Institutionalizing Sustainability Across the Federal Government

A notable aspect of sustainability is its holistic and cross-cutting nature—it cannot be achieved by any single rule, statute or agency. Instead, sustainability must be institutionalized across the legal system and government as a whole. In this paper, we propose and examine five mechanisms for institutionalizing sustainability across the federal legal system: (1) an Executive Order on sustainability; (2) a sustainability impact assessment process; (3) a non-partisan Congressional Joint Committee on Sustainability; (4) a federal Sustainability Commission; and (5) a Sustainability Law Reform Commission. Each is modeled on an existing institution in the United States or another jurisdiction. We discuss and compare the advantages and disadvantages of each mechanism, and discuss how the mechanisms might best be used, singly or in combination, to institutionalize sustainability across the federal government.

[1]  G. Sawer.  The Legal Theory of Law Reform , 1970 .

[2]  Tara L. Branum.  President or King - The Use and Abuse of Executive Orders in Modern-Day America , 1975 .

[3]  B. Clinton,et al.  Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations , 1994 .

[4]  Jim Saxton,et al.  JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE , 1998 .

[5]  David R. Hodas.  The Role of Law in Defining Sustainable Development: NEPA Reconsidered , 1998 .

[6]  Kenneth W. Abbott,et al.  The Concept of Legalization , 2000, International Organization.

[7]  Todd F. Gaziano.  The Use and Abuse of Executive Orders and Other Presidential Directives , 2001 .

[8]  William H. Rodgers.  Executive Orders and Presidential Commands: Presidents Riding to the Rescue of the Environment , 2001 .

[9]  Colin Crawford,et al.  A Survey of Federal Agency Response to President Clinton's Executive Order No. 12898 on Environmental Justice , 2001 .

[10]  B. Karkkainen.  Toward a Smarter NEPA: Monitoring and Managing Government's Environmental Performance , 2002 .

[11]  John C. Dernbach.  Learning from the President's Council on Sustainable Development: The Need for a Real National Strategy , 2002 .

[12]  B. Noble.  The Canadian experience with SEA and sustainability , 2002 .

[13]  J. Dernbach.  Toward a National Sustainable Development Strategy , 2002 .

[14]  Lois J. Schiffer.  The National Environmental Policy Act Today, With an Emphasis on Its Application Across U.S. Borders , 2004 .

[15]  A. Chaker,et al.  A review of strategic environmental assessment in 12 selected countries , 2006 .

[16]  Bronwen Jones.  Trying harder: Developing a new sustainable strategy for the UK , 2006 .

[17]  B. Dalal-Clayton,et al.  A REVIEW OF MONITORING MECHANISMS FOR NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES , 2006 .

[18]  Axel Volkery,et al.  Coordination, Challenges, and Innovations in 19 National Sustainable Development Strategies , 2006 .

[19]  J. Meadowcroft.  National sustainable development strategies: features, challenges and reflexivity , 2007 .

[20]  R. Sharma.  Green Courts in India: Strengthening Environmental Governance? , 2008 .

[21]  J. Dernbach.  Navigating the U.S. Transition to Sustainability: Matching National Governance Challenges with Appropriate Legal Tools , 2008 .

[22]  B. Obama,et al.  Executive Order 13514: Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance , 2009 .

[23]  J. Porritt.  THE STANDING OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN GOVERNMENT , 2009 .

[24]  Bram F. Noble,et al.  Promise and dismay: The state of strategic environmental assessment systems and practices in Canada , 2009 .

[25]  Andrew Jordan,et al.  Sustainability: exploring the processes and outcomes of governance , 2009 .

[26]  R. Craig,et al.  Governing for Sustainable Coasts: Complexity, Climate Change, and Coastal Ecosystem Protection , 2010 .

[27]  J. Dernbach,et al.  Environmental Laws and Sustainability: An Introduction , 2011 .