the nature of these types of corporate crimes, and thus any recognition of the potential for their more effective regulation, requires an analysis that is grounded in more general sociological concerns and in political economy. For this reason, this text emphasises the need for understandings of the nature of contemporary and emergent forms of corporate organisation, of their place in contemporary economies, and of the relationships between these forms and state formations.

More than 150 key social issues confronting the United States today are covered in this eight-volume set: from abortion and adoption to capital punishment and corporate crime; from obesity and organized crime to sweatshops and xenophobia.

This title was first published in 2002. This convenient reference brings together notable contributions examining all aspects of the liability for environmental accidents. Articles included in the Part I of this volume examine the role of liability as a policy instrument, and provide detailed examinations of the incentive effects created by the imposition of liability, ie. Bankruptcy, litigation costs, delegation of responsibility and insurance. Those in Part II study specific environmental issues such as hazardous waste disposal and oil spills. The International Library of Environmental Economics and Policy explores the influence of economics on the development of environmental and natural resource policy. In a series of twenty five volumes, the most significant journal essays in key areas of the contemporary environmental and resource policy are collected. This convenient reference brings together the notable contributions examining all aspects of the liability for environmental accidents.

Examines numerous controversies in environmental politics and policy since 1945, including the Donora smog event of 1948, building dams in national parks, the passage of the National Environmental Protection Act, the banning of DDT, the Love Canal crisis, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Makah whale hunt, and environmental racism.

This sweeping study traces the development of water policy in the United States from the 19th century to the present day, exploring the role of legislation in appropriating access to water to the American people. Three factors influence the development of water policy and politics in the United States: the availability of water, the manner in which people use the commodity to its maximum economic benefit, and governmental control. This book is a one-stop resource for understanding the scope of water issues in America, from governing doctrine and legislation, to Native American water rights, to water protection and pollution, and to the mitigation of natural and manmade disasters. Distinguished author and noted scholar John R. Burch Jr. reviews the conflicts among state, federal, and international agencies in dealing with water supply and points to competing legal rulings and laws as undermining the creation of a cohesive policy for all. Through an analysis of key documents, Burch examines the recent calamities befalling the American water system—including droughts, oil spills, and natural disasters—and considers the future of water distribution to the American people. Organized into six parts, sections include doctrines and rights, waters of the West, border regions water management and flood control, environmental issues, and water supply and safety.