Recommended Citation

Gardner M. Brown Jr. and Ralph W. Johnson, Pollution Control by Effluent Charges: It Works in the Federal Republic of Germany, Why Not in the U.S., 24 Nat. Resources J. 929 (1984), https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/faculty-articles/467

Authors

Gardner M. Brown Jr.
Ralph W. Johnson, University of Washington School of Law

Pollution Control by Effluent Charges: It Works in the Federal Republic of Germany, Why Not in the U.S.

Publication Title

Natural Resources Journal

Keywords

effluent charges, pollution control

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This article describes the recent Federal Republic of Germany effluent charge law and the political and legal background that permitted this law to be enacted. The impact of that law is assessed, although the assessment is necessarily tentative in view of the short experience with the law to date. The economic and legal implications of enacting an effluent charge law in the United States also are analyzed. Included in this discussion are the advantages and disadvantages of state vs. federal enactment, the constitutional objections that might be raised to such a law, and how it might be coordinated with existing water pollution control laws in the United States.