Environmental Risk Management and Community Response to Environmental Controversy
Week 5 Discussions and
Required Resources
Two-part assignment: All parts must be at least 200 words unless otherwise noted. Please read all attachments and follow ALL instructions.
Part 1: Environmental Risk Management
Explain the relevance of precedents in environmental law and judicial interpretations for businesses when formulating risk management policies, and why risk management is important to business in the context of environmental law.
Part 2: Community Response to Environmental Controversy
Using the Internet or a newspaper, locate an article about a controversial environmental issue in your community. Create a critical response from a legal perspective to that issue in the form of a letter on behalf of the community (In other words, pretend like you are a spokesperson for the community and you are responding critically to the environmental controversy). You should direct your letter to the party that you perceive is the cause of this controversy (e.g., business or government.) In your letter, identify opportunities for the business community to get involved in improving the environment as it relates to the controversy. Remember to briefly describe the issue that you are critiquing. (Note that this issue should be a different issue than you use for your Week Five SWOT analysis.)
Required Resources
Text
Read the following chapters in your text,
Environmental Law
:
· Chapter 2: History, Standing, Local Government Regulation, Risk Management, and Workplace Safety
Text: Schroeder, K.L. (2008). Environmental Law. Retrieved from
https://www.vitalsource.com/
Website
Mind Tools.
SWOT Analysis
. Retrieved from
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm
. This site supports the SWOT Analysis assignment this week.
Week 5 Discussions and Required Resources
Two-part assignment: All parts must be at least 200 words unless otherwise noted. Please read all attachments and follow ALL instructions.
Part 1: Environmental Risk Management
Explain the relevance of precedents in environmental law and judicial interpretations for businesses when formulating risk management policies, and why risk management is important to business in the context of environmental law.
Part 2: Community Response to Environmental Controversy
Using the Internet or a newspaper, locate an article about a controversial environmental issue in your community. Create a critical response from a legal perspective to that issue in the form of a letter on behalf of the community (In other words, pretend like you are a spokesperson for the community and you are responding critically to the environmental controversy). You should direct your letter to the party that you perceive is the cause of this controversy (e.g., business or government.) In your letter, identify opportunities for the business community to get involved in improving the environment as it relates to the controversy. Remember to briefly describe the issue that you are critiquing. (Note that this issue should be a different issue than you use for your Week Five SWOT analysis.)
Required Resources
Text
Read the following chapters in your text,
Environmental Law
:
· Chapter 2: History, Standing, Local Government Regulation, Risk Management, and Workplace Safety
Text: Schroeder, K.L. (2008). Environmental Law. Retrieved from
https://www.vitalsource.com/
Website
Mind Tools.
SWOT Analysis
. Retrieved from
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm
. This site supports the SWOT Analysis assignment this week.
Week 5 Guidance – Environmental Risk Management, Community Response to Environmental Controversy, and SWOT Analysis
Welcome! This week, we will discuss Environmental Risk Management, Community Response to Environmental Controversy, and SWOT Analysis. The learning outcomes are as follows:
1. Explain how risk management concepts apply to business in the context of environmental law.
2. Create a community response to a controversial environmental issue.
3. Develop a SWOT analysis to work with stakeholders in an environmental dispute.
Required Resources
Text
1. Read the following chapters in your text, Environmental Law:
2. Chapter 2: History, Standing, Local Government Regulation, Risk Management, and Workplace Safety
3. Mind Tools.
SWOT analysis
. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm. This site supports the SWOT Analysis assignment this week.
Discussions
Participate in the following discussions:
1. Environmental Risk Management. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Explain the relevance of precedents in environmental law and judicial interpretation for businesses when formulating risk management policies, and why risk management is important to business in the context of environmental law. Respond to at least two of your fellow students’ postings.
2. Community Response to Environmental Controversy. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Using the internet or newspaper, locate an article about a controversial environmental issue in your community. Create a critical response from a legal perspective to that issue in a form of a letter on behalf of the community (In other words, pretend like you are a spokesperson for the community and you are responding critically to the environmental controversy). You should direct your letter to the party that you perceive is the cause of this controversy (e.g. business or government). In your letter, identify opportunities for the business community to get involved in improving the environment as it relates to the controversy. Remember to briefly describe the issue that you are critiquing. (Note that this issue should be a different issue than you use for your Week Five SWOT Analysis. Respond to at least two of your fellow students’ postings.
Assignment
1. SWOT Analysis. Due by Day 7. Prepare a three-page paper (excluding the title and reference pages and SWOT template) that address the following: Address all of the following parts of this assignment:
2. Describe an environmental dispute in your community or state in which a business is a major contributor to the problem or challenge. (Note that this should be a different issue than the one you used for Week Five Discussion Two.)
3. When describing the environmental dispute, discuss the specific business involved in the dispute, as well as the business’ role in the dispute.
4. Analyze the skills, knowledge, experience, and preparation that would be necessary for that business to successfully work with stakeholders to resolve the environmental dispute. In addition, analyze the deficiencies in the business’ ability to resolve the dispute successfully.
5. Prepare a SWOT analysis, using the SWOT Analysis Template. Additional information on conducting a SWOT analysis is available on Mind Tools. Besides skills, knowledge, experience, and preparation, you should examine two other attributes of your choice in your
SWOT analysis (e.g. homegrown business, foreign business, reputation of business, etc.).
This paper must be formatted according to APA style guidelines as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Carefully review the
Grading Rubric
for the evaluation of your assignments.
Reflection
Chapter 2 discusses the history of environmental law, the standing concept, and environmental law, local government regulation, risk assessment, and safety in the work place. Before the 1960s, environmental law did not exist as it is today. “Scattered laws in the United States provided relief for environmental problems” (Schroeder, 2008 p. 22). Modern laws on environmental protection can be traced to public health and resource conservation laws in the nineteenth century as well as in private legal action for damage resulting from pollution. As a result of the consequence of the Industrial Revolution, many cities had to enact ordinances on smoke abatement and to adopt sanitary codes to protect drinking water (Luneberg, 2002).
Preventive federal statutes were enacted in the early 20th century for the regulation of the quality of food, drinking water, and the treatment of sewage (Lewis, 1988). A majority of the legislation on the environment, before the 1960s, was at the state and local level.
The 1970s saw a major growth in environmental law. While earlier federal and state legislation had separately addressed public health problems and the maintenance of some environmental amenities, these separate stands converged to become modern American environmentalism the early 1970s. There was the concern for the “protection and enhancement of public health and welfare, with welfare being defined broadly to include aesthetic appreciation and other noneconomic values” (Luneberg, p. 381). The National Environmental Policy Act is one of the policies enacted in 1970.
In the 1980s, environmental justice and environmental racism issues were at the forefront of environmental law. The 1990s however, saw a trend of seeking politicians’ views on environmental issues so that they could be held accountable. This trend continues to influence environmental issues in the country. Please read the entire chapter for a full understanding of the history of environmental law and the concepts discussed.
The other required resource for this week is the SWOT Analysis found on Mind Tools (please see the link under the required resources above). A SWOT analysis is a technique used to evaluate the following four elements of a project or business namely: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the business or organization while opportunities and threats are external. What are some of the internal and external factors to consider?
Internal factors include location (of business or organization), image or reputation, and patents. External factors include prices, competitors, and suppliers. It is important to remember that internal factors can be changed even though they might require a lot effort. However, external factors cannot be changed.
The SWOT analysis is applicable to community health development, education, and personal growth despite its original intention for business and industry. Goodrich (2015) notes that the major object of the SWOT analysis is the identification of all factors, positive and negative, that may influence strategic planning and decision making. Please access the provided link to learn more about SWOT Analysis.
References
Goodrich, R. (2015, January 1). SWOT Analysis: Examples, Templates, & Definition. Business News Daily. Retrieved from
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4245-swot-analysis.html.
Luneberg, W. (2002). Environmental Law in the USA. In P. Compton, D. Devuyst, l. Hens. & B. Narth (Eds.), Environmental Management in Practice: Volume 1. Instruments for Environmental Management (pp. 378 – 403). New York, NY: Routledge.
Lewis, J. (1988). Looking Backward: A Historical Perspective on Environmental Regulations. EPA Journal, 14(2), 26-29
Schroder, K. L. (2008). Environmental Law. Clifton Park, NY: Thomas Delmar Learning