Abstract
It can be observed that there are three strands of complex and interdependent environmental challenges ahead: (1) population development,1 (2) use of natural resources2 and (3) pollutant releases.3 The most recent development is the increasing public concern about pollutant releases. However, this problem is not a recent one. Notably, as early as 1896 it was recognised that pollutant releases due to human activity can influence the atmosphere’s composition and therefore affect the climate.4 Although a lot of the current public debate revolves around climate change,5 all kinds of pollutant releases into air, water and land have local,6 regional7 and global8 effects on the environment. Accordingly, greater transparency of pollutant releases could contribute to the reduction of environmental pollution and hence the conservation of nature. The information-based environmental protection according to EU and US environmental information laws is at the very heart of this work. Although equally important, population development and use of natural resources are not the subject of this work.
Parts of this chapter have been published as an article in the Journal for European Environmental and Planning Law, Volume 7, Issue 2, September 2010, and are reproduced with permission of Koninklijke Brill N.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Cf eg C Clark Population Growth and Land Use (2nd edn Macmillan, London 1977), 253–278.
- 2.
Cf eg G H Brundtland Our Common Future (Oxford University Press, Oxford 1987), 43–66.
- 3.
Cf eg N Stern The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2007), 3–24.
- 4.
Cf S Arrhenius ‘On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground’ (1896) 41 London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science [5th Series] 237.
- 5.
Cf N Stern (2007) (n 3), 65–103.
- 6.
Cf N Vogel ‘PG and E Settles Last Chromium 6 Case’ Los Angeles Times (4 April 2008), B4. Contaminants sickened hundreds of people in Kings, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, California, US, through the mid-1980s. Between 1996 and 2008, Pacific Gas and Electric consented to pay compensation in several cases for poisoning the ground and water.
- 7.
Cf P Shrivastava Bhopal: Anatomy of a Crisis (Ballinger, Cambridge Mass 1987), 64–67. In 1984, more than 2,500 people were killed and over 200,000 injured in Bhopal, India, when a highly toxic pesticide was released from a Union Carbide facility. Cf F Pocchiari, V Silano and G A Zapponi ‘The Seveso Accident and its Aftermath’ in P R Kleindorfer and H C Kunreuther (eds), Insuring and Managing Hazardous Risks: From Seveso to Bhopal and Beyond (Springer, Berlin 1987). Earlier, in Seveso, Italy, an industrial accident occurred on 10 July 1976. The facility, Icmesa, was a daughter company of Givaudan, which in turn was a daughter company of Hoffmann-La Roche. It resulted in the highest known exposure to a highly toxic dioxin in residential populations. Some 200 people were injured.
- 8.
Cf K Warner and Others In Search of Shelter: Mapping the Effects of Climate Change on Human Migration and Displacement (CARE, Bonn, Berlin 2009), 21. The exact number of people that will be on the move is uncertain. However, the International Organisation for Migration estimates that there may be 200 million environmentally-induced migrants by the year 2050.
- 9.
For an overview on EU and US environmental law cf P Sands Principles of International Environmental Law (2nd edn Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009), 732–795; R J Lazarus The Making of Environmental Law (University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2006), 43–166.
- 10.
D W Case ‘The Law and Economics of Environmental Information as Regulation’ (2001) 31 Environmental Law Reporter 10773, 10773; D Robinson ‘Regulatory Evolution in Pollution Control’ in T Jewell and J Steele (eds), Law in Environmental Decision-Making: National, European, and International Perspectives (1st edn Clarendon Press, Oxford 1998), 29.
- 11.
B C Karkkainen ‘Information as Environmental Regulation: TRI and Performance Benchmarking, Precursor to a New Paradigm?’ (2001) 89 Georgetown Law Journal 257, 263; T Tietenberg ‘Design Lessons from Existing Air Pollution Control Systems: The United States’ in S S Hanna and M Munasinghe (eds), Property Rights in a Social and Ecological Context: Case Studies and Design Applications (The World Bank, Washington DC 1995), 16.
- 12.
T Tietenberg (1995) (n 11), 30.
- 13.
B C Karkkainen ‘Bottlenecks and Baselines: Tackling Information Deficits in Environmental Regulation’ (2008) 86 Texas Law Review 1409, 1411.
- 14.
T Tietenberg ‘Disclosure Strategies for Pollution Control’ (1998) 11 Environmental and Resource Economics 587, 588.
- 15.
Cf R W Hahn and R N Stavins ‘Economic Incentives for Environmental Protection: Integrating Theory and Practice’ (1992) 82 American Economic Review 464.
- 16.
K E MacDonald ‘The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register: A Case Study of Bosnia-Herzegovina’ (2008) 10 European Journal of Law Reform 21, 22.
- 17.
Congress, The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, Public Law 99-499, 100 Stat 1613. Amended the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA, commonly known as Superfund). The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) was Title III of SARA. Congress, Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, Public Law 99-499, 100 Stat 1613, 1728–1758. Cf 42 USC §§ 11001–11050 (2010). The Bill H.R. 2005 was passed by both chambers of Congress and approved by the President to become a Public Law; for the legislative history, which is discussed in greater detail throughout this work, cf Congress, The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (n 17), 1782.
- 18.
Cf S M Wolf ‘Fear and Loathing about the Public Right-to-Know: The Surprising Success of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act’ (1996) 11 Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law 218, 218–221; A Fung and D O’Rourke ‘Reinventing Environmental Regulation from the Grassroots Up: Explaining and Expanding the Success of the Toxics Release Inventory’ (2000) 25 Environmental Management 115, 116. Data is available at <http://www.epa.gov/tri>.
- 19.
United Nations, Agenda 21, 1992 <http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21> accessed 30 June 2010, chapters 19.40 (b), 19.44, 19.49 (b), 19.60 and 19.61 (c).
- 20.
Cf Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRS): A Tool for Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development; Guidance Manual for Governments (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris 1996), 13–14.
- 21.
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, 25 June 1998 <http://www.unece.org/env/pp/documents/cep43e.pdf> accessed 30 June 2010, article 5 (9) in conjunction with article 10 (2) (i). The content of the Aarhus Convention comprises three pillars: (1) public access to information about the environment, (2) public participation in certain environmentally relevant decisions, and (3) access to courts of law in environmental matters. Pollutant Release Inventories particularly serve the first and second pillars.
- 22.
K Saarinen ‘A Method to Improve the International Comparability of Emission Data from Industrial Installations’ (2003) 6 Environmental Science and Policy 355, 355.
- 23.
For the Protocol cf Council, Decision 2006/61/EC of 2 December 2005 on the Conclusion, on Behalf of the European Community, of the UN-ECE Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers, [2006] OJ L 32/54, 56 et seq. The Protocol was adopted under the consultation procedure and the legislative process itself was straightforward, cf Commission, Proposal for a Council Decision on the Conclusion, on Behalf of the European Community, of the UN-ECE Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers, COM (2004) 635 final, 6 October 2004; European Parliament, Draft Report on the Proposal for a Council Decision on the Conclusion, on Behalf of the European Community, of the UN-ECE Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers, 2004/232 (CNS) provisional, 4 April 2005; European Parliament, Report on the Proposal for a Council Decision on the Conclusion, on Behalf of the European Community, of the UN-ECE Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers, A6-170/2005 final, [2006] OJ C 133 E/15; European Parliament, Legislative Resolution on the Proposal for a Council Decision on the Conclusion, on Behalf of the European Community, of the UN-ECE Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers, P6_TA (2005) 285, [2006] OJ C 157 E/382; Council, 2697th Meeting, 15057/05, 2 December 2005, item 3.
- 24.
European Parliament and Council, Regulation (EC) 166/2006 of 18 January 2006 Concerning the Establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register and Amending Council Directives 91/689/EEC and 96/61/EC, [2006] OJ L 33/1. The Regulation was adopted under the codecision procedure; for the legislative history, which is discussed in greater detail throughout this work, cf Commission, Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Concerning the Establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register and Amending Council Directives 91/689/EEC and 96/61/EC, COM (2004) 634 final, 7 October 2004; Economic and Social Committee, Opinion on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Concerning the Establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register and Amending Council Directives 91/689/EEC and 96/61/EC, [2005] OJ C 255/55; European Parliament, Opinion of the Committee on Fisheries for the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Concerning the Establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register and Amending Council Directives 91/689/EEC and 96/61/EC, 2004/231 (COD), 26 April 2005; European Parliament, Report on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Concerning the Establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register and Amending Council Directives 91/689/EEC and 96/61/EC (First Reading), A6-169/2005 final, [2006] OJ C 133 E/15; European Parliament, Legislative Resolution on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Concerning the Establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register and Amending Council Directives 91/689/EEC and 96/61/EC (First Reading), P6_TA (2005) 276, [2006] OJ C 157 E/266; Council, 2697th Meeting (n 23), item 10.
- 25.
Commission ‘Guidance Document for the Implementation of the European PRTR’ (31 May 2006) <http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/pollutants/stationary/eper/pdf/en_prtr.pdf> accessed 30 June 2010, 3. Cf also S Schlacke, C Schrader and T Bunge Informationsrechte, Öffentlichkeitsbeteiligung und Rechtsschutz im Umweltrecht: Aarhus-Handbuch (E Schmidt, Berlin 2010), 32; J Jendroska ‘Public Information and Participation in EC Environmental Law’ in R Macrory (ed), Reflections on 30 Years of EU Environmental Law: A High Level of Protection? (Europa Law Publishing, Groningen 2006), 74–75.
- 26.
Cf United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Guidance on Implementation of the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers: To the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (United Nations, Geneva 2008), 4.
- 27.
Cf Commission ‘Pollution: New European Register Gives Public Access to Information on Emissions from European Industrial Facilities’ (9 November 2009) Press Release IP/09/1689. Data is available at <http://prtr.ec.europa.eu>.
- 28.
Cf W F Pedersen ‘Regulation and Information Disclosure: Parallel Universes and Beyond’ (2001) 25 Harvard Environmental Law Review 151, 151–152.
- 29.
Cf eg C-W Canaris and K Larenz Methodenlehre der Rechtswissenschaft (4th edn Springer, Berlin 2009). This work takes into account the degree in which such classical legal methodologies have been absorbed into EU and US federal law.
- 30.
Cf K Hesse Grundzüge des Verfassungsrechts der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (20th reprinted edn Müller, Heidelberg 1999), 139–144.
- 31.
Cf M Rheinstein and R v Borries Einführung in die Rechtsvergleichung (2nd edn Beck, Munich 1987), 25–28.
- 32.
Cf ibid, 31–36.
- 33.
Cf N Luhmann ‘Funktionale Methode und juristische Entscheidung’ (1969) 94 Archiv des öffentlichen Rechts 1, 1 et seq.
- 34.
K Zweigert and H Kötz Einführung in die Rechtsvergleichung: Auf dem Gebiete des Privatrechts (3rd rev edn Mohr, Tübingen 1996), 3.
- 35.
E Rabel ‘Aufgabe und Notwendigkeit der Rechtsvergleichung’ in H G Leser (ed), Ernst Rabel: Gesammelte Aufsätze (Arbeiten zur Rechtsvergleichung und zur Rechtsvereinheitlichung 1919–1954, Mohr, Tübingen 1967), 3.
- 36.
Cf M Rheinstein and R v Borries (1987) (n 31), 32–33.
- 37.
For the model of integrating adjacent disciplines cf G Weigmann ‘Ökologie und Umweltforschung’ in M Jänicke, U E Simonis and G Weigmann (eds), Wissen für die Umwelt (de Gruyter Recht, Berlin 1986), 9.
- 38.
R H Coase ‘The Institutional Structure of Production’ (1992) 82 American Economic Review 713, 717. For an overview cf J P Siemer Das Coase-Theorem: Inhalt, Aussagewert und Bedeutung für die ökonomische Analyse des Rechts (LIT Verlag, Minster, Hamburg 1999), 82 et seq.
- 39.
T Tietenberg (1998) (n 14), 589.
- 40.
Cf A C Pigou The Economics of Welfare (4th edn Macmillan, London 1932).
- 41.
Cf R H Coase ‘The Problem of Social Cost’ (1960) 3 Journal of Law and Economics 1.
- 42.
On the variations cf Commission, Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Concerning the Establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register and Amending Council Directives 91/689/EEC and 96/61/EC (n 24), 6.
- 43.
European Parliament and Council, Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 of 18 December 2006 Concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), Establishing a European Chemicals Agency, Amending Directive 1999/45/EC and Repealing Council Regulation (EEC) 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC, [2006] OJ L 396/1. For the corrected text cf European Parliament and Council, Corrigendum to Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 of 18 December 2006 Concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), Establishing a European Chemicals Agency, Amending Directive 1999/45/EC and Repealing Council Regulation (EEC) 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC, [2007] OJ L 136/3.
- 44.
European Parliament and Council, Regulation (EC) 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 Regarding Public Access to European Parliament, Council and Commission Documents, [2001] OJ L 145/43.
- 45.
US Environmental Protection Agency, Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases; Final Rule, 74 Federal Register 56260 (2009).
- 46.
Congress, Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, Public Law 94-469, 90 Stat 2003. Cf 15 USC §§ 2601-2695d (2010).
- 47.
Congress, Freedom of Information Act of 1966, Public Law 89-554, 80 Stat 383; last amended 31 December 2007, Public Law 110–175, 121 Stat 2525. Cf 5 USC § 552 (2010).
- 48.
B C Karkkainen (2001) (n 11), 294–331.
- 49.
T Tietenberg (1998) (n 14), 591–593.
- 50.
As for rights of access to information on radioactive substances cf eg T Schomerus ‘Informationsansprüche im Atom- und Strahlenschutzrecht: Endbericht’ (7 October 2010) Document No 3608S70001 <http://doris.bfs.de/jspui/bitstream/urn:nbn:de:0221-201011233819/3/BfS_2010_ 3608S70001.pdf> accessed 1 February 2011, 17–28.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bünger, D. (2012). 1 Preliminaries. In: Deficits in EU and US Mandatory Environmental Information Disclosure. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22757-8_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22757-8_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-22756-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-22757-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawLaw and Criminology (R0)