ABSTRACT

Inextricably Intertwined – Environmental Management and the Public

By Thomas Stowe Mullikin, Nancy Sara Smith, and Michael Thomas Champion

In the last forty years, public participation has gained widespread acceptance in government decision-making, especially in the realm of environmental law. Public participation has become a key mandate in international environmental initiatives that focus on the concept of sustainable development. Public participation rights have also developed in both developed States, such as such as the United States and the European Union, and transitional States, such as in the areas of Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. However, the concept of public participation in environmental law is not universally applied, and even if it is applied then the scope and effect of the public “right” is often inconsistent and uncertain. This article advances an argument that environmental public participation rights are necessary for industrial development and economic growth. This argument is supported by three factors. The first factor is the crucial nexus between industrialization of society and the need for public rights in environmental regulation in order to ensure sustainable development. The second factor concentrates on the importance of international and internal forces compelling transitional States to implement these “rights,” resulting in these States recognizing the importance of these rights and responding accordingly. The last factor is the fact that public participation rights attract capital investors because their creation produces a stable market essential for successful development. The article examine these three factors by tracing the development of environmental public participation in the West, surveying actual “rights” in EU and U.S. environmental legislation, and tracing the international emergence of these rights through sustainable development. Finally, the paper focuses on the importance of enacting environmental public participation rights as a means of mitigating risks and allocating cost of development among stakeholders and as an insurance of sustainable development.