History of Environmental Law and NREP
Environmental laws can be traced back 300 years to the early laws of
nuisance in England. In the late 1800s, the U.S.
Congress enacted the River and Harbors Act that was
aimed at preventing the pollution of waterways, a
necessary first step to protecting natural resources
and environmental protection.
The environmental movement in the United States,
however, did not truly begin in earnest until the
early 1970s. Through a variety of events, the
public, government, and educators came together in
the realization that serious damage to the air,
water, and land had been caused in past years and
that unified action was needed.
Today, the problems of protecting and enhancing the
environment have taken on such global importance
that the United Nations and its member countries
have instituted ecological and pollution prevention
programs throughout the world. People are realizing,
though, that many past sins imposed on the
environment can, unfortunately, never be repaired.
People of good will, dedication, and concern are
making sure now that man-made contamination is
brought under control.
Because of all of the past injustices done to the
environment, both the government and the public have
grown to be skeptical of those persons claiming to
be knowledgeable professionals about the
environment. Anyone voicing concern about protecting
and enhancing our quality of life are viewed
askance. This has created the need for an
independent, third-party credentialing of
individuals. The federal government has taken a
strong stand that such acknowledgment and
accreditation must be by peer review and in the
private sector.
As a result, a number of member and nonmember
private organizations have stepped forward to
recognize various specialty areas of environmental
professionalism. While all of these efforts have
been valuable in peer recognition of individuals,
something has been lacking in the unified
development of the environmental professional—a code
of conduct for professional practice by which
individuals may measure both others and themselves.
The National Registry of Environmental Professionals
has taken on the role of establishing a Code of
Professional Practice for those individuals working
and serving the environmental field. It is important
to understand that this code will be in a state of
continual modification as the roles and
responsibilities of environmental professionals
become more rigorously defined. |
