This casebook provides a political, economic, and scientific context for toxic substance and hazardous waste law, along with key toxics statutes. Detailed consideration of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act are included, and different approaches to toxics regulation are described and analyzed. The text of CERCLA, the "Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Recovery Act," is also included.
This casebook focuses on the unique environmental effects of, and the consequent problems of regulating, toxic substances and hazardous wastes. It is suitable for use both in first courses in environmental law (in law schools where the introductory course covers two semesters, for example) and in advanced courses in toxic torts, chemical and pesticides regulation, hazardous waste law, or risk regulation. The casebook provides foundational material on risk assessment, cost-benefit analysis, and other regulatory tools. It then covers in detail the numerous judge-made, statutory, and administrative regimes that regulate the life cycle of toxic substances-production, use, discharge, disposal, environmental remediation, and compensation. Throughout, the casebook emphasizes scientific, policy, scholarly, and topical materials, in addition to the traditional cases, statutes, and regulations. Problems in every chapter help to develop issues raised in the text.
Built on experience of instructors who used the first edition, the second edition is:
- shorter
- more focused on the topics that instructors used most
- filled with important perspectives of two great new co-authors
- with streamlined coverage of risk assessment, risk management, and cost-benefit analysis
- includes a new discussion of chemical regulation issues such as nanotechnology, endocrine disruption, and proposed amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act.
- Updated and recent toxic torts cases addressing general and specific causation, mass tort litigation, continuing and permanent torts, public nuisances, emotional distress, and failure to warn
- Analysis and discussion of the "Big Four" United States Supreme Court CERCLA cases: Bestfoods (1998); Aviall (2004), Atlantic Research (2007); Burlington Northern (2009)
- CERCLA's extraterritorial application
- New case studies addressing post-NPL issues and PRP settlements
- The RCRA materials have been totally reorganized with a new emphasis and student problems in the areas of:
- the definition of solid waste, regulation of recycling activities, RCRA citizen suits, including open dumping, environmental justice, and the international trade in hazardous waste.