Showing papers in "Ecology Law Quarterly in 1985"

The United Nations World Charter for Nature: The Developing Nations' Initiative to Establish Protections for the Environment

Abstract: In response to a suggestion made by President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, a multinational task force began in 1975 to draft the World Charter for Nature as a guide for regulating international environmental development.' Sponsored by thirty-four \"developing nations,\"'2 the Charter passed the General Assembly of the United Nations on October 29, 1982. 3 This Article examines the development of the World Charter for Nature, the debate over the Charter in the United Nations, and the goals and principles embodied in the final form of the Charter. This analysis reveals that, despite the debate over several policy issues and the specific language of the Charter, most developing nations accept the underlying premise of the Charter: the global environment needs substantive and procedural protection from the adverse impacts of social and economic development. Finally, the Article suggests that, even though the Charter's recommendations are unenforceable general principles, the guide-

The Emergence of Environmental Law in the Developing Countries: A Case Study of India

Abstract: India is the second most populous country in the world, with almost 700 million people.' Covering over 3.2 million square kilometers, it is also the seventh largest nation on Earth.2 India's agricultural regions are widely distributed geographically, while its natural resources, such as forests, minerals, and energy resources, are concentrated in certain areas. Thousands of years of cultivation, a century of industrialization, and a phenomenal population increase during the twentieth century have considerably altered the country's natural environment. 3 Population groi'th, urbanization, and industrial and agricultural development underlie the primary environmental problems facing India today.4 Population growth has created water supply, sewage, and waste disposal problems. The concentration of population and industrial activity in large cities has overburdened municipal sanitation facilities. Intensive application of chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and pesticides used to

Environmental Legislation in Developing Countries: Some Parameters and Constraints

Abstract: Environmental laws are not always regarded as useful or effective by decision makers in the fields of resource management and international economic aid. Some critics suggest that environmental laws do not make any difference, while others argue that these laws do not respond to the needs of individual countries and that legislation can be an obstacle to progress rather than a useful instrument for environmental management. These criticisms are not entirely undeserved. Can environmental legislation actually help solve environmental problems, especially in less developed countries (LDCs)? The argument here is that it can, but that officials who draft and implement environmental legislation in LDCs need to examine carefully both their conceptual approach to environmental legislation and the practical application of these laws to environmental problems. The primary problem with environmental legislation is not the great variety of human or natural resource systems. In most jurisdictions, the major constraints are conceptual and structural. Environmental law should not be understood as just another new system of rules and agencies. Rather, it must be viewed as part of ecomanagement-a comprehensive process of resource management, informed by ecosystemic knowledge, and progressively integrated with economic development planning. This conception of environmental law provides a general reference model for drafting and implementing legislation.1 Less developed countries suffer from indigenous constraints beyond

Confronting Industrial Pollution in Rapidly Industrializing Countries: Myths, Pitfalls, and Opportunities

Abstract: In the last decade, a number of countries other than the most advanced industrial nations have experienced dramatic industrial growth. These rapidly industrializing countries include some of Western Europe's poorer countries (Spain, Greece, and Ireland), as well as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Brazil, Mexico, the colony of Hong Kong, the socialist nations of Eastern Europe, and several other countries in South America, Africa, and Asia. During the 1980's, more middleand lowerincome countries are likely to join the ranks of these rapid industrializing countries. 1

Policy Issues for Consideration in Transferring Technology to Developing Countries

Abstract: Union Carbide uses methyl isocyanate, an extremely potent tear gas, to produce relatively toxic pesticides.3 At the Bhopal plant, the methyl isocyanate was stored in refrigerated underground tanks to keep the volatile gas in a liquid form. In November 1984, the Bhopal plant was temporarily closed for maintenance repairs on the storage tanks, connecting pipes, and a scrubber (a safety device designed to neutralize any escaping gas). On the night of December 3, 1984, the temperature in one of the storage tanks began to rise, causing the pressure in the tank to increase. A safety system, designed to relieve excessive pressure in the tank automatically, failed to operate. Workers were unable to manually operate mechanisms to relieve the pressure in the tank, and many of the workers fled from the facility. A critical control panel failed and prevented the leak from appearing on monitors that could have provided an earlier warning. Two safety devices also failed: the scrubber, which should have neutralized

The Role of Developing Countries in Nudging the International Whaling Commission from Regulating Whaling to Encouraging Nonconsumptive Uses of Whales

Abstract: Almost forty years have passed since the conclusion of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW)1 in 1946 which established the International Whaling Commission (IWC).2 In this time, the member countries, including several developing countries, have made considerable progress toward protecting the great whales. The increased participation in the IWC by developing countries has made much of this progress possible. When the developing countries signed the ICRW, though, the four developing nations--of the fourteen countries which signed the Convention 3-were concerned not with \"development\" issues,

The Accountability of Development Assistance Agencies: The Case of Environmental Policy

Abstract: During recent years, various organizations have attempted to improve the environmental soundness of the programs funded by development assistance agencies. In 1975, several environmental organizations filed suit against the United States Agency for International Development (AID) for its failure to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act.1 In 1983 and 1984, environmental organizations testified in support of a recommendation that the United States Treasury Department report to Congress annually on the environmental performance of multilateral development banks. 2 Over the past few years, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has channeled funds through the environmental office of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the hope of influencing the environmental planning of the FAO Field Programme.3 In each of these cases, environmental organizations sought to make a development assistance agency more accountable by

Morne Trois Pitons National Park in Dominica: A Case Study in Park Establishment in the Developing World

Abstract: Dominica lies on the 1000-mile chain of Caribbean islands stretching from the Virgin Islands south to Trinidad. Precipitous peaks bathed in over 300 inches of rain each year plunge steeply to cliffs, black sand, and cobbled beaches. Torrential rivers, sparkling streams and waterfalls, deep valleys, tall trees, and lush vegetation cover the island. Dominica's large expanse of undisturbed flora is one of the last remaining in the Lesser Antilles. 2 Despite its idyllic natural setting, Dominica is not without threats to its natural beauty and its human population. Dominica is one of the poorest countries of the hemisphere, with an annual per capita income of $762. 3 Many of the 80,000 Dominicans4 are subsistence farmers practicing slash and burn agriculture. The population, ninety percent of which lives along the coast, is growing at a little over two percent each year. Seventy percent of Dominica's exports are bananas, and the value of the country's imports is twice that of its exports. 5 In light of this socioeconomic reality, a proposal to preserve a major portion of tropical forest,

Arsenic, ASARCO, and EPA: Cost-Benefit Analysis, Public Participation, and Polluter Games in the Regulation of Hazardous Air Pollutants

Abstract: The regulation of arsenic emissions poses three recurring issues of environmental regulation: (1) the role that cost-benefit analysis should play in environmental decisions; (2) the extent to which the public should participate in environmental decisions; and (3) the problem of strategic behavior and the measures that EPA can take to prevent strategic behavior.' This Comment will examine these three issues in the context of EPA's regulation, under section 112 of the Clean Air Act, of arsenic emitted from the ASARCO copper smelter in Tacoma, Washington. 2 These issues are particularly timely in light of current consideration of amendments to section 112. 3

Water Supply in the Northeast: A Study in Regulatory Failure

Abstract: Water is a plentiful resource in the Northeastern' United States. 2 Water supply management in the region is complicated, however, by droughts3 and the fact that water sources are not always within the convenient reach of population centers. These climatic and geographical conditions should not present Northeastern water management institutions with any insurmountable problems. Nevertheless, residents of the region have periodically suffered severe water shortages. These shortages are man-made. They occur because the states of the region lack the insti-

The Michigan Environmental Protection Act: Bringing Citizen-Initiated Environmental Suits into the 1980's

Abstract: In 1970, the Michigan legislature enacted the Michigan Environmental Protection Act (MEPA),I the first state statute expressly to authorize citizen-initiated environmental lawsuits2 and thus to challenge the courts to develop a \"common law of environmental quality.\"' 3 The mixed reviews greeting the Act's passage underscored MEPA's conceptual originality. 4 No one could predict the problems that might be encountered. Would the absence of a provision for damages awards deter citizens from using the statute? Would the courts be able to handle environmental issues in a timely fashion or would they become mired in highly technical controversies and frivolous complaints? Indeed, the success or failure of MEPA was considered \"an important harbinger of the