Business Regulation Simulation Introduction According to the BNET business dictionary, regulation is “the use of laws or rules stipulated by a government or regulatory body, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, to provide orderly procedures and to protect consumers and investors.” (BNET, 2008) Business regulation is not limited to these sorts of issues, though. As is the case with Alumina, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also sets standards that need to be enforced to protect the business as well as the community in which it operates. Because the employees at Alumina adhere to the regulations and standards set by the EPA there is little risk to them when issues arise. However, Alumina’s unfortunate experience with the water pollution five years ago earned them a violation of the EPA rules. Now Alumina is targeted as the cause of a young girl’s case of leukemia. Despite the incident five years ago, executives at Alumina are confident that they are in compliance with all the rules now. The negative publicity incurred by the allegations could be detrimental to the future of Alumina. Cautious decisions need to be made whenever a case of this nature is initiated. Legal counsel should be consulted in reacting to any such allegations and decisions should be made that maintain the best interests of the company while preserving the community relationship. Key facts, regulations, and legal issues The mission of the EPA is to establish and enforce standards that must be followed in order to maintain a clean environment. They have set regulations to limit such pollutions as air and water. Alumina had a spill five years ago into a local waterway. This violation of EPA regulations and its aftermath earned Alumina unwanted negative publicity that proved embarrassing. As Alumina is getting past that incident, accusations of inadequate emissions being the cause of a newly diagnosed leukemia case threaten to mar their reputation yet again. The legal issues associated with this case include whether or not they are in compliance with the regulations and whether or not they should disclose the business records being requested in part or in their entirety. According to the simulation, “citizens can request information from the records of government agencies and their private enterprises, under certain conditions, to bring contentious issues to their rightful conclusion.” (Business Regulation Simulation) In the simulation the records were requested to find a link between any violations Alumina may be guilty of with the development of the leukemia.
In the movie Erin Brockovich not only were children affected by the water contamination but the adults were also negatively affected. In this film the families were directly exposed to carcinogens that were used for water pressure in a multi-million dollar company located a few miles away from the home. One particular family that caught my attention was the first family that filed a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Donna Jensen and her family filed a lawsuit again this company because of a real estate issue. Fortunately, Erin Brockovich worked as the lawyer's assistant and was the first individual to realize that this company was hiding the truth about the chemicals used in the facility. This information that PS&E was withholding from the local residents directly affected their health and
How CAPSIM Works: The business simulation is relatively unaffected by external factors such as politics. The only time CAPSIM required additional decision-making was in regards to the ethical dilemma of offshore cost-cutting. Not once did CAPSIM require the teams to make additional decisions in regards to changing labour, tax, regulatory and other legislations.
Bleifuss, Joel. "A Deadly Disorder at the EPA." In These Times. Mar. 2013: p. 20. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA is the result of a 1970 executive order by President Richard Nixon for the purpose of protecting the environment of the United States through regulation on business and citizens. Public opinion on the Environmental Protection Agency has been divided fairly evenly across the population of the United States as of recently, as compared to the widespread public concern of the 50’s and 60’s that led to the agency’s creation. Recently the agency has come under scrutiny for its contributions of millions of dollars in grants to researchers in order to hide the potential trade off of its actions in order to further the agency’s agenda. The EPA’s ever-expanding regulation could end up harming more than it actually
Rule: National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), 42 U.S.C. § 4321 establishes that it is necessary to take actions to review and protect the environment mitigating any potential damages. Administrative Procedure Act ("APA"),
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates air pollution through various policies passed through the Supreme Court. The scope of this paper is to investigate the Clean Air Act of 1970, and to analyze the impact it has on businesses and society. It provides a rationale for the policy, and contains a brief overview of governmental involvement in regulating air pollution. Further investigation identifies key stakeholders in business, government, and society, and assesses the pros and cons of regulating air pollution. Finally, the paper concludes with limitations of this analysis and recommendations for future action.
This is not the first time that BP is at fault. They have had criminal convictions in places such as Endicott Bay in Alaska, Texas City and Prudhoe Bay. Jeanne Pascal was a part of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and was assigned to watch over BP. Pascal was watching over companies such as BP that were facing debarment. Under her watch, BP was charged with four federal crimes. Over the past twelve years, Pascal’s seen BP patterns as misconducts. She attempted to warn the government about BP’s safety and environmental issues that would most likely lead to another disaster. While she was watching over BP, the company misinformed and misled her about things that resulted to the felonies that they have committed. Sensing that some things were not right about the company, she presented a case of their unsafe working environments.
The environment and the health of the surrounding population go hand in hand. The Environmental Protection Agency takes on this ever so important mission of protecting them both. The mission statement of the EPA states, “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Small Business Programs is to support the protection of human health and the environment by advocating and advancing the business, regulatory, and environmental compliance concerns of small and socio-economically disadvantaged businesses, and minority academic institutions (US Enviromental Protection Agency, 2010).” The impact of its mission can be defined clearly as it examines the impact of contamination in the air, the water, and the land on human health.
They enforce the proper disposal of waste material, the restrictions on greenhouse emissions, pollutants, and other substances harmful to land, water, and our atmosphere. I do support the EPA because it is protecting the very environment that we need to live in. The EPA was created to protect human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on the laws passed by the Congress. I believe that the EPA is necessary, but it does come at a cost. With the EPA, businesses are forced to follow strict guidelines. This comes at a monetary cost that can sometimes cost a great deal of money. This in turn makes the products they produce more expensive for consumer. Overall, I do believe that the EPA and all the rules and regulations they enforce are worth the price at which they are given. Another modern example of government regulations on businesses is sticker shock. Sticker shock is a about fuel economy standards. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the EPA finalized new fuel efficiency standards for cars and light truck for the year 2017-2025. They are requiring the average fuel economy be 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Although this would be great, I don’t think that it is realistic. The sticker price for cars will dramatically increase, and ultimately have a negative effect on the overall economy. I don’t support this regulation as it is unfair and unjust to set
A couple things the Hooker Electrochemical Corporation should have thought about was the respect for persons model and confidentiality. Respect for person means that actions will protect/respect human’s moral agency (Harris, Pritchard, Rabins, James, Englehardt, 1995). At the time, only the School Board knew about the toxic chemicals. However, the corporation should have informed all the citizens so they could make their own logical decisions whether to stay or relocate to another area. It’s definitely crucial to not hold information especially when citizen’s health and safety are at risk. As a result, many people reported that chemicals were entering their houses, women would report miscarriages, children would have high percentages of birth
...nges that may have once been a regulation, but that still effects the environment. Other larger plants and companies are beginning to change the way that they take care of certain waste products because they have been brought into the public light and some groups have begun to campaign against the larger companies that are dealing with the regulations. The environmental push that is being created is affected by the ‘race to the bottom” even though regulations may be decreased the problem is already out in the public so it seems that since there used to be such stringent laws. The increased competition that can be created by the companies which are similar plays into interest groups. State policies are changing the way that larger companies are dealing with the environment as well as aiding in the improving the environment after there has been major damage done.
The overall mission of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is “to protect human health and environment” (EPA, 2017). One of the main jobs of the EPA is to implement environmental laws written by congress by writing regulations. The EPA sets nationwide standards that states and their regulations and the enforcement of them. In order to successfully regulate environmental laws, the EPA helps educate companies of the requirements. The EPA overviews the enforcement of The Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act is a comprehensive federal law which regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources (EPA, 2017). The Clean Air Act authorizes the EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQSs) in order to protect
The Criminal Process in Environmental Regulation. (n.d.). UH Law. Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://www.law.uh.edu/faculty/thester/courses/Environmental-Practicum-2014/syllabus/chap6.pdf
Within the Gilbane Gold case, the major problem is the contribution of water pollution by dumping chemicals to speed production for Z CORP. However, there is doubt as to what extent the company violated city regulations. Tom Richards believes that Z-CORP broke regulations repeatedly but Professor Massin believes that it is not solid evidence. Part of the problem is that two different tests are involved: an older and a less sensitive test which does not break regulations but there is also the newer and more sensitive one which does. The newer test was said that the company just broke city regulations, but not by a large amount.
In addition, it mandated the removal of all ozone depleting substances as well as mandating a required permit program. This part of the amendment was called Clean Air Act Permitting Program (CAAPP). In this case permits would have to be attained by major sources of pollutants to operate. To have a successful implementation the 1990 amendment the EPA more tools for enforcement of these new regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency is undoubtedly the most influential and powerful agency in charge of protecting human and environmental health as well as writing and implementing regulations based on laws passed by Congress. The EPA is an agency that was created with the intent to meet public needs, express public values (Zaino 243) and prevent incidents such as the 1948 Donora Smog which was a catalyst to all of the Clean Air Acts enacted.