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Mini-Monograph
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| From General Policy to Legal Rule: Aspirations and Limitations of the Precautionary Principle Gary E. Marchant Center for the Study of Law Science and Technology, Arizona State University College of Law, Tempe, Arizona, USA Abstract
The rapid spread of the precautionary principle (PP) demonstrates the need to explicitly address the role of precaution in environmental decision making. Unfortunately, the PP in its current form is limited by the vagueness of, and variations in, the many formulations of the PP. This ambiguity in the meaning of the PP would not be so serious if the PP were limited to a general aspirational policy, but in every jurisdiction that has adopted the PP it has been transformed rapidly into a binding legal rule. As a legal rule, the ambiguity of the PP results in arbitrary application by regulatory agencies and reviewing courts and limits the capability of reviewing courts to perform their function in overseeing agency actions. To improve the explicit application of precaution, we must go beyond the current form of the PP and attempt to define the factors that weigh in favor of more or less precaution for specific risks. Key words: environmental policy, law precautionary principle, risk management. Environ Health Perspect 111:1799-1803 (2003) . doi:10.1289/ehp.6197 available via http://dx.doi.org/ doi:10.1289/ehp.6197 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 19 June 2003] This article is part of the mini-monograph "Ethical, Legal, and Policy Issues in Environmental Health Research." Address correspondence to G.E. Marchant, Center for the Study of Law Science and Technology, Arizona State University College of Law, P.O. Box 877906, McCallister & Orange Sts., Tempe, AZ 85287 USA. Telephone: (480) 965-3246. Fax: (480) 965-2427. E-mail: gary.marchant@asu.edu The author recognizes and appreciates the suggestions of two anonymous peer reviewers, whose comments helped to improve this manuscript. The author declares he has no conflict of interest. Received 7 January 2003 ; accepted 7 April 2003.
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