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January 26, 2024. In North Carolina, adopting a new state rule involves many steps and multiple levels of review. But the rulemaking process has recently obstructed a water quality standard in ways not intended by the N.C. Administrative Procedure Act (APA). As a result, the rule setting a water quality standard for 1,4 dioxane — […]

A meaningful percentage of the regulation that companies in the United States must follow concerns two distinct topics: accounting and the environment. The values underlying the regulatory framework of securities and the environment are distinct, but they are not wholly opposite. This Comment responds to growing trends of private governance in the area of environmental regulation. Besides federal regulation, a significant portion of environmental regulation touching U.S. companies today remains sourced from and enforced by private standard-setters. Federal accounting regulations are now governed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)––a private entity recognized by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)––but almost all federal accounting regulations once found their authority solely in private sources. Mirroring accounting regulation's history, the federal government may choose to outsource environmental standard-setting to one or more of these already-operating private standard-setters in exchange for their expertise, resources, and recognition. Drawing on parallels from the regulatory history of the accounting industry, this Comment cautions that the purposes of environmental regulation demand a more democratic process. Beginning with an overview of government-created and -outsourced corporations, and turning to a dissection of FASB's structure under the federal government, this Comment concludes that private environmental standard-setters will face potential legal issues if the government adopts them in a manner similar to FASB's delegation as the authoritative standard setter. The broad implications of environmental standards and regulations––and the prominent and diverse social values driving them––demand a process more deeply rooted in democracy before they become authoritative law at federal levels.

Recent climate change statistics attribute over a quarter of carbon emissions to residential energy use in the United Kingdom. To address this, a building standard (Code for Sustainable Homes) was introduced to aim to reduce the levels of carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption. This paper analyzes how such an environmental standard reconfigures the sociotechnological relations and practices of housing professionals that design, construct, and manage social housing. We focus on how actors engage with the standard's recommendation for incorporating low and zero carbon technologies into new buildings. We identify diverse practices that emerge from these engagements, which, we contend, have significant consequences for the working relationships of professional actors and for renewable energy provision. By being entwined in, and generative of actors' practices, we argue that the Code becomes part of the sociotechnological relationships and infrastructures that shape energy provision.

Recent climate change statistics attribute over a quarter of carbon emissions to residential energy use in the United Kingdom. To address this, a building standard (Code for Sustainable Homes) was introduced to aim to reduce the levels of carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption. This paper analyzes how such an environmental standard reconfigures the sociotechnological relations and practices of housing professionals that design, construct, and manage social housing. We focus on how actors engage with the standard's recommendation for incorporating low and zero carbon technologies into new buildings. We identify diverse practices that emerge from these engagements, which, we contend, have significant consequences for the working relationships of professional actors and for renewable energy provision. By being entwined in, and generative of actors' practices, we argue that the Code becomes part of the sociotechnological relationships and infrastructures that shape energy provision.