US Environmental Law Book Has More than Statutes by Don Rittner It's been more than 20 years since the U.S. Government signed into law the National Environmental Policy Act making it mandatory that all government agencies consider the environmental impacts of their actions. Since then, many other comprehensive environmental laws have been signed and implemented. U.S. Environmental Laws - 1991 Edition, edited by Wallis E. McClain, Jr. attempts to stand out as a reference book for researchers needing the complete text of nine major pieces of federal environmental legislation. It is current up to May, 1991. The nine laws treated in their entirety include: The Clean Air Act; Clean Water Act; The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensations, and Liability Act of 1980; Safe Drinking Water Act; Toxic Substances Control Act; Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986; and the National Environmental Policy Act. In addition, summaries of six other federal laws are included : The Endangered Species Act; Marine Mammal Protection Act; Noise Control Act; National Ocean Pollution Planning Act; Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act; and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. McClain, who is managing editor of Environment Reporter, does not explain why he omits the full text of these . A Table of Contents is listed but of little value (no page numbers). It is followed by a "Finding List" that includes the Public Law and Section number with chapter titles and allows for easy location of specific parts of each law. A major fault with a book of this size - over 1200 pages - is the lack of an index. If the book was only for those needing the complete legal text , it would be satisfactory. However, the real value of the book is in the introductions that McClain makes to each of the nine major laws. Federal environmental law has an interesting and controversial history. McClain gives a detailed account of each law's purpose and evolution as well as political history - the successes and failures, compromises, fights, key political players, and finally ending with the signing of the law. It's in these introductions that the reader gains insight into the complexities of how our environmental legislation becomes reality rather than fiction. For example, while the Reagan/Bush years' of the 80's were highly regarded by the media as a set back for environmental law, the truth, according to McClain, is there were many significant accomplishments during the decade such as the 1984 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to ban the disposal on land of untreated hazardous waster; the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Read all of McClain's introductions and then place the book on your shelf until you need to consult the legal text. Act of 1986, that makes major changes in the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA); the Emergency Planning and Community Right- to- Know Act; and the Clean Water Act. McClain could easily take his introductions and publish them under a separate cover as a primer on the evolution and history of U.S. Environmental legislation. A forward from the first edition by former EPA head William D Ruckelshaus is left in this third edition. Also, a postage reply card is included with the book that will let you receive future updates of the book on approval. Read all of McClain's introductions and then place the book on your shelf until you need to consult the legal text. SOURCE: BNA Books, 300 Raritan Center Parkway, PO Box 7816, Editson, NJ, 08818 (201) 225-1900 3rd Ed. 1991. 1200+ pgs. $58 Rating 4.2 (5 being highest) Readability: 4 Environmental Significance: 4.5 Authoritative: 4.5 Defininitive: 4 Copyright 1991 Don Rittner ---------- Don Rittner is the author of EcoLinking: Everyone's Guide to Online Information (Peachpit Press), a columnist for Environment News Service, and Host of America Online's Environmental Forum.