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The Justifications For Nondegradation Programs In U.S. Environmental Law, Robert L. Glicksman

Robert L. Glicksman

The concept of non-regression is not one that is familiar to environmental law in the United States. Nevertheless, Congress and federal agencies have adopted programs to prevent degradation of existing high quality environments and to prevent revisions of individual emissions restrictions by making them more lenient. The first programs are known as nondegradation or anti-degradation programs. The others preclude “backsliding” by prohibiting slippage in performance by regulated entities complying with regulations that are later loosened. The nondegradation and anti-backsliding programs differ from the non-regression principle in that their justifications are not rooted in a commitment to the protection of individual …