Legal Framework

At the core of this framework is the law that authorizes the conduct of OCS oil and gas operations, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). This law, amended several times since its enactment in 1953, asserts federal authority over 

Because Congress has not fully integrated OCSLA with the other laws, the legal framework is neither coherent nor harmonized, and companies authorized to work on the OCS are subject to regulations enacted by MMS and CG pursuant to OCSLA as well as the multitude of rules and procedures created by the other laws. As a result, operators on the OCS must comply with an extremely complex web of prescriptive rules, standards, guidelines, and procedures. 

More complexity is created by judicial decisions. Under OCSLA and other laws, final regulatory decisions such as issuance of a permit or enactment of a rule can be appealed to a federal court by individuals, companies, and other private parties who claim that their interests are impacted by such agency action. 5 The subsequent judicial review may affirm the regulatory action in question or find it invalid on grounds that it is arbitrary, or lacks a sufficient factual basis, violates procedural requirements, exceeds the agency s mandate, or conflicts with a constitutional doctrine. Because agency actions are frequently appealed, fear of judicial review and the delays and costs such cases incur, has the effect of suppressing the timely enactment of improved rules. 

OCSLA stipulates that DOI and its units, such as MMS and now BOEM and BSEE, are to develop and enforce regulations for OCS operations and that leases and permits are conditioned upon company compliance with these federal regulations and with state laws that are not inconsistent with federal law. It further authorizes DOI to suspend an operator s activities when they threaten health, wildlife, or the environment, and to cancel any lease or permit when such threat is more likely, more serious, and outweighs the advantages of continuation, ffowever, it also provides that under certain circumstances, DOI cancellation shall entitle the lessee to compensation (OCSLA s.1334).  

See Mobil Oil vs. U.S., 530 U.S. 604 (2000) for a Supreme Court decision ordering government restitution of a lessee whose applications for permits were frustrated by new legal and administrative requirements. 

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A distinction should be made between the different levels of political influence operating at different levels of policy. At the macro level, the body politic is regarded as representative of the public or the electorate. Hence, politics is a means by which society decides which regulatory direction is ethically acceptable, socially preferable, economically beneficial and scientifically reliable. From the perspective of representative democracy, therefore, it is desirable for politics to determine the overall legal frameworks within which dmgs are regulated. But at the micro level, where decisions are made which apply those legal frameworks to specific cases, it is not desirable for politics to exert influence on individual cases. 

EPA has progressed in their efforts to establish a legal framework to introduce electronic reporting and record keeping (ERR) for environmental compliance... 

Legal Legal framework nonexistent or A legal framework to be issued/ Some enforcement, but the legal Full enforcement and model legal... 

Genetic engineering products enjoy rapid and ample diffusion thanks to their specific legal framework. 

The specific legal framework for C02 storage will be different from country to country, based on different kinds of law. Irrespective of these differences, certain aspects of C02 storage will have to be regulated in order to allow for its feasibility. 

Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA) provide the basic legal framework for the federal "Superfund" program to clean up abandoned hazardous waste sites. 

However, the above-mentioned requirements cannot always be fulfilled. Risk assessment, including hazard assessment, is performed within a political and legal framework, which puts limitations on the availability of information. For example, in the EU, the data requirements for existing substances are not as comprehensive as those for new chemical substances. 

The Legal Framework and its Implications for Future International Developments... 

This policy may well be shortsighted, but competition is such that pharmaceutical companies would prefer to accept the risk and save the money. It is this attitude that is a major contributor to the poor image of the industry in the eyes of the public and the media. Unfortimately in this and many other fields, selfregulation has not worked, so we probably have to look to strengthening legal framework and setting down requirements if improvements are to be made. 

To set up a legal framework that fosters the competitiveness of the European pharmaceutical industry. 

Hutt PB. A legal framework for future decisions on transferring drugs from prescription to nonprescription status. Food Drug Cosmetic Law J 1982 37 427. 

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