Environmental Management

1
Environmental Management

• Managing Environmental Issues

2
Sustainable Development

• Development that meets the needs of the present
  without compromising the ability of future
  generations to meet their own needs
• Two core ideas
• poverty is an underlying cause of environmental
  degradation
• economic development must be accomplished
  sustainably

3
Forces of Change

• Population explosion
• World poverty
• Industrialization

4
Leading US Environmental Protection Laws

• 1969 - National Environmental Policy Act
• 1970 - Clean Air Act
• 1972 - Water Pollution Control Act
• 1972 - Pesticide Control Act
• 1973 - Endangered Species Act
• 1974 - Safe Drinking Water Act
• 1974 - Hazardous Materials Transportation Act

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Leading US Environmental Protection Laws

• 1976 - Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
• 1976 - Toxic Substances Control Act
• 1977 - Clean Air Act Amendments
• 1980 86 - Comprehensive Environmental
  Response Compensation and Liability Act
  (Superfund)
• 1987 - Clean Water Act amendments
• 1990 - Clean Air Act
• 1990 - Pollution Prevention Act

6
Policy Approaches to Reducing Pollution

• Command and Control Strategies (environmental
  standards)
• Market Driven Strategies (market-based
  mechanisms)
• Information Disclosure Strategies
• Technology Forcing Strategies

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Command and Control Strategies(Environmental
Standards)

• ADVANTAGES
• enforceable in the courts
• compliance mandatory

• DISADVANTAGES
• across the board standards not equally relevant
  to all businesses
• requires large regulatory apparatus
• older, less efficient plants may be forced to
  close

8
Market Driven Strategies Tradable Allowances

• ADVANTAGES
• gives businesses more flexibility
• achieves goals at lower overall cost
• saves jobs by allowing some less efficient plants
  to stay open
• permits the govt. and private organizations to
  buy allowances to take them off the market

• DISADVANTAGES
• gives business a license to pollute
• allowances are hard to set
• may cause regional imbalances in pollution levels
• enforcement is difficult

9
Market Driven Strategies Emissions Fees and
Taxes

• ADVANTAGES
• taxes bad behavior (pollution) rather than good
  behavior (profits)

• DISADVANTAGES
• fees are hard to set
• taxes may be too low to curb pollution

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Market Driven Strategies Government Incentives

• ADVANTAGES
• rewards environmentally responsible behavior
• encourages companies to exceed minimum standards

• DISADVANTAGES
• incentives may not be strong enough to curb
  pollution

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Information Disclosure Strategies

• ADVANTAGES
• government spends little on enforcement
• companies able to reduce pollution in the most
  cost-effective way

• DISADVANTAGES
• does not motivate all companies

12
Technology Forcing Strategies

• ADVANTAGES
• companies change because it is in their best
  interest
• international cooperation is encouraged

• DISADVANTAGES
• relies on research grants to further technology
• must inform all businesses of newly developed
  technology

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Elements of Effective Environmental Management

• Top managers with commitment to sustainability
• Line manager involvement
• Codes of environmental conduct
• Cross-functional teams