Environmental and Energy Law

Karen Makuch, Ricardo Pereira

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781118257364
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Tecnologia e ingegneria
• Subtopic: Ingegneria civile

Despite bringing prosperity, industrialisation generally leads to increasing levels of pollution which has a detrimental impact on the environment. In response, legislation which seeks to control or prevent such impact has become common. Similarly, climate change and energy security have become major drivers for the regulatory regimes that have emerged in the energy field. Given the global or regional scope of many environmental problems, international cooperation is often necessary to ensure such legislation is effective. The EU and the UK have contributed to the development of the environmental and energy law regimes currently in force, spanning across international, transnational and national levels. At the same time, practical responses to environmental and energy problems have largely been the focus of engineers, scientists and other technical experts.

Environmental & Energy Law attempts to bridge the knowledge gap between legal developments designed to achieve environmental and/or energy-related objectives and the practical, scientific and technical considerations applicable to the same environmental problems. In particular, it attempts to convey a broad range of topical issues in environmental and energy law, from climate and energy regulation, technology innovation and transfer, to pollution control, environmental governance and enforcement. In addition the book outlines key sector specific legal regimes (including water, waste and air quality management), focusing on issues or topics that are particularly relevant to both environmental and energy lawyers, and engineering, science and technology-oriented professionals and students. In this vein, the book guides the reader on some basic practical applications of the law within scientific, engineering and other practical settings.

The book will be useful to all those working or studying in the environmental or energy arena, including law students, legal professionals, engineering and science students and professionals. By adopting a multi-disciplinary approach to environmental and energy law, the book embraces all readerships and helps to address the often thorny problem of communication between scientists, engineers, lawyers and policy-makers.

Part One

Introduction

Chapter 1

Introduction

Karen E. Makuch and Ricardo Pereira

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In this chapter, the reader will

• Be introduced to the textbook and understand its structure, scope, aims and objectives
• Have an overview of the interplay between science, law and policy and understand the extent to which laws and policies are driven by science
• Understand the meaning of the term ‘environmental law’
• Gain an overview of the wider purpose of environmental law
• Obtain an appreciation of the relevance of environmental law to engineers and non-lawyers
• Be able to explain the links between science, engineering, technology and environmental law
• Gain an overview of international, EU and UK environmental law and discover the basic tenets of the environmental law-making process at the international, regional and national levels
• Gain knowledge of some key terminology
• Learn about some key principles and themes which have shaped the development of environmental and energy law
• Be recommended follow-up reading so that key issues can be explored further

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1.1 Overview and Aims of Environmental & Energy Law

Environmental & Energy Law aims to provide selective coverage of environmental and energy law within the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (UK), as well as internationally. In particular, the book attempts to convey a broad range of topics in environmental and energy law which are of interest not only to law students but also to engineers and scientists.

The book attempts to bridge the knowledge gap between legal developments designed to achieve environmental and/or energy objectives (for example, pollution control and conservation) on the one hand, and the practical, scientific and technical considerations applicable to the same environmental problems on the other. In this vein, the book guides the student of environmental and energy law on some basic practical applications of the law within the scientific, engineering and other practical settings. Therefore, the book will be useful not only to law students and professionals working in the fields of environmental and/or energy law, but also to engineering and (geo)science students and professionals, as well as others working in various other disciplines. By adopting a multi-disciplinary approach to environmental and energy law, the book embraces all readerships and goes a step further to address the often thorny problem of improving communication between scientists and engineers and law and policy makers.

The book is written by lawyers (including the two editors), engineers with expertise in policy/regulatory issues, and other social and technical scientists working in an academic and/or professional environment(s). This allows the reader to learn environmental and energy law from a wide range of perspectives and approaches and to gain an insight into how the law is designed to tackle particular environmental problems arising in both professional and theoretical settings.

1.1.1 The Scope of the Book

The book covers a wide range of topical issues in environmental and energy law, from technology innovation and transfer, climate and energy regulation, to pollution control and environmental governance and enforcement. In addition to addressing more general topics within environmental and energy law, the book outlines key sectoral or environmental ‘media-specific’ (air, water, land) legal regimes, focusing on key issues that are particularly relevant to law, engineering, science and technology-oriented students.

Environmental & Energy Law is largely focused on the environmental and energy law developments within the EU and the UK. It also addresses the relevant developments in international environmental law as these largely underpin local, national and regional efforts to address broader environmental concerns. The book thus is especially relevant to students and professionals working in the field of EU environmental and energy law within the EU Member States. It will also be of interest to those working and studying outside the EU, in particular candidate countries, given that the acceding countries will have to implement the EU legal framework as part of the approximation process (the so-called acquis communautaire).

The book does not comment on every substantive area of environmental and energy regulation. For example, the book does not offer a distinct chapter on the regulation of wildlife and nature conservation. The editors tried to identify new and key areas of environmental and energy law that would be particularly valuable to academics, students and professionals wishing to have a good command of the regulatory environment surrounding inter alia technology, energy, climate change mitigation and adaptation, resources exploration and exploitation, pollution control, health and safety at work, infrastructure projects and impact assessment.

Although theoretical and jurisprudential issues are also considered in many chapters, the book attempts to focus on the pragmatic legal and policy implications of environmental law making. Where necessary, students are directed to Further Reading/Bibliography sections of the book for further guidance on the literature giving additional insights into theoretical and jurisprudential developments.

1.1.2 Readership

Although the book is an introductory work designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students, it will also be relevant to professionals working in the environmental and energy sectors who aim to have a grasp of the relevant legislation and applicable legal framework. In addition to law students and professionals, the book is of special interest to engineering and science students and professionals interested in understanding the application of environmental and energy law to their particular fields.

The book takes into consideration the fact that few non-law students, for example engineering and science students, will have had prior exposure to the study of law, and that not many law students may have specialised in environmental and energy law or have technical, engineering-related knowledge.

As mentioned above, engineers will find particularly useful the book's coverage of, for example, technology and innovation, energy/climate regulation, pollution control and the law on health and safety at work. In this context, the book covers topics which are of interest to engineers in general (e.g. Parts II and V on innovation and clean technologies, health and safety law covered in Chapter 10), and all chapters could be said to be of general interest to environmental engineers. The book also covers topics of interest to engineers specialising in particular disciplines. For example, the ‘end-of-life vehicle’ and ‘reduction of hazardous material’ regulations are arguably more relevant to the materials engineer (waste management is covered in Chapter 15). Civil engineers are more likely to be working in the construction sector and will find the chapters on energy, waste management legislation and water management regulations of special interest (Chapters, 15 and 16). Chemical engineers will be able to relate especially to the chapters on regulation of chemicals and laboratory safety (Chapters 20 and 21), while electrical and electronic engineers may well be influenced by legislation concerned with ‘renewables’ and ‘energy efficiency in buildings’ (covered in Chapters). Geo-engineers working in the fields of oil and gas exploration and exploitation will be concerned with mining regulations and ‘environmental impact assessment’ (EIA) legislation (covered in Part IV and Chapter 22). Bioengineers and agricultural engineers will find the chapters on agricultural technologies and the law (Chapter 5) and the regulation of chemicals (Chapter 20) of special interest. Moreover, as explained in the chapters on the Aarhus Convention (Chapters 23 and 24), general topics of environmental governance such as access to information and information disclosure are of interest not only to lawyers but also to engineers and technical scientists. As suggested in those chapters, there are practical relevancies for engineers and scientists as regards the exercising of the rights to access environmental information and access to justice.¹

1.1.3 Approaches to Learning

In addition to being written in a manner accessible to students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, a number of tools are used to make the book particularly accessible and classroom-friendly. The book draws out crucial points and information, provides recommendations for further reading and follow-up, highlights important points to be remembered, offers summary information on the chapter content and provides an overview of key issues so as to bring together conclusions and insights into the issues addressed. Summary/Questions & Activities sections are provided at the end of each Part and/or chapter to help students recall important information.

1.2 The Interplay Between Science and Law and Policy Making

By considering the interplay between the law, science and policy, the book addresses the core of environmental law, as no good environmental (or energy) law and policies can emerge if not taking full account of and implementing (sound) scientific advice. Thus, it provides further substance to environmental law and helps to explain how/why it has emerged and developed in a particular way. This necessarily symbiotic relationship between science and policy in the environmental and energy law fields makes it all the more crucial that there is enhanced communication and dialogue between the two.

In this scenario it is arguably science that determines the course of environmental policy, policy makers merely executing the scientific advice. This means that scientists are under increased scrutiny (not least by the public – as discussed in Chapters 23 and 24), since policy makers can only justify policies which are based on ‘sound’ science. As scientists play a strong role in environmental governance, in particular through their ability to influence policy, there must be a better understanding of the role of science in the formulation of policy in order to enable greater trust in the scientific findings. An example is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which has recently been accused of being biased in the interpretation of climate science in order to advance climate policy.

Science plays a major role in identifying, analysing and predicting risk and the nature and extent of the risk (serious, irreversibility, etc.) (Christoforou, 2004). However, the course of environmental law an...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Notes on the Contributors
• Preface
• List of Abbreviations
• Part One: Introduction
• Part Two: Innovation, Sustainability and the Law
• Part Three: Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Law
• Part Four: Exploration and Exploitation of Energy Resources
• Part Five: Clean Technologies and the Clean Development Mechanism
• Part Six: Waste, Water, Air Quality Management and Pollution Control
• Part Seven: The Regulation of Chemicals and Laboratory Safety
• Part Eight: Governance, Impact Assessment, Compliance and Enforcement in Environmental Law
• Part Nine: Case Studies on Environmental Law Implementation
• Index