Jane Holder

This 2007 book examines environmental law from a range of perspectives, emphasising the policy world from which environmental law is drawn and nourished. Those working within the discipline of environmental law need to engage with concepts and methods employed by disciplines other than law. The authors analyse the ways in which legal activities are supported and legitimated by work in traditional scientific or technical domains, as well as by certain more obscure but also influential cultural or philosophical assumptions. A range of regulatory techniques is explored in this book, through a close examination of both pollution control and land use. The highly complex nature of current environmental problems, demanding sophisticated and responsive legal controls, is illustrated by several in-depth case studies, including legal and policy analysis of the highly contested issues of genetically modified organisms and renewable energy projects.

Environmental Assessment is an inherently interdisciplinary mechanism which is concerned with the input and quality of information about the likely effects of development upon the environment. It is a useful tool for examining aspects of the relationship between law, governance, and the regulation of decision making, which have been central to the development of environmental law. In this volume, the procedural mechanism of environmental assessment is analysed. The author argues that, notwithstanding its procedural nature, environmental assessment is highly material to the outcome of a decision. A major focus of this analysis is the enhanced role of the developer in shaping the outcome of a decision by assuming responsibility for providing information on which a decision will be based, in accordance with a broader agenda of expanding the roles and responsibilities of participants in environmental decision making. The author draws upon several contemporary projects as case studies of assessment: a global port, an offshore windfarm, a flood defence strategy, and a recreation centre. In analysing these sites of decision making from a legal perspective, the author touches upon the key determinants of environmental assessment: discretion, the significance of environmental effects, alternative options, and participatory rights. Finally, the volume looks to the future development of environmental assessment: as an avenue for protest, and, alternatively, as a standardized component of international contracts for development.

Environmental Assessment is an inherently interdisciplinary mechanism which is concerned with the input and quality of information about the likely effects of development upon the environment. It is a useful tool for examining aspects of the relationship between law, governance, and the regulation of decision making, which have been central to the development of environmental law. In this volume, the procedural mechanism of environmental assessment is analysed. The author argues that, notwithstanding its procedural nature, environmental assessment is highly material to the outcome of a decision. A major focus of this analysis is the enhanced role of the developer in shaping the outcome of a decision by assuming responsibility for providing information on which a decision will be based, in accordance with a broader agenda of expanding the roles and responsibilities of participants in environmental decision making. The author draws upon several contemporary projects as case studies of assessment: a global port, an offshore windfarm, a flood defence strategy, and a recreation centre. In analysing these sites of decision making from a legal perspective, the author touches upon the key determinants of environmental assessment: discretion, the significance of environmental effects, alternative options, and participatory rights. Finally, the volume looks to the future development of environmental assessment: as an avenue for protest, and, alternatively, as a standardized component of international contracts for development.

This book, first published in 1997, provides a stimulating introduction to an area of law which is rapidly developing and is becoming more important within the UK legal system and EC and international law. It adopts a broad perspective in describing the present legal framework and in examining the evolution of the distinctive legal techniques of this subject.