ABSTRACT
Diverse strategies are employed for pollution control. Each is implemented in different ways in different countries, and they are subject to many regulations and guidance documents that may not prescribe consistent approaches or methods. In this basic introduction, I describe each approach, its advantages and disadvantages, and the role of assessors in each. I emphasize water pollution because in the U.S. and most other jurisdictions, laws and regulations for water are stronger and the methods more diverse than for other environmental media. Different agencies and different laws and regulations within agencies use various terminologies. I use the term standards here to indicate enforceable benchmarks, but other terms are used in specific jurisdictions.
