论中国预防性环境公益诉讼的逻辑进路与制度展开北大核心CSCDCSSCI

预防性环境公益诉讼强调对环境风险的预防功能,有助于完善环境风险规制体系、顺应司法救济逻辑顺位并回应社会公众预防环境风险之需求。当前,中国预防性环境公益诉讼面临着偏离司法裁判逻辑、忽视预防性责任主体、受限于损害救济范畴等局限性问题,致使诉讼预防性功能彰显不足。现代社会下的行政机关承担着环境风险规制任务,但风险的科学不确定性必然会使行政权遭遇风险规制难题,美国货运协会案表明对环境风险行政责任的寻求不仅具备必要性,也具备可行性。中国预防性环境公益诉讼应当转向以公法责任为基础的公法诉讼类型,强化法定义务主体的风险预防责任,涵盖环境资源利用行为与环境风险行政规制行为。从逻辑进路看,预防性环境公益诉讼应当坚持尊重环境风险行政判断的基本立场,确立预防性环境行政公益诉讼的监督地位和预防性环境民事公益诉讼的递补地位,并在诉讼过程中纳入包含环境健康要素在内的风险考量,明确利益衡量方法的适用,确立多元主体诉权融合。就具体制度而言:一是在坚持公法诉讼性质定位基础上,作出具备公法属性的立法思路设计,包括立法模式、风险范围及程序规则;二是通过拓宽案件线索来源、诉前程序的类型化、明确证明责任分配规则及完善风险认定体系这四个方面构建预防性环境行政公益诉讼,以发挥其环境风险治理监督功能;三是通过细化风险认定标准、引入不同方式的诉前程序、完善证明责任分配规则及增加司法听证程序来重构预防性环境民事公益诉讼,实现诉讼预防性措施的优化适用。     

管制、互动与环境污染第三方治理

《中共中央关于全面深化改革若干重大问题的决定》在我国环境政策系统中首次提出了"推行环境污染第三方治理",这是我国环境污染防治工作中前所未有的理念与制度创新,其背后的政策选择与价值判断是要求环境污染治理的理念与路径从管制模式向互动模式的转换。本文的主要目的即在研究管制模式向互动模式转变的背景下,"环境污染第三方治理"的理论基础、现实必要性及其制度路径。文章主要运用理论分析、规范分析、比较分析与价值判断的方法,辨析管制模式与互动模式下环境污染治理理念与路径的差异,归纳当前管制模式下环境污染治理制度的内生缺陷,证明环境污染第三方治理的必要性。本文的基本结论是,在管制模式下以行政赋权、"命令—服从"为特征的环境污染防治制度的内在逻辑体现为,制度目标围绕环境行政管理为主线,制度类型以"命令—服从"为重心,这导致了环保目标悬置与制度异化、运动式环境执法以及执法者与污染者合谋形成法律规避等诸多弊病。管制模式下的现行环境污染防治制度缺陷之原因在于,规制机制断裂与制度抵牾、制度结构的单向性和封闭性以及闭环逻辑导致的制度僵化与规制俘虏。当前的制度现状亟待秉持互动模式为理念进行矫正。我国新修订的《环境保护法》提出的"损害担责"原则为环境污染第三方治理提供了法律依据,环境代执行制度已初具环境污染第三方治理制度的雏形,我们应当从污染防治市场制度的体系化、环境代执行制度的改进、设立清洁水和清洁空气基金和引入环境污染治理等第三方机构等几个方面构建体系完整的环境污染第三方治理制度。     

面向新污染物风险治理的环境监管

基于新污染物“高生物毒性”“环境持久性”以及“生物累积性”三大特征,在传统生态环境监管思维下,新污染物将引致“累积性环境健康风险”“弥散性生态环境风险”“突发性环境社会风险”,面对这一风险叠加的挑战,传统环境监管面临多重困境：一是现行环境监管体系无法解决新污染物环境健康风险的积极预防性需求;二是常规环境监管体系难以应对新污染物生态环境风险的协同性治理需求;三是传统环境监管模式难以满足新污染物社会风险的应急性防治需求。针对传统生态环境监管存在的以上困境,提出以下符合新污染物治理需求的环境监管优化策略：面向新污染物健康风险更新现有生态环境监管体系;对焦新污染物生态环境风险填补生态环境监管漏洞;因应新污染物社会风险破解生态环境监管失灵。面对新污染物治理的风险挑战,结合生态环境监管优化的相关策略,生态环境监管转型的任务应包括以下3个方面：一是确立风险的“积极预防”目标更新生态环境监管体系;二是以全过程、动态化风险协同防控思路补强生态环境监管链条;三是以建构环境社会风险弹性治理机制完善生态环境监管模式。而根据以上思路,面向新污染物风险治理的环境监管优化又蕴含了需从治理的立法目标、规制范围与规范体...     

政策与法律双重维度下生态补偿的法理溯源与制度重构

目前中国生态补偿实践已经积累了大量的经验,在部分领域已经取得了良好的效果,但其法理研究比较薄弱,主要表现为对政策和法律层面运行逻辑的混淆,公法原理与私法原理的杂糅。生态补偿政策与法律均有其存在的必要性和正当性。本文基于这一思路分析了政策和法律视角的生态补偿制度现状与原理,并以公法和私法原理解释其制度逻辑,从而探寻法理基础。生态补偿政策的异化根源于传统国家治理体制,目前以"项目制"行政拨款和治理方式为基础,地方将中央拨付的补偿资金用于环境治理后收到环境保护实效的同时,消解了中央拨付资金的意图。在法律层面,生态补偿并未产生规制行政权力以及调节私人利益的制度效果,导致法律调节长期被政策所主导,处于"失语"状态。生态补偿的法理探讨应当区分公法规制与私法调节的范围,在公法层面确定规制行政权力的基本理念,拓展行政补偿的理念与实体制度范围,并将其应用到生态补偿法律制度的构建中;私法层面,应当在遵守公法设立的管制性规范的前提下,承认一定良好程度的生态环境的经济价值和可交易性,进一步发掘合同法、物权法以调节个体环境利益的制度空间。在生态补偿制度的完善方面,政策层面的生态补偿应在明确事权划分的基础上,进一步发掘地方或区域环境协同治理的空间,法律层面应以立法为核心,行政补偿进一步精细化,私法相关制度应体现"绿色"理念。政策与法律双重维度的生态补偿制度各自发挥功能,避免出现互相交织的局面,同时也为正在推进的《生态补偿条例》的制定提供必要的理论支撑。     

论中国环境多元共治体系中的制衡逻辑

中国的环境治理模式历经了"政府单一管制"与"政府监管辅以公众参与"两个阶段,目前正走向"政府、企业、公众共治"的新阶段。在当下中国的环境治理实践中,已呈现出若干政府、企业、公众三者共治之端倪。中国学者普遍认为,构建环境多元共治体系的关键在于政府、企业、公众三类共治主体应当在明确各自职责分工的基础上展开合作,即在政府、企业、公众三者之间构建一个"配合与协作"机制。但本文认为:①政府、企业、公众三类共治主体自身均存在客观不足型和主观过当型两种原生缺陷,客观不足型原生缺陷包括政府的监管能力不足、企业的履责能力不足和公众的参与能力不足,主观过当型原生缺陷则包括政府的监管力度失范、企业的逐利本性难遏和公众的无序参与凸显。②政府、企业、公众三者的客观不足型原生缺陷可以通过"配合与协作"机制得以解决,但对于三者的主观过当型原生缺陷,"配合与协作"机制则显得相对无力,因而需要另行构建一个可以应对三者主观过当型原生缺陷的新机制。故本文建议:①未来中国应当在维持"配合与协作"机制的基础上,充分利用政府、企业、公众三类共治主体之间的制约关系,另而构建一个可以应对三者主观过当型原生缺陷的"限制与制衡"机制。②通过"配合与协作"机制与"限制与制衡"机制的双轨并行,规避三类共治主体的治理行为失范风险,确保中国环境多元共治体系稳定运行。     

雾霾污染、规制治理与公众参与的演化仿真研究

研究公众参与雾霾治理和地方政府规制污染企业减排的策略选择对于"坚持全民共治、源头防治,持续实施大气污染防治行动,打赢蓝天保卫战"具有重要的理论与现实意义。本文首先基于一个公众以健康损失和迁徙损失为代价要求地方政府规制污染企业减排的"公众不参与,政府不规制"囚徒困境博弈模型,然后引入中央政府环保督查和公众参与第三方监管,构建中央-地方-公众三方非合作演化博弈模型,借助数值模拟技术对模型收敛于理想"合作"演化均衡进行实证分析。研究发现,中央政府能够以环境行政管制调控地方政府不规制行为与动机,公众参与的第三方监管作用以改变地方政府理性预期为前提,系统能够实现"中央给压力,地方来推动,公众都参与"理想演化稳定均衡。进一步研究表明,对于地方政府环境规制策略影响公众第三方监管可完全替代中央政府行政管制作用,有助于形成解决大气污染防治地方政府"中梗阻"问题的共同制约机制。新时期,为了构建政府为主导、企业为主体、社会组织和公众共同参与的"合作"治理模式,中国环境管理需要形成生态文明理性预期,建立环保督查长效机制;强化地方治污监督责任,落实企业主体治污责任;保障公众参与法律途径,完善公众参与监督机制。     

长江流域生态环境协商共治模式初探

作为现代社会治理模式转型的重要方向,协商共治强调民主真实性、主体多元性及决策合法性等价值理念,在仅仅依靠政府管制的方式难以解决纷繁复杂的环境问题的背景下应运而生。协商共治理念融入长江流域生态环境治理,契合"共抓大保护,不搞大开发"的基本定位,旨在构建政府、企业和社会公众共担治理责任的大环保格局。作为善治的路径选择,协商共治理论框架包括主体多元性、客体确定性和权力多向性三个方面,旨在解决"谁来治理""治理什么"及"怎么治理"的问题。应用上述分析框架,审视制约长江流域治理有效性的瓶颈如下:客体层面的"边界失效"和"信息不对称"、主体层面"缺乏多元性"及权力层面的"运行单向性"。在生态文明建设的背景下,基于环境管理"大部制"改革的要求,长江流域生态环境建设推行协商共治模式势在必行。具体而言,制定《长江保护法》进行流域统一和专门立法,为多元共治的大环保格局提供法律保障,旨在以良法促善治;改革长江水利委员会为综合性管理机构,协调好流域管理机构与地方河长的关系,重塑以流域为核心的管理体制,旨在提供体制保障;借助自愿环境协议推动企业自治,辅之以信息充分披露,并提供经济激励手段促进企业自愿参与,旨在实现政企共担责任;明确社会公众参与的权利义务,注重培育环保组织以保证公众参与的组织性及有效性,实现流域治理过程的全景式监督,旨在实现决策民主;最终打造"绿色升级版"的长江经济带,实现主体共存、生态共享及利益共荣的价值目标。     

论环境风险治理转型

随着风险社会的来临,环境风险治理成为新课题,这是包括法律、公共机构、社会等使权力具体化的决策过程,且以整合的方式,通过广泛的行动者和利害关系人处理各种环境问题。论文认为在经济与科技理性独大和公众风险感知对专家知识提出质疑之后,信息扭曲、隐匿和程序参与及正当性不足正成为传统环境风险管制的最大挑战。制度逻辑正促使环境风险治理模式发生变革,应充分阐释环境风险治理的行政权正当性基础,基于合作国家的行政法治理念,以参与为基础的公私协力正成为环境风险治理的新模式,新模式是通过广泛的行动者与利益关系人处理环境问题的协同机制。在治理模式转型之下,通过提升国家立法主体与行政主体的政策制定能力、市场主体的创新能力、社会主体参与的知识与能力等来形塑环境风险治理的结构。在制度建构上,应当反省长期以来技术与行政官僚的风险治理权威决策体系,在突破公私藩篱的基础上,推动科学民主化与扩大科学知识审查社群,以"生态现代化"为进路,就各种不同公私协力的类型来做不同的制度设计,通过风险交流与信息透明提升决策效能。其要旨在于,政府、产业和社会基于合作的参与,达成法律与政策目的。总之,在社会转型及风险多发的时代背景下,环境风险治理应当由传统的官僚、阶层、修补式、个别式、中央集权的命令控制路线,转变成强调预防、整合、参与、协商与弹性的公私协力模式。     

财政分权、环境规制与区域生态效率——基于动态空间杜宾模型的实证研究

本文运用包含非期望产出的超效率SBM模型测算出1998—2013年中国省域生态效率值,并基于动态空间杜宾模型,检验了财政分权、环境规制对生态效率的影响。研究表明,第一,生态效率本身具有"时间惯性"和"空间溢出"效应;第二,在晋升激励体制下,财政分权程度的提升引致生态效率的下降,且这种现象具有"空间溢出"效应,在财政分权度较高的东、西部地区,空间溢出效应尤为显著;第三,不同类型的环境规制对区域生态效率具有不同的影响,"治理投入型"环境规制与生态效率之间存在"U"型关系,"经济激励型"环境规制在全国层面及区域层面对生态效率均没有显著影响;第四,随着环境规制强度的提高,财政分权对生态效率的作用将由"攫取之手"向"援助之手"转变。因此,生态效率高值区应主动发挥其"示范作用"与"溢出效应";中央政府有必要优化财政分权制度,引致其在区域生态发展中发挥积极作用;地方政府应采取治理投入为主、经济激励为辅的环境规制;必须强化环境规制约束,以促使财政分权在经济、环境中发挥"援助之手"作用。     

浅析环境公益司法救济路径之选择

自新《民事诉讼法》和新《环境保护法》明确的在法条中规定了环境公益诉讼条款,标志着中国正式确立了环境公益诉讼制度,为环境公益的司法救济路径打开了缺口。中国的环境公益诉讼制度是在民法的逻辑下建构的,准确的说中国已经确立了环境民事公益诉讼制度,而非环境公益诉讼制度。在司法实践中,环境公益诉讼制度的适用依旧障碍重重,深陷困境。可见环境公益诉讼制度不论是理论层面上的研究抑或是法律制度的构建上都出现了严重的不适应性。这使我们重新思考环境公益诉讼制度的本质与定位,回归对环境公益诉讼制度原命题的探讨。本文选取了美国与日本环境法较发达的国家作为研究对象,分析了他们所选择的环境公益的司法救济路径,提出对构建符合中国国情的环境公益诉讼制度的思考,意图为中国环境公益诉讼制度的未来发展路径提供具有参考价值的建议。     

The risks of risk-based regulation: insights from the environmental policy domain

Risk-based regulation has become increasingly popular in recent years. Proponents argue that it facilitates robust governance, contributing to efficient and effective use of regulatory resources and delivering interventions in proportion to risk. Critics contend that the challenges of operationalising risk-based governance mitigate its potential benefits. In this paper we start by considering what we mean by risk-based governance and discuss some of the factors shaping the adoption of such strategies. We then consider the development and operation of risk-based approaches in the environmental policy domain, focusing specifically on the regulation of contaminated land and radioactive waste. We argue that whilst risk-based approaches can offer important benefits, they face a range of epistemic, institutional and normative challenges that can play an important role in shaping the way that organisations manage both risks to society and their own institutional risks. This has profound implications for achieving regulatory objectives and, for this paper, the environmental outcomes that the regulations are designed to deliver.     

海洋环境公益诉讼的制度定位及体系完善

《海洋环境保护法》第89条第2款规定了海洋环境监管部门代表国家排他性提起损害赔偿的诉讼制度,为海洋环境公益提供了特殊的诉讼保护方式。因该项制度设计的粗疏以及关联政策、立法回应不足,造成对该条款规定的理论解释困惑和制度适用障碍,导致提起海洋环境公益诉讼的主体类型受限、海洋环境公益保护诉讼程序衔接不畅、海洋环境监管部门"两种角色"手段配合不当的突出问题,直接限制了环境公益诉讼制度在海洋环境保护领域的功能发挥。破解这一问题的关键在于阐明海洋环境公益保护背后的诉讼法律关系和应用法理,完善海洋环境公益保护诉讼制度体系,实现海洋环境保护的诉权利益调整和诉讼秩序优化。重点是打破现有研究的思维定式,避免将《海洋环境保护法》第89条第2款规定的诉讼类型推演为海洋环境公益诉讼并作为讨论前提,明确该条款规定为带有维护海洋环境公益特点的"准环境公益诉讼",将其与"私益诉讼""国益诉讼""环境公益诉讼"进行合理界分,为海洋环境公益诉讼的发展提供制度空间,理顺各类型诉讼和保护机制之间的关系。在此之下,完善海洋环境监管部门"两种角色"作用发挥的制度设计,保障环境行政手段与诉讼保护手段之间的衔接配合,理顺海洋环境公益保护各类型诉讼提起的顺位与程序,促进各类诉讼手段各归其位,形成与行政保护机制的合力,最终实现对海洋生态环境的整体性保护。     

Public–Private Governance Patterns and Environmental Sustainability

This paper discusses public–private governance patterns which have emerged in global environmental management. These patterns originate from a spontaneous non-governmental basis or have intentionally been created and constructed by international organisations or states. The paper identifies four patterns of environmental governance between international organisations, governments and private actors. Theoretically governance patterns in which private actors play a prominent role, pose a challenge to state sovereignty and remould the traditional state centric pattern of environmental management. However, the article emphasises the fact that these patterns remain no more than constructs of international organisations, non-governmental organisations and governments, whose first priorities are not always environmental conservation. The paper suggests that the oldest public–private type of environmental governance, in which the environmental organisations are in advocacy roles, reform environmental management in a more concrete and sustainable way than the more recently emerging patterns.     

Risk-evaluation of Hi-tech Enterprise in the Process of Approaching Global Market

In the high technology industry, small and medium sized technology enterprises (SMSTEs) play a pivotal role in advancing the whole industry. To achieve sustainable development, they need to extend their scope of business activities beyond a national view and exploit international market actively to meet international competitions that increase quickly in the form of allocating resources within the scope of the world. However, the SMSTEs are also facing risks associated with themselves during the process of exploiting international market owing to their own restrictions, so what they should do is to consider risk evaluations in exploiting the international market.     

第四次工业革命对环境治理体系建设的影响与挑战

以人工智能为代表的第四次工业革命发展迅速,特别是能源和新材料技术的突破,极大可能改变人类现有能源格局,并对建立在化石能源思维下的传统环境治理体系带来巨大影响。为此,本文梳理了第四次工业革命代表性的科技进展,分析了其对国家环境治理体系的积极影响:(1)将改变建立在化石能源基础上的工业、农业和城市形态,打破经济发展对资源、能源和土地的高度依赖,彻底告别环境污染和生态破坏;(2)将真正实现面向现在和未来的数据精准决策,显著改善人类应对不确定性环境风险能力。另一方面,由于人工智能会极大提升公民个体对复杂科学技术和社会规则的掌握能力,会改变传统治理结构中政府—市场—社会三元力量对比,给政府在环境治理领域的政策制定和执行带来新的挑战:(1)公众的能力足以使得他们对政府做出的任何不利于自己的政策提出挑战,政府信息公开和透明决策压力空前;(2)社交媒体使得公众对政府及主流媒体信息的关注大大下降,对政府如何利用新型社交媒体进行环境保护宣传教育提出了新的挑战,同时也对社会管理部门如何培育环保社会组织,弥补政府影响力下降所产生的空白提出了新的课题;(3)个体可以同时具有律师、会计、记者等处理复杂社会问题的能力,挑战政府维护社会公平稳定的利益裁量权,对环境司法公正提出更高要求。当前,中国正在进行环境体制改革创新,追求环境治理体系和治理能力现代化,如何关注、分析并积极适应由于技术变革引起的经济基础和上层建筑变化,避免制度资源错配,对于我们这样一个正在进行工业化的后发型国家尤为重要。文章最后建议,要高度关注这个领域的研究前沿进展,在制定发展规划与改革措施过程中,以未来的技术环境为出发点;要加强治理创新,引导技术朝着有利环境保护的方向发展;要加强技术对国家治理体系和治理能力双向影响研究,推进政府改革与创新,为人民提供更好的公共产品。     

Selling “Fracking”: Energy in Depth and the Marcellus Shale

The development of horizontal hydraulic fracture drilling or “fracking” has allowed for the extraction of deep, unconventional shale gas deposits in various shale seams throughout the USA. One such shale seam, the Marcellus shale, extends through New York State, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, where shale gas development has rapidly increased within the last decade. This has created a boom of economic activity surrounding the energy industry. However, this bounty comes with risks to environmental and public health and has led to divisive community polarization over the issue in the Marcellus shale region. In the face of potential environmental and social disruption, and a great deal of controversy surrounding “fracking” the oil and gas industry has had to undertake a myriad of public relations initiatives to legitimize their extraction efforts in the Marcellus shale region, and to frame the shale gas boom in a positive light to stakeholders. This article investigates one such public relations initiative, the Energy in Depth (EID) Northeast Marcellus Initiative. Through qualitative content analysis of EID's online web material, this article examines the ways in which the industry presents and frames natural gas development to the general public. Through appeals to patriotism, the use of environmental imagery, and a claimed commitment to scientific reason, the oil and gas industry uses EID to frame the shale gas extraction process in a positive light, all the while framing those who question or oppose the processes of shale gas extraction as irrational obstructionists.     

中国环境质量的时空格局及影响因素研究——基于污染和吸收两个视角

提升环境质量是经济高质量发展的重要内涵和必然要求。基于环境污染和环境吸收两个视角，在综合大气、土壤、水体三大环境要素测算环境污染指数和吸收指数的基础上，结合环境质量影响因素的地域差异性，采用SDM模型分析全国及各地区环境质量的影响因素和空间效应。研究表明：（1）环境质量的空间集聚特征明显，地域不平衡问题突出，环境恶化的趋势没有得到根本性扭转；（2）重工业比重偏高是造成环境质量低的最主要原因；（3）东部地区环境质量与经济发展逐渐趋于协调，但人口集聚给环境带来较大负面影响。中、西部地区“高投入、高耗能、高污染、低效率”的发展模式成为提升环境质量的掣肘。最后，针对不同地区发展特点提出“硬治理”与“软治理”融合的差异化环境治理路径。     

The Determinants of Plant Variety Protection Applications in China

China passed its Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) in 1997 which allowed us to do some initial testing of this proposition. We used a unique dataset on the applications of the new Plant Variety Protection (PVP), morphological characteristics, and institutional sources of all the important varieties of rice in three provinces of China to estimate the determinants of plant variety protection applications in China. The evidence suggests that both the government and private research programs are responding to economic and policy incentives and investing in plant variety protection as economists would expect profit maximizing firms to invest. The discussion of the evolution of the seed industry suggested that the combination of the new seed law in 2000 and the new plant variety protection regulation had changed the structure of the seed industry and provided an important incentive to invest in PVPs both by public research institutes and commercial firms. Finally, there is some preliminary evidence that private firms have smaller incentives to develop new varieties than to purchase the new varieties.     

Analysis of availability and accessibility of hydrogen production: An approach to a sustainable energy system using methane hydrate resources

It is considered that use of hydrogen as an energy source may contribute to environmental improvement and provide an alternative energy system. Moreover, it is anticipated that hydrogen will be in great demand in the near future for use in such vehicles as fuel cell-based cars. Research and development of a number of advanced methods of hydrogen production (OTEC, water photolysis using a semiconductor, a municipal waste gasification—smelting system, etc.) is currently under way. A comparison of different hydrogen-rich fuels in this paper shows that methane is advantageous for hydrogen production from the viewpoint of energy efficiency as measured by thermodynamic analysis. This paper therefore proposes combining existing technology for hydrogen production with an unconventional methane source in order to facilitate the realization of a hydrogen energy system: i.e., this paper proposes combining the process of steam reforming, which is commercialized worldwide, with use of untouched natural gas hydrate (NGH) resources. Gas hydrate deposits, which are distributed worldwide, hold great amounts of methane gas and have hardly been touched. This paper presents the economic parameters of NGH development and discusses the concept of devising useful applications of NGHs, with consideration given to (1) independence from current fossil fuels; (2) energy transport using the hydrate system; (3) CO₂ sequestration — replacement of methane hydrate with CO₂ hydrate in the submarine layer and (4) improvement of current steam reforming of methane by CO₂ reuse and zeolite application. This paper thus proposes a new solution that will make a key contribution to the systematic development of a new sustainable energy structure.     

Capability maturity models for offshore organisational management

The goal setting regime imposed by the UK safety regulator has important implications for an organisation's ability to manage health and safety related risks. Existing approaches to safety assurance based on risk analysis and formal safety assessments are increasingly considered unlikely to create the step change improvement in safety to which the offshore industry aspires and alternative approaches are being considered. One approach, which addresses the important issue of organisational behaviour and which can be applied at a very early stage of design, is the capability maturity model (CMM). The paper describes the development of a design safety capability maturity model, outlining the key processes considered necessary to safety achievement, definition of maturity levels and scoring methods. The paper discusses how CMM is related to regulatory mechanisms and risk based decision making together with the potential of CMM to environmental risk management.