Environmental Law Handbook [Review]


	
	
	




	Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship
	Summer 1999



	DOI:10.5062/F4CC0XPF






Book Reviews

Environmental Law Handbook



Sarah Kolda

Bioscience and Natural Resources Library

University of California, Berkeley

skolda@library.berkeley.edu





Environmental Law Handbook. 15th ed. Thomas F.P. Sullivan, editor. 
Rockville, MD : Government Institutes, 1999. 700 p. hardcover $89.00 (ISBN 
0-86587-650-7) 



Currently in its fifteenth edition, the Environmental Law Handbook's
goal over the years has remained unchanged: to give its users reliable, accurate,
and practical compliance information about fourteen major environmental, health,
and safety laws. Previous editions have been highly praised, and this most current
update lives up to the reputation established by its predecessors. 

Published by Government Institutes, a division of ABS Group, Inc., and edited by
Thomas F.P. Sullivan, each chapter in the Environmental Law Handbook
is written by environmental legal experts, most of them specialists in the
particular area of environmental law on which they are writing. Comprehensive in
its coverage of each law and the compliance issues surrounding those laws, the
Handbook succeeds in its attempt to avoid unnecessary legal lingo and is clearly
written. Furthermore, changes made to each of the laws in the past two years are
duly noted. 


The Environmental Law Handbook's first two chapters deal with the
fundamentals of environmental law and the issues surrounding enforcement and
liability. The authors do a credible job of avoiding excess legal jargon and
providing instructive examples from real life case law in their discussions. The
first two chapters aim to present a foundation for understanding and applying the
information in the remaining fourteen chapters, which focus in depth on each law. 
The index is comprehensive and detailed. 


It is inevitable in a book with sixteen authors that one or more author's method of
presenting information will appeal to the reader more than others. I found this to
be so while perusing the handbook. Though all chapters were well written, I found
the section on the Safe Drinking Water Act particularly clear and well-organized.
Moreover, the author chose to include at the end of the chapter a listing of World
Wide Web resources -- a nice touch. Future editions of the book would benefit from
having listings of additional resources for each of the laws discussed, be they
electronic or paper. 


Environmental professionals, students, and the general public could all benefit 
from the information offered in this handbook. The presentation of the material 
is, on the whole, clear and succinct. Overall, it is a highly recommended addition 
to any library desiring a straightforward handbook of environmental law for their 
users. 









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