Institutional Controls are a common source of confusion for communities affected by hazardous waste.
On February 19th, UW SRP co-hosted a webinar with the Northwest Toxic Communities Coalition titled "Institutional Controls 101." Institutional Controls (ICs) are administrative tools that are used to protect the environment and people's health at hazardous waste cleanup sites. They can often be confusing. Some ICs are legal tools, like restrictive covenants, while others are educational, like fishing advisories.
During the IC webinar Peter deFur of Environmental Stewardship Concepts and Cliff Villa, Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico, provided a technical and legal overview of ICs. They also discussed how, where and why ICs are used; and many of the challenges, opportunities, and limitations of ICs, based on case studies across the U.S.
Fifty-two people joined the live webinar and a link to a recorded copy of the webinar was e-mailed out afterwards to the more than 100 people who had registered or expressed interest.