Kējì Fǎxué Pínglùn (Dec 2010)
初探科學在環境法發展上所扮演的角色―以美國法為例 The Development of the Role of Science in Environmental Protection Law
Abstract
科學在環境規範上扮演極為重要的功能；但對於科學的使用，礙於科學本身的特性（不確定性、變異性、資訊缺口），使得程序上對於運用科學作為決策基礎的規範也往往呈現不足、甚至不當的情形，如此提供行政機關、甚至是利益團體有機會得以介入、並操控規範制定的程序以及規範制定的結果。這也是美國當前環境法上在面對科學及其使用，亟待解決的爭議。固然人們質疑美國環保法律充斥著利益權衡的色彩，但是相關法制在因應這些現代環境保護的問題上，確實也提供值得我們參考的研究課題。本文對美國法 制的初步探討，希望能提供國人在問題討論上的一點助益。 Science has an important role in enacting, implementing, and enforcing environmental law. Science can be used to restore the public confidence in the agency and provide good rational for its decisions. However, environmental issues are interdisciplinary in character and raise a variety of legal, social, economic, and ethical questions. These conflicts are not easy to be resolved only by science. In the 1960s, Rachel Carson had questioned the government’s manipulation of science to support the toxicological safety of pesticides, which therefore launched the beginning of the environmental movement in U.S. Even today, the continuing debate on regulatory reform has not yet reached consensus on how governmental institutions and procedures should be structured to make decisions better and more broadly acceptable for environmental protection. When science has been playing more important and complicated role in decision-making, what should we do to right the wrongs of the pasts and better environmental protection for our future? In this paper, I would like to discuss the role science plays in environmental protection and propose suggestions for its future development. As I believe, this study focusing on U.S. legal perspective will be definitely helpful for our environmental protection in Taiwan.
