You are on page 1of 3

Determining Regulations

The Unites States has attempted to deal with hazardous substances and wastes
by using command-and-control methods of government regulations. This
attemp began relatively recently. Starting with the development of EPA, and
OSHA in 1970. There were attempts to regulate certain substances privor to that
date (see table 18.1), but the main focus of environmental regulation and
enforcement began much later. This may have been mainly due to our lack of
understanding. Queestion such as : What do these substances/wates do when
they persist in the environment? What might they do to the organisms in our
environment (including humans)?
Many states, as well as some countries, have tried to mirror these federal
regulations by codifying their own statutes specific to their needs. State
regulations can be equal to or more stringent than federal statutes. Creating
these regulations is difficult due to the vast number of variables involved. Of
course, the human factor thaht compicates the issue is the conceppt of NIMBY
(Not In My Backyard). No one, whether you live in Peoria, Illinois, or Seoul South
Korea, wants to have hazardous waste/substances located any where near their
home.
Wheather a hazardous substances is a raw material, an ingredient in a product,
or a waste, there are problems in determining how to regulate it. Mining, electric,
generation, and chemical and petrochemical industries are the major producers
of hazardous wastes. These industries produce many useful materials that are
converted into the products we use every day, such as metals, energy sources,
and many syntethic materials. (See figure 18.2)
While determining how and what to regulate, governments must assess who will
pay for cleanup if hazardous substances or wastes enter the environment. This
liability issue is often the most contentious of all. Remember, the L and C in
CERCLA ( Super Fund) stand for liability and compensation. The PRP (Potentially
Fund) stand for Liability andcompensation. The PRP (Potentially fund) stand for
liability and compensation. The PRP (Potentially Responsible Party) will have to
pay

for

dealing

with

the

remediation

of

the

site

once

hazardous

substances/wastes are found in the environment. Regulatory agencies try to


identify the PRP

and force that party or parties to comply with remediation

requrements. Regulation and enforcement is one thing, compliance is another.


Most governments have a difficult time with all of these.
Some voluntary industry standards have been developed and have even been
incorporated into federal acts (SBLRBRA, 2002). One example is the ASTM
International (Formerly American Society for Testing and Materials) phase I
Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) standard E-1572. Before financing a loan
to acquire commercial real estate, or before receiving grant monies under the
federal SBLRBRS program, a business must first conduct an ESA to determine
potential environment liabilities associated with the real estate. This will help to
determine who will pay for potential cleanup aavtivities or how much liability a
PRP will have. This is the reality of property acquisition in the United States as
well as in many other countries.
Other

internasional

voluntary

consensus

standards

such

as

ISO

14000

(Environmental Management System) attempt to use voluntary actions rather


than regulatory command and control to achieve compliance or to go beyond
regulatory compliance. Some countries have adopted these standards in an
attempt to avoid extra regulatory cost and to achieve better conformance to
cleaner environmental goals.
IDENTIFICATION OF HAZARDOUS AND TOXIC MATERIALS
In attempting to regulate the use of toxic and hazardous substances and the
generation of toxic and hazardous wastes, most countries simply draw up a list of
specific substances that have been scientifically linked to adverse human health
or environmental effect. However, since many potentially harmfull chemical
compounds have yet to be tested adequately, most lists include only the known
offenders. Historically, we have ofter. Identified toxic materials only after their
effects have shown up in humans or other animals. Asbestos ws identified as a
cause of lung cancer in humans who were exposed on the job, and DDT was
identified as toxic to birds when robins began to die and eagles and other fisheating birds failed to reproduce. Once these substances were identified as toxic,
their use was regulated. Countries contemplating the regulation of hazardous
and toxic materials and wastes must consider not only how toxic each one is but
also how flammable, corrosive, or explosive it is, and wether it will produce
mutations or cause cancer. Also, governments and their regulatory agencies
must attempt to determine how to fairly enforce these measures to succesfully

control exposures to humans and the environment. Sometimes the reason for the
regulation is lost in the effort to enforce it. The purpose of all environmental
regulation is to control and/or stop pollution and environmental degradation. If
an industry is put out of business due to environmental fines and cleanup costs,
it will not be able to contribute to the control and/or remediation of the toxic
material, the area will revert to an orphaned site, and other sources of money
will have to be sought for its cleanup. Oftentimes these areas are cleaned up
through the use of state and federal funds. In other words. We all pay for it.

You might also like