NCJ Number
130123
Journal
Journal of Law and Society Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: special issue (Spring 1991) Pages: 81-94
Date Published
1991
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Waste management and other environmental issues have received center stage in the United Kingdom since the Control of Pollution Act of 1974.
Abstract
Questions associated with the 1974 act concern the extent to which economic instruments should replace or complement traditional legal regulation, the extent to which a private law contractual approach should supplement traditional regulatory techniques, and whether effective collaboration can occur between public law and private law. At the very heart of emerging environmental protection legislation in the United Kingdom is the idea that waste disposal authorities, often county councils, should not continue as site operators in their own right and as regulators. A potentially important dimension in the waste regulation process also involves the so-called "polluter pays" principle. While the Control of Pollution Act introduces a variety of innovations, it does not seem likely that prescribed offenses underpinning the enforcement process will go much beyond the familiar confines of strict liability. The legislation is notable for its definition of an offense in failing to comply with a duty of care. Principal offenses associated with unauthorized waste disposal stretch to include any person who knowingly causes or permits the unauthorized disposal of waste. Several variables determine whether one agency or another, the waste regulation authority of the local planning authority, are responsible for law enforcement. The distribution of liability for waste pollution is discussed in terms of public versus private law, and the use of economic instruments to attain better environmental standards is considered. 35 notes and references