ABSTRACT

One would think, at first blush, that there must be at least 20 or so policy principles that should apply to environmental finance. There may be. As I wrote at the beginning of Chapter 2, my list of principles is a living document. The longer I work in this field, the more principles I can identify. But after almost 25 years, I only see two real policy principles, but they are certainly important. And, furthermore, as I witness various federal, state, and local attempts to deal with environmental problems, I do not see that either of these two principles is readily observed. As I write this at the end of 2013, I have had the occasion to observe the State of Maryland wrestle with the problem of stormwater for the past three years. Regulation is clearly the order of the day. The nine largest counties and the City of Baltimore have all been issued National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits specifying specific stormwater limits. But precious little attention has been given to financial incentives and how they would work in tandem with the applicable regulations to actually reduce stormwater run-off.