Command-and-Control and Information instruments

Author

Shel

Command and Control instruments (Regulations and Standards)

Command and Control Instruments (CCIs) can mandate or prohibit specific behaviors or use of a certain technology or define a level of environmental performance to be achieved. They are usually combined with some mechanism for monitoring the regulated entities and a sanction for non-compliance.

Environmental CCIs can be divided into three general categories:

Environmental quality standards
Technical emission standards
Restrictions and bans

1 Environmental quality standards

Quality standards specify a minimum desired level of environmental quality or the maximum level of pollution of a certain medium.

Example 1 : Clean Air Act (CAA) - USA (1970)

The Clean Air Act of 1970¹ is an environmental legislation in the United States, designed to tackle air pollution on a national scale. The United States established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and gave it the authority to set and enforce air quality standards aimed at protecting public health and the environment.

One of the Act’s main provisions was the creation of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)², which set acceptable limits for six major pollutants: particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and lead. These pollutants were targeted due to their widespread presence and significant health impacts.

Example 2 : National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) – India (2019)

In a bid to ensure stringent implementation of mitigation measures for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution, the government of India launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in January 2019.

NACP was set out as a long-term and time-bound, national level strategy to tackle the air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner. It targeted to achieve 20% to 30% reduction in concentrations of PM10(particulate matter of diameter between 10 and 2.5 micrometer) and PM2.5(particulate matter of diameter 2.5 micrometer or less) by 2024³.

In order for CCIs to be effective, such standards need to specify who is responsible for taking action in case the maximum pollution levels are exceeded. Some form of sanctions⁴ against inaction would normally be needed.

2 Technical emission standards

Technical emissions standards specify either mandatory technical equipment to be used in certain applications or maximum levels of emissions or resource consumption for specific products or systems.

Example 1 : The role of catalytic converters in combating pollution

The National Emissions Standards Act⁵, an amendment made in 1965 to the Clean Air Act (see 1.1 above), set the first federal vehicle emissions standards.

The modern exhaust system on vehicles features a range of parts that helps control emissions and make them more environmentally friendly. Among these parts is a catalytic converter, which helped many car manufacturers meet the standards set by the National Emissions Standards Act⁶.

A catalytic converter helps lower the number of toxic pollutants emitted into the air by converting hazardous combustion gases into less harmful substances, like water vapor and carbon dioxide. This is done by exposing these fumes to chemicals and metals inside the converter to prompt chemical reactions that transform otherwise toxic pollutants into relatively harmless ones.

Example 2 : EU CO₂ emission performance standards for cars and vans

Passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (vans) are respectively responsible for around 16% and 3% of total EU emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂)⁷.

In 2019, the EU enacted a regulation ⁸ that establishes CO₂ emissions performance requirements for new passenger cars and for new light commercial vehicles in order to contribute to achieving the Union’s target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

From 2020 to 2024, passenger cars were required to emit 95g CO₂/km while the limit for vans was 147g CO₂/km.

The regulation was ammended on 19 April 2023 to strengthen the CO₂ emission performance standards for new passenger cars and vans, and bring them in line with the EU’s ambition to reach climate neutrality by 2050.

For the period 2025 to 2034, new passenger cars are required to emit 93.6g CO₂/km (2025-2029) and 49.5g CO₂/km (2030-2034). Vans are required to emit 153.9g CO₂/km (2025-2029) and 90.6g CO₂/km (2030-2034).

From 2035 onwards, the EU fleet-wide CO₂ emission target for both cars and vans is 0g CO₂/km, corresponding to a 100% reduction.

3 Restrictions and bans

These are direct limitations of an undesirable behavior or technology, or restrictions on the sale or use of certain products or substances with detrimental environmental and health effects

Example 1: The EU ban on single use plastics

80-85% of marine litter found on Europe’s beaches is plastic, 50% of this litter consists of single-use plastic items, 27% being fishing gear that contains plastic⁹.

The EU enacted a law that was set to commence on 3rd July, 2021, whose objective was to reduce litter, help develop a circular economy and promote a sustainable future for everyone. The law required that where sustainable alternatives were easily available and affordable, single-use plastic plates, cutlery, straws, balloon sticks and cotton buds could not be placed on the markets of the EU Member States. Cups, food and beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene, and all products made of oxo-degradable plastic were also banned. Moreover, the law requires clear labelling of cups, wet wipes, sanitary pads, tampons and applicators and tobacco products with filters, highlighting their plastic content, recommended disposal methods and environmental risks. It also requires that lids and caps are made to stay on drinks containers and bottles of up to 3 litres¹⁰.

Example 2: The EU End-of-Life vehicles (ELV) directive

The ELV directive, introduced in 2000 , set clear targets for the reuse, recycling and recovery of ELVs, with the aim of preventing and limiting waste from end-of-life vehicles and their components and improving the environmental performance of all economic operators involved in the life-cycle of vehicles ¹¹.

It prohibits the use of hazardous substances when manufacturing new vehicles (especially lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium) except in defined exemptions when there are no adequate alternatives.

One problem with regulatory standards is that they do not provide polluters with the incentive(s) to search for better approaches to reducing pollution hence may not perform well in inducing innovation and technological change. If a government mandates a certain technology, there is no economic incentive for firms to develop more effective technologies.

Information instruments

Information instruments require the public disclosure of environmentally related information, typically from industries to consumers. These include labeling programs, as well as rating and certification systems. Information instruments are designed to enable individuals to make informed choices, avoiding less sustainable options to the favour of more sustainable ones.

Information instruments can often be used to improve the effectiveness of other instruments, even though they do not impose penalties for environmentally harmful behaviour.

Examples of information instruments include labelling programmes for consumer products, information disclosure programmes for firms and public awareness campaigns.

Example 1: The EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive

85% of EU buildings were built before 2000 and among those, 75% have a poor energy performance. Given that buildings are the single largest energy consumer in Europe, acting on the energy efficiency of buildings is key to saving energy, reducing bills for citizens and small enterprises and fully decarbonising the built environment¹².

To boost the energy performance of buildings, the EU established the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive with the aim of achieving a highly energy efficient and decarbonised building stock by 2050, creating a stable environment for investment decisions and enabling consumers and businesses to make more informed choices to save energy and money.

Article 5 of the directive requires EU member states to take the necessary measures to ensure that minimum energy performance requirements for buildings or building units are set with a view to at least achieve cost-optimal levels and, where relevant, more stringent reference values such as nearly zero-energy building requirements and zero-emission buildings requirements. Article 8 mandates them to take the necessary measures to ensure that, when buildings undergo major renovation, the energy performance of the building or the renovated part thereof is upgraded in order to meet minimum energy performance requirements set in article 5¹³.

Article 19 requires EU member states to establish a system of certification of the energy performance of buildings. The energy performance certificate should include the energy performance of a building expressed by a numeric indicator of primary energy use in kWh/(m2.y), and reference values such as minimum energy performance requirements, minimum energy performance standards, nearly zero-energy building requirements and zero-emission building requirements, in order to make it possible for owners or tenants of the building or building unit to compare and assess its energy performance.

Example 2: The EU Ecodesign and Energy Labelling

The EU Ecodesign and Energy Labelling directive¹⁴, established in 2009, provides guidelines on the requirements that energy-related products need to fulfill to be placed on the market or put into service.

Article 5 stipulates that before a product is placed on the market and put into service, a CE marking shall be fixed and an EU declaration of conformity¹⁵ issued whereby the manufacturer or its authorised representative ensures and declares that the product complies with all relevant provisions of the applicable implementing measure.

The CE mark is a symbol that when placed on a product indicates that it complies with this EU legislation, which enables the free movement of products within the European market. The CE mark is affixed by a manufacturer, importer or authorised representative, who are required to ensure and make a declaration that the product complies with the provisions in the directive.

CE Marking is compulsory and must be affixed before a product is placed (for sale or own use) on the market within the 28 member states of European Economic Area.

Article 6 states that member states should not prohibit, restrict or impede the placing on the market and putting into service, within their territories, of a product that complies with all the relevant provisions of the applicable implementing measure and bears the CE marking in accordance with Article 5 on grounds of ecodesign requirements relating to those ecodesign parameters referred to in Annex I¹⁶, Part 1 which are covered by the applicable implementing measure.

Article 8 requires that before placing a product covered by implementing measures on the market and putting such a product into service, the manufacturer or its authorised representative shall ensure that an assessment of the product’s conformity with all the relevant requirements of the applicable implementing measure is carried out.

Next: Economic Instruments: Carbon Pricing

Footnotes

The Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act ↩︎
National Ambient Air Quality Standards ↩︎
National Clean Air Programme ↩︎
Sanctions are restrictive measures imposed on individuals or entities in an effort to curtail their activities and to exert pressure and influence on them.↩︎
National Emissions Standards Act ↩︎
The Universal Technical Institute ↩︎
CO₂ emission performance standards for cars and vans ↩︎
Regulation (EU) 2019/631 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 ↩︎
Turning the tide on single-use plastics ↩︎
EU restrictions on certain single-use plastics ↩︎
End-of-Life Vehicles ↩︎
Energy Performance of Buildings Directive ↩︎
Ecodesign and Energy Labelling – Framework Directives ↩︎
Directive (EU) 2024/1275 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 April 2024 on the energy performance of buildings (recast) (Text with EEA relevance)↩︎
This is a technical documentation that provides information on the design, manufacture, and operation of a product and must contain all the details necessary to demonstrate the product conforms to the applicable requirements. For more details, refer to Technical documentation and EU declaration of conformity. A sample documentation can be viewed here.↩︎
See Annex 1 of the directive.↩︎