Non-criminal enforcement and environmental inequality in the United States

Tara O’Connor Shelley and Anne E. Egelston

Chapter 22 in Handbook on Inequality and the Environment, 2023, pp 383-404 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter reviews the nascent scholarly literature to determine if environmental enforcement of non-criminal violations is associated with and/or contributes to environmental inequalities of vulnerable groups within society as identified by race, ethnicity, income, poverty, or socio-economic status. Access to decision-making and/or having meaningful influence is not distributed equally among groups in environmental governance, which is also a source of inequality. This review of existing research incorporates legal mechanisms exercised by state actors that include inspections, enforcement actions, and civil lawsuits involving the: Clean Air Act (CAA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). To date, this literature does not provide consistent answers concerning the relationship between enforcement of non-criminal violations and environmental inequality. Methodological differences, variability in how researchers operationalize inequality and enforcement, and the environmental law of focus resulted in a patchwork of findings and occasionally contradictory results.

Keywords: Environment; Geography; Politics and Public Policy Sociology and Social Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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