Bloomsbury Enforcing Pollution Control Regulation: Strengthening Sanctions and Improving Deterrence

Monitoring and enforcement issues must be analysed when determining the effectiveness of pollution control regulation, and clearly influence choices about how to regulate. This book demonstrates how an economic analysis of law enforcement can generate important insights into how best to enforce pollution control regulation. It seeks to provide a clear and accessible way into the law and economics literature on enforcement. More specifically, it uses Gary Becker's deterrence model which, by differentiating between two enforcement variables (namely the probability of apprehension and conviction and the severity of sanction), facilitates a comparison of the effectiveness of different enforcement tools in inducing desirable behaviour. As such, it provides a valuable analytical tool in considering how best to pursue cost-effective enforcement. Major themes to be addressed include Becker's deterrence model and expansions thereof, reasons for compliance, environmental enforcement strategies and the importance of a deterrence threat and formal pollution control law enforcement mechanisms such as prosecution and criminal sanctions, administrative mechanisms and civil liability. The book argues that in pursuing cost-effective enforcement much can be learned from examining enforcement practices in different jurisdictions, and to this end the author examines pollution control laws, enforcement strategies and sanctions in Australia, Canada and England and Wales. The book makes an important contribution to existing literature on environmental law enforcement, but its value extends beyond this. The theoretical framework adopted and the range of issues discussed make it of interest to regulatory and public law scholars more generally. Review "As regulation and enforcement take on increasing importance in the environmental policy realm, I applaud Abbot's effort to take a fresh look at this important topic. While contributing to existing literature and studies in this area, the book's value goes beyond a mere contribution. It illustrates how an economic analysis, such as the expanded deterrence model, can provide valuable insights about pollution control regulation...This book would be of great interest to those involved in environmental policymaking or regulation at both the national and international levels. It would also appeal to public law scholars...The book would be wonderful addition to graduate courses focused on environmental regulation and enforcement...This is one of the most innovative and refreshing books I have read on international environmental law in quite some time...a must read for anyone interested in this subject." --The Law & Politics Book Review, Vol.19, No.11, November 25, 2009"Insofar that this monograph is intended to provide a clear and accessible way into a potentially highly complex area of multi-disciplinary scholarship, it has to be adjudged a complete success...this accessibly written and theoretically robust monograph represents a significant addition to the existing literature on regulatory enforcement." --Journal of Environmental Law"The book is well presented and clearly written This is a book that has value in bringing together a host of discussions that relate to enforcement strategy. It usefully compares approaches in a number of jurisdictions and summarises a considerable body of argumentation." --Public Law"Enforcing Pollution Control Regulation is a profoundly competent book which I would recommend to any student or policy maker to read in trying to get their head round the enforcement of pollution law. It provides a simple but robust intellectual framework for thinking about how to achieve compliance through enforcement in the realm of pollution regulation. Abbot should be credited for a careful and sober charting between ranges of different bodies of scholarship. The end result is a good foundational work which contributes to thinking more carefully about environmen