ABSTRACT
Legislation to control pollution in the UK was first passed more than a century ago with the Alkali Act of 1863, setting up what is known today in England and Wales as HM Alkali and Clean Air Inspectorate. The costs of pollution abatement to achieve a desired environmental quality objective vary from one location to another depending on the assimilative capacity of the local environment. Radioactive air pollution is perceived as a major hazard by large sections of the public, as evidenced by the length of the recently held inquiry into the siting of a radioactive waste reprocessing plant in Cumbria. River pollution occurs almost entirely as the result of effluent disposal and since the potential exists for typhoid, poliomyelitis and dysentry epidemics to be spread by water pollution, it is proper that people regard it as an environmental hazard. One of the most important pollutants in contemporary urban areas is noise.
