Review of Hazardous Waste Liability by Warren Freedman (original) (raw)
Related papers
How Much Risk?: A Guide To Understanding Environmental Hazards (Inge F Goldstein & Martin Goldstein)
http://www.bluegreenearth.com, 2002
The aim of this book is to show "how science evaluates the health hazards of environmental pollutants". The authors are quick to note that in doing this they may garner criticism from both corporate scientists / industrialists and environmental activists, as they intend to present an "objective" assessment of the analytical tools available, and their shortcomings. This they set out to achieve through a series of case studies.
The Use of Liability Rules in Controlling Hazardous Waste Accidents: Theory and Practice
Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 1984
Economists since Pigou have advocated the use of economic incentives for controlling environmental degradation. In a similar vein, environmental economists have long lamented a near unanimous reliance of environmental policy on the use of direct regulation. However, several pieces of legislation, as well as common law doctrine, provide strict liability for damages from a variety of pollution incidents. The term strict liability means that a polluter is liable for the penalty imposed for a pollution incident irrespective of intent, fault, or even knowledge of the pollution incident. Negligence need not be proved, thus strict liability allows for no defense of due care or conformance with common practice.
2018
Environmental risks are a multi- and interdisciplinary topic with a great interest in current society. This book examines the issues of natural hazards (e.g., typhoons, landslides, wildfires), anthropogenic activities (construction of artificial dams, the operation of nuclear power plants), and their potential risks to the environment and/ or quality of life at various scales, from local to regional and even at a global level. Th book intends to discuss concepts, methods, and techniques to address environmental risks and vulnerabilities, revealing the complex interactions between nature and human communities and activities. Policies and practices for disaster risk management should be based on the best state-of-the-art methods and techniques, integration between natural and/or social approaches, interdisciplinary research, and multilevel cooperation.
NATO Security through Science Series, 2006
This paper presents a current overview of the basic elements of environmental risk assessment within the basic four-step process of hazard identification, exposure assessment, toxicity assessment, and risk characterization. These general steps have been applied to assess both human and ecological risks from environmental exposures. Approaches used to identify hazards and exposures are being refined, including the use of optimized field sampling and more representative, rather than conservative, upper-bound estimates. In addition, toxicity data are being reviewed more rigorously as U.S. and European harmonization initiatives gain strength, and the classification of chemicals has become more qualitative to more flexibly accommodate new dose-response information as it is developed. Finally, more emphasis is being placed on noncancer end points, and human and ecological risks are being weighed against each other more explicitly at the risk characterization phase. Recent advances in risk-based decision making reflect the increased transparency of the overall process, with more explicit incorporation of multiple trade-offs. The end reklt is a more comprehensive life-cycle evaluation of the risks associated with environmental exposures at contaminated sites.
Risk and Benefit in Environmental Law
Science, 1981
Currently, more than ten federal statutes contain statements about risk and benefit assessment; the process of setting environmental standards increasingly rests on the analysis of risk. The courts have made numerous references to risk-benefit analysis in reviewing the actions of regulatory agencies. Yet the issue of what role risk-benefit assessment should have in energy or environmental policy is neither clear nor settled. effects; the choice of a dose-response model. Regulatory agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), promulgate standards that reflect their policies on health risk. In doing so, they must consider the enabling statute, the intent of Congress, and the procedural requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. The stat-Summary. Judicial review establishes whether the mandate of Congress is observed by an agency's rule-making mechanisms for setting environmental standards or other regulations. Central issues in risk assessment now include whether a risk is significant, what the burden of proof for significance is, how to resolve the tension between the effort to reduce hazardous exposures and the goal of efficient regulation, and precisely how and in what detail the costs of regulation must be measured. Under current regulatory statutes, there are several paradigms for balancing costs and benefits.
Environmental Risks between Conceptualization and Action
2018
Changes in the contemporary world materialized in particular through population growth and mobility, urbanization, and economic expansion also result in an increased exposure of people and assets to extreme events and impose, implicitly, adequate management of induced risks. The occurrence of natural and anthropogenic risk phenomena, known as hazards, puts a heavy tribute on disaster-sensitive human communities regardless of their level of development. The magnitude of the disasters and their increasing frequency and severity imply the need for their approach by the entire world community and for global action. Knowledge of risks becomes a sine qua condition in carrying out impact studies, risk prevention plans, spatial planning plans, and, in general, a condition for effective management of natural resources or sustainable development projects.
Introductory Chapter: Environmental Risks between Conceptualization and Action
Environmental Risks, 2018
Changes in the contemporary world materialized in particular through population growth and mobility, urbanization, and economic expansion also result in an increased exposure of people and assets to extreme events and impose, implicitly, adequate management of induced risks. The occurrence of natural and anthropogenic risk phenomena, known as hazards, puts a heavy tribute on disaster-sensitive human communities regardless of their level of development. The magnitude of the disasters and their increasing frequency and severity imply the need for their approach by the entire world community and for global action. It is, therefore, necessary to find answers to questions: Is the world really a more dangerous place? If so, what are the causes? Why is the dimension of disasters much higher in poor countries? What are the best ways to reduce the impact of hazards and disasters in the future? In this context, knowledge of risks becomes a sine qua condition in carrying out impact studies, risk prevention plans, spatial planning plans, and, in general, a condition for effective management of natural resources or sustainable development projects. This explains a large number of specialized studies, the extent of research in the field, and the sustained efforts to achieve the transfer from theory to practice. A multidisciplinary scientific field has emerged over the past decades, in which there is a specialized terminology that wants to be as precise as possible, eliminating the semantic ambiguities and the difficulties of communication between the theoreticians and practitioners. Within this multidisciplinary research field, the methodology, taken from different fundamental domains, gradually improved, new methods and models of integrated analysis
RISK ANALYSIS AND ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD MANAGEMENT
Risk is defined as 'the possibility of loss or injury. Hazard is defined as the source of risk Toxicity is describes as capability to produce an adverse effect on living organisms. Risk assessment refers to the factual bases for determining exposure, adverse effects (i.e., toxicity) and dose-response relationships and for predicting their nature and magnitude in humans. Any organization has a legal and moral obligation to safeguard the health and welfare of the general public and to ensure environmental safety. All manufacturing process are to some extent. Hazardous but in processes involving hazardous substances such as petroleum, natural gas and other chemicals. There are additional special hazards associated with the properties of the substances and process conditions. The designer must be aware of these hazards, and ensure, through the application of Sound Engineering practice, that the risks are reduced to acceptable levels.