Protecting Ecosystem Services: Science, Economics, and Law
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Science, Economics, and Law
James Salzman*
Barton H. Thompson, Jr.'*
Gretchen C. Daily*.?:
I. INTRODUCTION ........................................ 309
II. THE SERVICE OF WATER PURIFICATION ................. 313
III. THE SERVICE OF FLOOD CONTROL ..................... 319
IV. INITIATIVES ABROAD ................................... 322
V. NEXT STEPS ........................................... 326
I. INTRODUCTION
By most measures, modem American environmental law has
been a great success. With few exceptions our air is cleaner, our
water purer, than in 1970.1 Despite these achievements, however,
the last decade has witnessed repeated calls for a significant shift in
regulatory emphasis. The top managers and scientific advisors in
the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have
consistently declared that maintenance of productive natural sys-
tems demands more attention and should, in fact, become one of
the agency's highest priorities.2 In recommending that reduced
* Professor, Washington College of LaI, American University.
** Robert E. Paradise Professor of Natural Resources Law and Vice-Dean, Stanford
Law School.
*** Bing Interdisciplinary Research Scientist, Department of Biological Sciences,
Stanford University.
1. Passage of the Clean Air Act is often considered the start of the modern era of
environmental law, representing the advent of national, uniform pollution control stan-
dards. See, eg., U.S. ENvrL. PROT. AOs CE;, EPA-454/R-95-011, Nrro-%t. AiR PoLLt'r-.r
EsussioN TRFN s, 1900-1994, ES-1 to ES-5, 3-1 to 4-5 (1995) (presenting and discussing
trends in emissions of several major air pollutants); Office of Water, U.S. Envi. Prot.
Agency, Clean Water Act: A Brief Histoy, http://vw.epa.gov/owow/c.a/history.htm
(describing iwater quality major improvements in twenty-five years since passage of the
Clean Water Act in 1972).
2. See, eg., U.S. ENvrl. PROT. AcENC, EPA/600/R-98/086, ECOLOCtIrL RESA,%Rct
STRATEGY E-1(1998) (noting that [e]cosystems provide valuable renewable resources and
services such as... water storage and flood control and acknowledging great interest in](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/staev20&div=15&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Protecting Ecosystem Services: Science, Economics, and Law
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