Questions tagged [environmental]
The environmental tag has no usage guidance.
45 questions
3
votes
0
answers
68
views
Finding Text of Negotiations for Biodiversity Convention
I'm currently reading the Biodiversity Convention (CBD) 1992 and came across this passage:
"The Contracting Parties, Conscious of the intrinsic value of
biological diversity and of the ...
- 71
3
votes
1
answer
86
views
Legal requirement for products to be advertised as biodegradeable and nontoxic
In the bike industry, there has been a movement towards branding certain chemical components (chain lubes, greases, etc.) as "biodegradeable" and/or "nontoxic". One example is this ...
- 131
7
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Is a company liable for "potential" harms?
Case 1, you hired the Company to build your house. However, the in-door air quality does not meet the standards. While there is no short term harm to your health, there might be a long term harm which ...
- 441
3
votes
1
answer
225
views
Is it littering if you pick something up, examine it, and put it back?
Watching children play with random garbage found on the side of the road (and their parents futilely trying to stop them), the following question came to my mind:
If you pick up a piece of garbage, ...
- 669
1
vote
1
answer
40
views
Legislative Capacity Exception to Definition of 'Public Authority' in Aarhus Convention
I've encountered some difficulty in interpreting the Aarhus Convention Implementation Guide (https://unece.org/DAM/env/pp/Publications/Aarhus_Implementation_Guide_interactive_eng.pdf) in its ...
-5
votes
1
answer
110
views
Is the use of a former hotel site as asylum seekers’ accommodation exempt from public disclosure under FOIA or EIR?
Invariably when hotels are taken over by the authorities for asylum seekers' accommodation, they are staffed by zealously secretive security guards who refuse to answer basic questions about why, ...
0
votes
2
answers
97
views
How does direct action result in a civil claims?
Greenpeace has been involved in direct action from around or before it was officially founded in 1969 - 71. Before this month I have not heard of civil cases being brought against them. Earlier this ...
- 9,354
2
votes
0
answers
64
views
What emission laws apply to diesel electric trucks?
There’s a truck manufacturer called Edison motors. They make hybrid electric trucks where the truck is powered by batteries and there’s an onboard generator which charges the batteries when it gets ...
- 121
0
votes
0
answers
73
views
Is installing and maintaining / cleaning a septic tank in Spain's Galicia permissionless?
I have a small solar, 232 m2, and the town hall rejects connecting it to the sewage system because it is not buildable ( edificable) due to being smaller than 500 m2. I would like to install a septic ...
- 149
1
vote
0
answers
28
views
Can penalties for civil wrongs be retroactively increased by law?
This question is similar in nature to this one, however, my focus is on environmental law which is typically enforced via civil penalties.
Recently, the State of NJ passed something called the ...
- 2,560
0
votes
1
answer
629
views
What is the legal implications of failure to pay Ultra Low Emission Zone charges?
Bob has driven through the Ultra Low Emission Zone but not paid to requisite fee. What are the legal consequences of this for Bob?
2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
In the real case represented in the Travolta film A Civil Action, why didn't plaintiffs just wait for the EPA report?
The film A Civil Action starred John Travolta as plaintiffs’ attorney Schilchtmann. It tells the true story of the plaintiffs’ efforts to establish the liability of two corporate defendants (Beatrice ...
- 247
4
votes
0
answers
117
views
Can I issue a lawsuit against my city for having unsafe air quality?
I live in Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia(EU).
In many parts of my city, there are many times a high level of air pollution because of cars, especially in the area where I'm currently living. ...
user50418
11
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Bellowing helicopters in the sky: insight and recourse
Exceedingly loud helicopters seem to regularly fly in the sky where I live in the London Borough of Islington, both in the day and night, and often on Sundays, when noise is supposed to even be ...
3
votes
1
answer
72
views
Is there any framework for prosecuting environmental crimes as war crimes?
It is in the news that the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines is an environmental catastrophe. There are calls for this to be treated as a war crime:
Methane leaking from yet-to-be explained ...
- 9,354
2
votes
1
answer
152
views
Gas heating for single flat
Assume you own a flat in a larger house with floor heating in Germany and your gas heating breaks down in 2024.
Now a new gas heating is not possible because a new heating requires to be 65% "...
- 616
0
votes
1
answer
102
views
How is Ethanol categorized in the 12 BImSchV (Germans implementation of Seveso Directive)
The 12 BImSchV (essentially germany implementation of the Seveso III directive, as far as I understand) defines certain industrial or other plants as hazardous, according to the substances stored ...
- 113
0
votes
0
answers
83
views
Do city regulations stating that food waste should be in "plastic bags" require bags specifically for food waste?
When regulations say that food waste should be in plastic bags, are these bags separate from the plastic bags everyone already uses for general trash anyway? For example, this source says that food ...
- 1,331
2
votes
1
answer
285
views
Are there de minimis exceptions to "food waste" for trash collection?
I'm interested in how de minimis principles can apply in law and especially started thinking about it after reading that certain cities require food waste to be put in a plastic bag. For example, this ...
- 1,331
0
votes
1
answer
49
views
What are the EU criteria for defining a product as 'sustainable'?
I'm writing an academic paper in the field of material science and was trying to find working guidelines to define product sustainability.
In particular, I was trying to see if, within the EU, there ...
- 103
5
votes
1
answer
261
views
Does the XR vs. Shell case create precedent for environmental activism being necessary?
Six Extinction Rebellion activists were charged with criminal damage to the Shell HQ building in London’s Waterloo in April 2019. All admitted the actions, and five of the six relied on the defense ...
- 209
2
votes
2
answers
505
views
Misleading sign on a bus claiming it is zero emissions when it is 100% diesel powered, what law?
A bus company in my town are misleadingly labelling their new hybrid buses as zero emission and electric when they are in fact 100% diesel powered and have normal levels of emissions. As an asthmatic ...
- 147
-1
votes
1
answer
287
views
Does Council removal of a vehicle constitute Trespass to Chattel?
Recently recieved a notice stuck on my car windscreen,
Which is a removal Notice giving 7 days to remove the vehichle.
or Until the 16th of November.
I live in Norwich in the Uk & the local ...
- 107
0
votes
1
answer
520
views
Are open air cremations illegal in most of the US?
Almost all cremations done in the US are done at crematoriums where bodies are put inside an incinerator. The only open-air cremation service in the US is the non-profit Crestone End-Of-Life Project, ...
-2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Does EU law require permanent usage of catalytic converters in cars? [closed]
Many countries have vehicles with permanently active catalytic converters despite the fact that they lower efficiency and produce more carbon dioxide for the same mechanical power output.
The gases ...
- 195
2
votes
1
answer
85
views
Does 7 USC 136j(a)(2)(G) ban the use of a pesticide labeled for use against a pest not mentioned on the label?
In one of the answers to the recent question, Is it illegal to kill honeybees in Oregon or in the USA?, 7 USC 136j (a)(2)(G) was cited, which says:
It shall be unlawful for any person... to use any ...
- 3,218
5
votes
1
answer
385
views
"In a manner inconsistent with its labeling": What's the deal with all the exceptions?
7 USC 136 (ee) defines what it means when the government says "To use any registered pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling". It is loaded with exceptions in a mighty wall of text and ...
23
votes
3
answers
8k
views
Is it illegal to kill honeybees in Oregon or in the USA?
Recently had an issue with a honeybee hive and a beekeeper said to me "It's illegal to kill honeybees". Not completely believing this at face value, I did a little digging.
My research seems to show ...
- 1,684
0
votes
1
answer
127
views
In the US, is there any law that governs the amount of pollution generated on private land?
I'm thinking about a scenario where one does car repairs, shoots in their backyard, and handles industrial materials. Even large amounts of paint. You are supposed to take these to a junkyard or ...
- 456
3
votes
2
answers
330
views
In the US, what federal codes govern the operation of a shooting range?
I'm trying to understand what laws and codes give guidance for the operation of a shooting range.
I'm particularly interested in the laws regarding hazardous materials (lead from the backstop(s)).
...
- 456
0
votes
2
answers
215
views
Free potable water law in UK and EU
In Britain, all licensed premises are required by law to provide
"free potable water" to their customers upon request.
What legislation covers this?
Is this the case in other European countries? I ...
- 370
2
votes
0
answers
285
views
What if I don't recycle in SF?
What are the legal consequences to me if I, as a San Francisco resident, fail to throw a given recyclable item in the blue (recycle) bin, and instead throw it in the black (landfill) bin? Will there ...
- 1,394
6
votes
1
answer
171
views
What happens if I buy a stormwater basin from a property tax auction?
I've recently been reviewing property that is available either at auction or for immediately for purchase from the various counties in the state of TExas. Most of them are simply what you would expect,...
- 181
9
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Are businesses in Wisconsin required to accept waste oil?
This morning I stopped by a Jiffy Lube with a couple gallons of waste oil, as I had just changed the oil in my car over the weekend and I had dropped this sort of thing off at this location in years ...
- 213
0
votes
1
answer
118
views
Fallout/pollution as act of war?
Many contemporary weapons deliver substantial secondary and tertiary damage. For example:
The fallout from nuclear detonations.
The various epidemiological and ecotoxicological consequences of ...
- 155
2
votes
2
answers
139
views
Patents and 'wild' organisms
This question was prompted by a discussion I overheard recently at a scientific conference about a specific example (background given below), but ideally I would like the answer to explain the legal ...
- 311
1
vote
1
answer
55
views
What defines a separate visit when getting beverage container recycling refunds on a per-container basis instead of by weight?
I read on http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/BevContainer/Consumers/CashingIn.htm (mirror), regarding getting beverage container recycling refunds on a per-container basis instead of by weight in ...
- 6,669
3
votes
2
answers
373
views
Can the Whanganui river be prosecuted for corporate manslaughter?
On March 15th, 2017, a law was approved in New Zealand recognising the Whanganui River as a legal person. In accompanying media articles it wasn't clear whether this meant a living entity, a person or ...
- 311
1
vote
1
answer
145
views
Can the developer place a cellular antenna after purchase
My friend bought a flat (leasehold) directly from the developer in a London estate. There are a few courts in the estate but it is all managed by the same management company which is associated with ...
- 291
2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Can a citizen sue the FAA for noise pollution from planes redirected over residential areas?
Can a citizen sue the Federal Aviation Administration for noise pollution resulting from NextGen flight redirection over residential areas?
EPA used to have a noise abatement division which was ...
- 29
2
votes
1
answer
94
views
Must a private institution regularly test its water supply?
I attend a private university. Today, they notified students via email that, due to recent events, they decided to test the water supply of on-campus residences, and found that their lead levels were ...
user5601
3
votes
1
answer
694
views
The VW emission scandal, what laws or regulations were broken?
I'm a programmer trying to understand the minutia of the case more, but I'm having a hard time finding information that isn't simplified for sound bite eating public or thick legalesse.
What laws or ...
- 133
1
vote
0
answers
26
views
In the Hammond / Harney County land-use situation, what precedents does the BLM act on to restrict landowners?
I have read a number of accounts of the details involved, most of which resemble this one, and are biased against the BLM. I have yet to find information on what position the BLM took in changing the ...
- 456
2
votes
1
answer
95
views
What is the law that requires Vancouver residents to pay for non-replanting of trees?
Recent news highlighted that landowners wishing to remove trees from their property need to pay to ensure that the trees are replanted.
Where is this law defined?
I've heard there is a similar law ...
- 456
2
votes
0
answers
45
views
What code determines how much noise is dangerous to people?
This question pertains to NYC, but answers about how other jurisdictions define noise pollution could aid precedent or tracking down the appropriate office in New York.
Noise pollution in the city is ...
- 456