This book aims to provide a comprehensive picture of UK and EC pollution regulation. Although written by a lawyer,it adopts an interdisciplinary approach to regulation, which seeks to move beyond the sociological and economic frameworks within which pollution regulation has typically been analysed in the UK. The UK and EC regulatory systems are examined within the context of ‘regulatory federalism’. The aim of this is to explore how and why regulatory decisions concerning pollution are taken at different levels of a federal regulatory hierarchy.
The book begins with a discussion of the essentials of pollution regulation, including traditional economic justifications for regulation and non-economic ones based on environmental ethics. It goes on to examine subsidiarity and the appropriate level for regulation – a particularly topical issue in the light of recent devolution within the UK. Models of regulatory decision-making are then addressed, comparing the rigours of ‘ecologism’ with the cost-benefit based alternative of ‘economism’ and the more participatory style of ‘republicanism’. Other chapters include a comparison of the various regulatory techniques in terms of the values of accountability, equality, certainty, efficiency and effectiveness, and an examination of regulatory enforcement, covering issues such as accountability for enforcement decisions, corporate liability, strict liability and a critical analysis of the so-called ‘co-operative’ approach.
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