Approved by the Energy, Environment, and Water Policy Committee on April 17, 2025
Approved by the Public Policy Committee on May 21, 2025
Adopted by the Board of Direction on July 10, 2025
Policy
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recommends when proposing new regulations, modifying existing regulations, or eliminating existing regulations, lawmakers and regulatory agencies seek consultation from independent, qualified experts knowledgeable in the technical fields affected by the proposed regulation.
Furthermore, ASCE encourages its members to offer their expertise to lawmakers and regulatory agencies during the proposal of new regulations, modifications of existing regulations, or elimination of existing regulations.
Issue
The number of environmental regulations continues to change, covering a broad spectrum of issues such as air quality, water quality, and disposal of solids and liquids.
Decisions related to protecting the environment can be extremely complex with multiple trade-offs between costs and benefits. Environmental regulations are hard to craft and sometimes have unintended consequences that are not understood by well-meaning policy makers. Technical experts understand the practicality of implementation of regulations and therefore can help to make them more effective.
Rationale
Academic, government, and industry experts can provide technical input into proposed regulations to improve their quality and to ensure a sound technical basis for implementation or elimination.
This policy has worldwide application
ASCE Policy Statement 403
First Approved in 1992