Law Commons^™

Probabilities, Planning Failures, And Environmental Law, David R. Owen

David R Owen

Environmental laws often mandate specific environmental outcomes and require agencies to adopt plans designed to achieve those outcomes. But because of pervasive uncertainties, agencies are often unsure whether their plans will succeed. That uncertainty creates important dilemmas; decision-makers must decide how to balance risks of plan failure against the costs of possible over-regulation. This article explores and evaluates legal responses to those dilemmas. I find that planning uncertainties recur throughout existing environmental laws and will likely have important consequences for legal responses to climate change. I also find that environmental statutes and regulations use a patchwork of measures to manage …