Regulating from the Inside

"Regulating from the Inside moves beyond the common puffery to provide careful and balanced analyses. It brings together significant research on the role of EMSs and effectively combines policy and business literature. Its discussions of business motivations and the connections between an EMS and competing values are well nuanced."--Marc Allen Eisner, Wesleyan University Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) offer an approach to regulatory policy that lies somewhere between free market and traditional command and control methods. Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of private firms have adopted or are considering adopting these internally managed systems for improving environmental performance. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency has established a special recognition for firms that, among other things, adopt EMSs. And, already, numerous state agencies have proposed or adopted so-called green tier systems under which firms with EMSs can be exempted from otherwise applicable requirements. Yet, while both private and public sector interest in EMSs has been booming, the enthusiasm of proponents contrasts sharply with the limited empirical evidence that is available about the efficacy of EMSs in fulfilling environmental goals while lowering costs. To close the gap between advocacy and analysis, Regulating from the Inside brings together cutting-edge work of leading scholars, providing the most comprehensive analysis to date of environmental management systems. Intended to frame the future policy and the research agenda about EMSs, the discussions are organized around two critical questions: How have EMSs worked in firms that have already adopted them? What potential and limitations do they have as policy tools in the future? Addressing the arguments of both advocates and the skeptics, the chapters examine why firms adopt EMSs; how firms implement EMSs; how EMSs answer concerns about fairness, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability; and what kind of impact EMSs may have on the global economy. As the editors note, while the EMS "train" has left the station, there remain many issues about how well EMSs function and how they should be considered as an instrument for public policymaking. Coglianese, Nash, and their contributors begin to provide some of the answers. For business, environmental specialists, the legal community, and students of regulatory reform, Regulating from the Inside is a timely, extremely relevant publication. Contributors include: Deborah Amaral, Richard N.L. Andrews,Cary Coglianese, Nicole Darnall, Derek Davison, John Ehrenfeld, Eric Feldman, Richard Florida, Deborah Rigling Gallagher, Suellen Terrill Keiner, Shelley H. Metzenbaum, Matthew Mitchell, William R. Moomaw, Jennifer Nash, Theodore Panayotou, and Jerry Speir.