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{{Short description|Principle in environmental law}}
{{Environmental law}}
In [[environmental law]], the '''polluter pays principle''' is enacted to make the [[Party (law)|party]] responsible for producing [[pollution]] responsible for paying for the damage done to the [[natural environment]]. This principle has also been used to put the costs of pollution prevention on the polluter. <ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=OECD |url=https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/the-polluter-pays-principle_9789264044845-en |title=The Polluter Pays Principle: Definition, Analysis, Implementation |date=2008 |publisher=Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |location=Paris |language=en |doi=10.1787/9789264044845-en|isbn=9789264113374 }}</ref> It is regarded as a regional custom because of the strong support it has received in most [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD) and [[European Union]] countries,<ref name=":1" /> and has a strong scientific basis in [[economics]]. It is a fundamental principle in US environmental law.<ref name="EPA-waste" />

== Historical basis ==
According to the French [[historian of the environment]] Jean-Baptiste Fressoz, [[financial compensation]] (not named "polluter pays principle" at that time) is already the regulation principle of [[Industrial pollution|pollution]] favoured by industrials in the nineteenth century.<ref name=Ulmi>{{in lang|fr}} Nic Ulmi, [https://www.letemps.ch/sciences/2016/10/18/aux-origines-crise-ecologique "Aux origines de la crise écologique"] [The origins of the ecological crisis], ''[[Le temps]]'', 18 October 2016 (page visited on 22 October 2016).</ref> He wrote that: "This principle, which is now offered as a new solution, actually accompanied the process of industrialisation, and was intended by the manufacturers themselves."<ref name=Ulmi/>

In modern times, the continued adherence to the polluter pays principle is supported scientifically by economics. One condition that must be satisfied in order to maximise [[Pareto efficiency]] is the assignment of all [[Social cost|costs]] of a decision, such as the harm resulting from a decision to pollute, to the agent making the decision, effectively removing all [[externalities]].<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Stefan |last1=Ambec |first2=Lars |last2=Ehlers |title=Regulation via the Polluter-pays Principle |date=2014-12-24 |pages=884–906 |journal=The Economic Journal |publisher=Oxford University Press |volume=126 |issue=523 |doi=10.1111/ecoj.12184|s2cid=13875804 |url=http://publications.ut-capitole.fr/16530/1/pollution-2013EJR.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Callan |first=S. J. |last2=Thomas |first2=J. M. |year=2007 |chapter=Modelling the Market Process: A Review of the Basics |title=Environmental Economics and Management: Theory, Politics and Applications |edition=4th |publisher=Thompson Southwestern |location=Mason, OH |isbn=978-0-324-32067-1 }}</ref>

== Applications in environmental law==
[[File:Cottam coal-fired power station - geograph.org.uk - 3415940.jpg|thumb|An ecotax allows governments to better manage the pollution caused directly or indirectly by industry.]]
The polluter pays principle underpins environmental policy such as an [[ecotax]], which, if enacted by government, deters and essentially reduces [[greenhouse gas emissions]]. This principle is based on the fact that as much as pollution is unavoidable, the person or industry that is responsible for the pollution must pay some money for the rehabilitation of the polluted environment.<ref name=":0" />

===Australia===
The state of [[New South Wales]] in [[Australia]] has included the polluter pay principle with the other principles of [[ecologically sustainable development]] in the objectives of the Environment Protection Authority.<ref>Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991, section 6(2)(d)(i)[http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/poteaa1991485/s6.html].</ref>

=== Canada ===
The [[Canadian Energy Regulator]] mandates that oil companies must pay for any environmental impacts from a spill. This mandate requires oil companies to pay for damages, regardless of whether or not the spill is their fault.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Canada Energy Regulator |date=2023-03-14 |title=CER – Emergency Management and the Polluter Pay Principle |url=https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/about/news-room/fact-sheets/emergency-management-polluter-pay-principle.html |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=www.cer-rec.gc.ca}}</ref> 

===European Union===
The polluter pays principle is set out in the [[Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union]]<ref>Article 191(2) TFEU</ref> and Directive 2004/35/EC of the [[European Parliament]] and of the [[European Council|Council]] of 21 April 2004 on environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage is based on this principle. The directive entered into force on 30 April 2004; member states were allowed three years to transpose the [[Directive (European Union)|directive]] into their domestic law and by July 2010 all member states had completed this.<ref name=":1">European Commission, [http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/liability/ Environmental Liability], accessed 29 October 2017</ref>

=== France ===
In [[France]], the Charter for the Environment contains a formulation of the polluter pays principle (article 4):
{{Block quote|Everyone shall be required, in the conditions provided for by law, to contribute to the making good of any damage he or she may have caused to the environment.<ref>[http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/root/bank_mm/anglais/charter_environnement.pdf ''Charter for the Environment''], [[Constitutional Council (France)|Constitutional Council]] (page visited on 28 August 2016).</ref>}}

===Ghana===
In [[Ghana]], the polluter pays principle was adopted in 2011.<ref>Ghana Business News, [https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2011/12/08/cabinet-approves-polluter-pays-principle/ Cabinet approves Polluter Pays Principle], 8 December 2011, accessed 29 October 2017</ref>

===Sweden===
The polluter pays principle is also known as [[extended producer responsibility]] (EPR). This is a concept that was probably first described by Thomas Lindhqvist for the [[Swedish government]] in 1990.<ref>The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University, Sweden (2000).[http://www.lub.lu.se/luft/diss/tec355.pdf "Extended Producer Responsibility in Cleaner Production"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513010736/http://www.lub.lu.se/luft/diss/tec355.pdf |date=2014-05-13 }} Doctoral Dissertation (2000)</ref> EPR seeks to shift the responsibility of dealing with waste from [[government]]s (and thus, [[taxpayer]]s and society at large) to the entities producing it. In effect, it internalised the cost of waste disposal into the cost of the product, theoretically meaning that the producers will improve the waste profile of their products, thus decreasing waste and increasing possibilities for reuse and recycling.

The [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] defines extended producer responsibility as: <blockquote>
a concept where manufacturers and importers of products should bear a significant degree of responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products throughout the product life-cycle, including upstream impacts inherent in the selection of materials for the products, impacts from manufacturers’ production process itself, and downstream impacts from the use and disposal of the products. Producers accept their responsibility when designing their products to minimise life-cycle environmental impacts, and when accepting legal, physical or socio-economic responsibility for environmental impacts that cannot be eliminated by design.<ref>Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Environment Directorate, Paris, France (2006).[http://www.oecd.org/document/53/0,3343,en_2649_34395_37284725_1_1_1_1,00.html "Extended Producer Responsibility."] Project Fact Sheet.</ref>
</blockquote>

===United Kingdom===
Part IIA of the [[Environmental Protection Act 1990]] established the operation of the polluter pays principle. This was further built upon by The Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2009 (for England) and the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) (Wales) Regulations 2009 (for Wales).<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130402182915/http://archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/policy/liability/pdf/quick-guide-regs09.pdf The Environmental Damage Regulations: Preventing and Remedying Environmental Damage], accessed 29 October 2017</ref>

===United States===
The principle is employed in all of the major US pollution control laws: [[Clean Air Act (United States)|Clean Air Act]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Billings |first=Leon G. |title=Cleaning America's Air: Progress and Challenges |url=https://www.muskiefoundation.org/billings.030905.html |date=2005-03-09 |publisher=Edmund S. Muskie Foundation |location=Bethany Beach, DE |id=Speech at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/air-enforcement |title=Air Enforcement |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2015-12-01 |publisher=US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref> [[Clean Water Act]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/water-enforcement |title=Water Enforcement |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2015-12-14 |publisher=EPA}}</ref> [[Resource Conservation and Recovery Act]] (solid waste and [[hazardous waste]] management),<ref name="EPA-waste">{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/waste-chemical-and-cleanup-enforcement |title=Waste, Chemical, and Cleanup Enforcement |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2016-01-07 |publisher=EPA}}</ref> and [[Superfund]] (cleanup of abandoned waste sites).<ref name="EPA-waste"/>

Some eco-taxes underpinned by the polluter pays principle include:
* the [[Gas Guzzler Tax]] for motor vehicles
* [[Corporate Average Fuel Economy]] (CAFE), a "polluter pays" [[Fine (penalty)|fine]].
* the Superfund law requires polluters to pay for cleanup of hazardous waste sites, when the polluters can be identified.<ref>
{{cite report |date=June 1996 |title=The Buck Stops Here: Polluters are Paying for Most Hazardous Waste Cleanups |periodical=Superfund Today (Newsletter) |url=http://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=10001XKT.txt |publisher=EPA |id=EPA-540-K-96/004}}</ref>

====Limitations of polluter pays principle====
The US [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA) has observed that the polluter pays principle has typically not been fully implemented in [[United States environmental law|US laws]] and programs. For example, [[water purification|drinking water]] and [[sewage treatment]] services are [[subsidy|subsidized]] and there are limited mechanisms in place to fully assess polluters for treatment costs.<ref>{{cite report |url=http://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi/901U1200.PDF?Dockey=901U1200.PDF |title=Water and Wastewater Pricing: An Informational Overview |date=2003 |publisher=EPA |id=EPA-832-F-03-027}}</ref>

===Zimbabwe===
The [[Zimbabwe]] Environmental Management Act of 2002 <ref>[http://archive.kubatana.net/docs/legisl/env_mgmt_act_060325.pdf Chapter 20:27]</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=July 2020}} prohibits the discharge of pollutants into the environment. In line with the "Polluter Pays" principle, the Act requires a polluter to meet the cost of decontaminating the polluted environment.<ref>The Herald (Harare), [http://www.herald.co.zw/polluter-pays-as-environmental-management-principle/ Polluter pays as environmental management principle], 18 May 2016, accessed 6 November 2017</ref>

==In international environmental law==
In [[international environmental law]] it is mentioned in the principle 16 of the [[Rio Declaration on Environment and Development]] of 1992 <ref>{{Cite web |last=Nations |first=United |title=United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 3-14 June 1992 |url=https://www.un.org/en/conferences/environment/rio1992 |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=United Nations |language=en}}</ref>

==Exception for excusable ignorance==
The polluter pays principle (PPP) has been doubted in cases where no one recognized that a type of pollution posed any danger until after the pollution began.  An example occurs in the [[history of climate change science]] which shows that considerable carbon dioxide was emitted into the atmosphere by industrialized countries before there was scientific awareness or consensus that it could be dangerous.<ref>García-Portela, Laura.  “[https://philpapers.org/archive/GARMRF-2.pdf Moral Responsibility for Climate Change Loss and Damage: A Response to the Excusable Ignorance Objection]”, [[International Journal of Philosophy]] 1 (39):7-24 (2020).</ref>

== See also ==
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
*[[Carbon tax]]
*[[Ecotax]]
*''[[Environmental Principles and Policies]]''
*[[Extended producer responsibility]]
*[[Externality]]
*[[Feebate]]
*[[Pigouvian tax]]
*[[Pollutant release and transfer register]]
*[[Polluter pays amendment]] in Florida
*[[Pollution control]]
*[[Pottery Barn rule]]
*[[Public good (economics)|Public good]]
*[[Severance tax]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060720232101/http://www.nwc.navy.mil/press/npapers/np15/NewportPaperNo15.pdf International Law and Naval War: The Effect of Marine Safety and Pollution Conventions during International Armed Conflict], by Dr. Sonja Ann Jozef Boelaert-Suominen (December 2000). 
*Doswald-Beck, ICRC Review (1997), No. 316, 35–55; Greenwood, ibid., 65–75.

{{Pollution}}
{{Industrial Ecology}}
{{Environmental social science}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Polluter pays principle}}
[[Category:Environmental economics]]
[[Category:Environmental law]]
[[Category:Environmental social science concepts]]
[[Category:Industrial ecology]]
[[Category:Pollution]]
[[Category:Waste management concepts]]
[[Category:Legal doctrines and principles]]