ABSTRACT
Most of Malaysia's pollution-control regulations are based on command-and-control principles. 1 They typically establish mandatory standards, expressed as allowable concentrations of specified pollutants per unit of flue gas or wastewater, on pollution discharge. These standards are usually uniform across different sources of a given pollutant. The regulations authorize the Department of Environment (DOE) to monitor pollution sources and to fine sources that violate the standards. If the violations are sufficiently large, the DOE can suspend a source's operating license. The regulations typically require stationary pollution sources to submit pollution-control plans to the DOE for approval. The DOE's policy is to require sources to use the “best practicable means” of controlling pollution.
