Nuisance Law And Environmental Protection

Publisher Description

First published in 1995. In this study, the author provides a lively and accessible account of the failure of the legal regime to protect the environment. Elizabeth Brubaker explores how legal reliance on property rights has been useful in opposing pollution of land and water. This title will be of interest to students of Environmental Studies, as well as to all those interest in a more secure future for the environment.

This edition takes into account the growing interest in legal protection of the environment, reflecting the fact that this area of law has developed significantly since 1981. It covers relevant statutes, such as the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and the Water Resources Act 1991 (Part 3).

Within the broad framework of the common law of tort,the torts of nuisance and the rule in Rylands v. Fletcher are central to the protection of the rights of landowners to use and enjoy their land without unreasonable interference and to be free from material damage to their interests. Negligence actions can also serve to promote the protection of personal and property interests. Yet toxic torts are often seen as being beset by theoretical and practical drawbacks. Overall there are serious concerns about the continued value of common law principles as an effective and coherent system that is geared to protecting the environment. Environmental law is increasingly developing its own statutory regimes to address a range of environmental problems. This accentuates the sense in which the aims and reach of these two different branches of the law appear to be diverging. Questions inevitably arise about the inter-relationship between private law sphere of tort and public regulatory schemes. The contributors to this volume of essays include many of the UK's leading academics in the relevant fields of private and public law. While the essays are broadly based, the focus of the book is on the challenges posed by accommodating tort with environmental law.

Statutory Nuisance and Residential Property: Environmental Health Problems in Housing examines the statutory nuisance provisions in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 pertaining to the condition of premises and related problems in housing and compares these with the provisions of the Housing Act 2004. The book discusses the separate development of statutory nuisance and housing legislation in an historic context, which provides a useful basis for the understanding and interpretation of legislation and the different remedies available today. The work includes a chapter on actions by “persons aggrieved” using section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and also considers remedies provided in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. This book: • investigates housing problems in the context of the relevant law; and • demonstrates how to use the legal framework appropriately and be able to decide on the most appropriate provision for dealing with environmental health problems associated with residential property. This is an essential and practical book for environmental health and housing professionals, as well as for advisers and lawyers in the private and public housing sectors.

Papers delivered at the program presented by the International Bar Association's Environmental Law Committee at the IBA's August, 1976 Conference in Stockholm.