Introduction to Environmental Regulation

Environment

Environment

The totality of physical, economic, cultural, aesthetic, and social circumstances and factors which surround and affect the desirability and value of property and which also affect the quality of people's lives.

Environmental Regulation

The imposition of limitations or responsibilities on individuals, corporations, and other entities for the purpose of preventing environmental damage or improving degraded environments.

Environmentalism

Advocacy of the preservation, restoration, or improvement of the natural environment; the movement to control pollution.

Environmental Justice

The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

Environmental Externality

The economic concept of uncompensated environmental effects of production and consumption that affect consumer utility and enterprise cost outside the market mechanism.

Force (in economic policy approaches to environmental regulation)

Environmental regulation is designed to force individuals or firms to "internalize the externality" by internalizing external costs of production and adopting new technology to reduce the externality.

Incentivize (in economic policy approaches to environmental regulation)

Providing incentives to individuals and firms to voluntarily reduce environmental externalities, such as paying landowners to alter land to produce ecosystem services.

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

The first federal statute mandating consideration of environmental impact as national policy. It requires Environmental Impact Statements for any action that may change the environment and significantly impact the human environment.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The agency responsible for administering and enforcing federal environmental statutes, such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Toxic Substances Control Act. It sets standards, conducts risk assessments, and implements and enforces environmental regulations.

Risk Assessment

The process of determining the potential risks and impacts of pollutants or toxins on human health and welfare through hazard identification, dose-response analysis, and exposure assessment. It results in quantifiable standards and allows for cost-benefit analysis.

Environmental Justice

The concept that permitting decisions regarding the location of polluting sites should not disproportionately impact racial minority communities. It aims for fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people in environmental decision-making processes.