Page 189 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

The president may also issue executive orders, specific
legal instructions for government agencies. For example, in
2012 President Obama issued an executive order that for the
first time required oil and gas companies to publicly disclose
the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing. However, the
order required this disclosure only after drilling is complete.
The White House had originally intended to require disclosure
before a well was drilled, but heavy lobbying from industry in
House of Representatives Senate an election year caused it to bow to industry demands.
Member of House Senator introduces The judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Court and vari-
introduces bill bill ous lower courts, is charged with interpreting legislation.
This is necessary because social norms, societal conditions,
If appropriate, bill If appropriate, bill and technologies change over time, and because Congress
is referred to House is referred to Senate
committee and committee and must write laws broadly to ensure that they apply to varied
subcommittee subcommittee circumstances throughout the nation. Decisions rendered by
the courts make up a body of law known as case law. Pre-
Subcommittee Subcommittee vious rulings serve as precedents, or legal guides, for later
marks changes and marks changes and
votes on bill votes on bill cases, steering judicial decisions through time. The judici-
ary has been an important arena for environmental policy.
Full committee Full committee Grassroots environmental advocates and nongovernmental
marks changes and marks changes and organizations use lawsuits to help level the playing field with
votes on bill votes on bill
large corporations and government agencies. Conversely, the
Bill is voted on Bill is voted on courts hear complaints from businesses and individuals chal-
by the full House, by the full Senate, lenging the constitutional validity of environmental laws they
in a House in a Senate feel to be infringing on their rights. Individuals and organiza-
floor vote floor vote
tions also lodge suits against government agencies when they
A conference committee feel the agencies are failing to enforce their own regulations.
made up of both House
and Senate committees
that worked on the bill Courts interpret the constitutionality
works out any differences
between the House and of policy
Senate versions of the bill
The U.S. Constitution lays out several principles that have
House approves Senate approves come to be especially relevant to environmental policy. One
final bill final bill of these is from the Fifth Amendment, which ensures, in part,
that private property shall not “be taken for public use with-
out just compensation.” Courts have interpreted this clause,
known as the takings clause, to ban not only the literal tak-
ing of private property but also what is known as regulatory
taking. A regulatory taking occurs when the government, by
means of a law or regulation, deprives a property owner of
The White House all or some economic uses of his or her property. Many peo-
The final bill is sent to the ple cite the takings clause in opposing environmental regu-
President, who either signs or lations that restrict development on privately owned land.
vetoes it. (If the bill is vetoed,
a 2/3 majority of the House and For example, some would contend that zoning regulations
Senate can overturn the veto.) (p. 361) that prohibit a landowner from allowing gas drilling
and hydrofracking in a residential neighborhood deprive the
landowner of an economically valuable use of the land and,
Figure 7.4 Before a bill becomes U.S. law, it must clear hur- therefore, may violate the Fifth Amendment.
dles in both legislative bodies. If the bill passes the House and
Senate, a conference committee works out differences between In a landmark case in 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
versions before the bill is sent to the president. The president may that a state land use law intended to “prevent serious public
then sign or veto the bill. harm” violated the takings clause. The case, Lucas v. South
Carolina Coastal Council, involved a developer named Lucas
administrative agencies monitor compliance with laws and regu- who in 1986 purchased beachfront property in South Carolina
lations and enforce them when they are violated. For instance, the for $975,000. In 1988, before Lucas began to build, South Caro-
Environmental Protection Agency is an administrative agency lina’s legislature passed a law banning construction on eroding
that regulates some aspects of fossil fuel extraction and waste beaches (Figure 7.5). A state agency classified the Lucas prop-
handling under various laws including the Clean Water Act. As erty as an eroding beach and prohibited residential construction
some citizens call for stronger regulation of hydraulic fracturing, there. Lucas contested this decision, and the Supreme Court
188 it is the EPA that would in most cases become involved. ruled in his favor, declaring that the state law deprived Lucas of

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