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Enviroental Law

In: Social Issues

Submitted By isabdi
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LAW AND ENVIROMENT
Environmental law is a collective term describing international treaties (conventions), statutes, regulations, and common law or national legislation (where applicable) that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity.
The environment law may be divided into two major subjects: pollution control and remediation, and resource conservation, individual exhaustion. The limitations and expenses that such laws may impose on commerce, and the often unquantifiable (non-monetized) benefit of environmental protection, have generated and continue to generate significant controversy.
In Kenya for long time did not have a comprehensive legislative framework for environmental regulation. Thus the law governing environmental matters was confirmed to the common law and a number of statutes regulating sectors such as water, health, forestry, agriculture and industry. Nevertheless, increasing Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) of 1999. On the whole, EMCA does not repeal the aforesaid sectoral legislation and instead seeks to coordinate the activities of the various agencies tasked to regulate the various sectors. In addition, the common law remains a useful instrument for environmental regulation.
The common law deals the environment in ‘’reactive’’ as opposed to ‘’managerial’’ manner, since it is predominantly concerned with remedying any interference with a landowner’s rights over his or her land. These rights were mainly protected under the common law of torts, which provides for four causes of action on environmental problems. These are nuisance, trespass, negligence and strict liability.

NUISANCE
Nuisance involves the unreasonable interference with another’s use and enjoyment of land. It is the most frequently invoked common law cause of action in cases of environmental degradation. Nuisance may either be private or public. Private nuisance seeks to protect a landowner’s from interference with his or her use and enjoyment of land, and in so doing seeks to protect a landowners from interference with his or her use and enjoyment of land , and in so doing seeks to balance the competing claims of landowners by ensuring that one landowner’s use of his or her land does not unduly subordinate the rights of adjoining landowner. But because this cause of action is available only to landowners, its usefulness for environment protection is quite circumscribed as it can only be claimed by those that own land. So that where the land owner does not pursue it, environmental degradation will in all likelihood continue unabated.
Conversely, public nuisance seeks to remedy nuisances which affect an interest that is common to the general public. As a general rule, this cause of action can only be claimed by an appropriate public official, unless an individual can demonstrate that he or she has suffered some particular direct and substantial loss over and above the suffered by the public at large. Thus the requirement of locus standi is a serious impediment to the efficacy of public nuisance as an instrument for environmental regulation.
TRESPASS
Trespass involves the direct and physical interference with another’s ownership or occupation of land, which need not be environmental in nature. This cause is thus inadequate as a tool for environmental management, given that the interference must be physical and direct. For instance, it is ineffective for air pollution control.
NEGLIGENCE
The cause of action of negligence may also be instrumental in managing environmental problems such as factory emissions, provided it can be established that the injury allege to have been caused by the defendant was foreseeable, the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care, and the injury sustained by the plaintiff was caused by the defendant’s act of negligence.
STRICT LIABILITY
The cause of action of strict liability, also known as the rule in Rylands v. Fletcher, requires that “The person who for his own purposes brings on his land and collects and keeps there anything likely to do mischief if it escapes, must keep it in at his own peril, and, if he does not do so , is ‘prima facie’ answerable for all the damage which is the natural consequence of its escape” In effect, this cause of action holds a land owner strictly responsible for ensuring that nothing escapes from his or her land where he or she is using such land in manner that is not “natural.”
The common law also protects riparian rights, that is, the rights of those who own land abutting a waterfront to use the water without prejudicing the equal rights of other Riparian owners. The riparian land owner has three basic rights, that is, a right to the natural quantity of water, a right to the natural quality of the water, and a right of access and navigation. Riparian rights are thus important for water conservation, although they are of limited use since they are only to riparian owner.

Given the broad scope of environmental law, no fully definitive list of environmental laws is possible. The following discussion and resources give an indication of the breadth of law that falls within the "environmental" metric. environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act, and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. These and other environmental laws have made our waterways safe again, made progress on reducing harmful air pollution, and cleaned up and revitalized previously contaminated sites in our inner cities and rural areas. These landmark environmental laws provide a tremendous benefit to the Silver State, but there’s still much more to do.
Environment laws CLEAN AIR
The Clean Air Act has significantly reduced air pollution from vehicles, power plants, and industrial sources; which have allowed our country to grow while providing our children with cleaner air. Despite the cost-effective success of this law, some members of our nation would like to do away with the health protections provided by the Clean Air Act. Environmental law fought the last Administration’s repeated efforts to dismantle the Act’s protections, and I will continue to defend the goals and sensible implementation of this important statute. The Clean Air Act is a common-sense law that says when utilities, industrial facilities, and other major emission sources upgrade their plants and equipments they should install the most modern pollution controls available. Fortunately, the new Administration is working hard to implement the Act in a practical manner that meets the nation’s scientifically documented environmental and public health needs. CLEAN WATER
Environmental law is strong supporter of the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. These cornerstones of environmental protection have implemented pollution control programs, set water quality standards, and funded waste water treatment facilities in the country. Environmental law helped provide funding for water system improvements for communities across the nation. CLIMATE CHANGE
Global warming is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The United States accounts for approximately 4 percent of the world’s population, yet it is responsible for about 25 percent of the world’s global warming pollution. Our government must provide domestic and global leadership on this issue because we have a moral responsibility to leave future generations with a safe and habitable world.
Climate change will have enormous consequences for Kenya, the Great nation, and all of the African nation- average temperatures are currently rising, and it is widely predicted that climate change will decrease precipitation. Drought will make farming and ranching tougher, increase the frequency and intensity of wildfires, and could drive many plant and animal species to extinction. Some invasive plants, such as cheatgrass, are better suited to hotter climates, and are already replacing native vegetation. These effects create serious challenges and could become catastrophic in the future if we fail to take action.
Climate change’s impact on our water supply could be the most devastating near-term impact on the desert southwest, which is why I have introduced legislation like the Drinking Water Adaptation, Technology, Education and Research (WATER) Act, the Water Efficiency, Conservation, and Adaptation Act, and the Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act. These bills would help address the urgent need for more research and investment to improve the ability of America’s water systems to meet our nation’s escalating water supply needs, in light of reduced water supplies caused by longer droughts from hotter temperatures.

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