Abstract

As the 1990s mature, voluntary compliance and market-based incentives are receiving increasing emphasis by state and federal agencies. This is particularly true because of the newly emerging emphasis on meeting environmental protection goals in a less than satisfactory business climate. During 1994, congressional debate on such environmental programs as the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (Superfund) will increasingly focus on economic issues. Because of the growing attention being paid to unfunded mandates and their effect on local resources, legislators and regulators will be addressing the issue of “who pays and how” when considering additional environmental requirements and deadlines for compliance with these new requirements. For these reasons, pollution prevention, waste minimization, energy efficiency, and total environmental quality management will become legislative and regulatory buzz words, designed, at least at the public-relations level, to encourage companies to take the lowest-cost approach to environmental improvement.

© 1994 Optical Society of America