OSHE 251: Environmental Laws, Regulations and Standards Syllabus Fall Semester, 2010

Course Content: This course will revisit the roles of three branches of government: legislative, executive, and the judicial branches in the development, implementation, and enforcement of the environmental laws and policies. This course will also provide an overview of different sources of environmental laws, regulations and standards and will attempt to introduce students to the regulatory mandate and requirements of the U.S. EPA on the conduct of environmental businesses in the country. This course also examines the implementation of provisions in specific regulations e.g. EPA’s requirements for the implementation of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Other legislations to be covered during the semester include state environmental statutes such as the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act (MATURA), the Toxics Substances and Control Act (TSCA); Resources Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or the Superfund Act and the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) etc. Also discussed in this course are the international laws and treaties that affect environmental, safety and health management programs in the industry. These are the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical (REACH); the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their disposal; the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides etc.