This volume presents an overview of public environmental law in the European Union and the United States of America. It focusses on constitutional and administrative environmental law but also includes other areas of law such as criminal and private law (in as far as these are relevant to the understanding of public environmental law). The book offers a comparative introduction, by editors and native authors, to the most important aspects of environmental law (prevention of pollution in the EU Member States, at the level of the European Union and in the United States). It thus aspires to contribute to both 'transboundary' understanding of different regimes for environmental law and to a greater cooperation between different international and European partners in their strive towards more adequate (legal) modes of protection and improvement of the environment.

For the purpose of the use of this book in education, research and legal practice, the contributions to the book are all based on one and the same format, thus making it more accessible for its readers. The final chapter offers comparative remarks by the editors.