Scientific and legal standards of statistical evidence in toxic tort and discrimination suits

Many legal disputes turn on scientific, especially statistical, evidence. Traditionally scientists have accepted only that statistical evidence which satisfies a 95 percent (or 99 percent) rule — that is, only evidence which has less than five percent (or one percent) probability of resulting from chance.The rationale for this rule is the reluctance of scientists to accept anything less than the best-supported new knowledge. The rule reflects the internal needs of scientific practice. However, when uncritically adopted as a rule for admitting legal evidence, the seemingly innocuous 95 percent rule distorts the balance of interests historically protected by the legal system. In particular, plaintiffs in toxic tort and employment discrimination suits are effectively held to a heavier burden of proof in showing that their injuries were more probably than not caused by the defendant's actions. The result is that too many victims of toxic torts or employment discrimination cannot win legal redress for their injuries.Proposals to adopt stringent scientific rules of evidence thus implicate significant philosophical issues about the relation of evidence to belief and to practical action. The underlying objectives of the tort law system are not those of scientific practice, and each set of objectives has standards of evidence specific to it.Previous versions of this paper were read at the UCLA Law and Philosophy Discussion Group and at the Orange County Moral and Political Philosophy Discussion Group. We have benefitted from comments by Steve Munzer, Peter Aranella, Craig Ihara, Gary Watson, David Estlund, and Alex Rosenberg. A longer version of this paper is in preparation. In that paper we hope to develop some of the items merely sketched in this paper.     

Hazardous waste management system: standards applicable to generators of hazardous waste and standards applicable to owners and operators of hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities--Environmental Protection Agency. Proposed rule

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is today proposing amendments to its hazardous waste regulations under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). These amendments would replace the annual reporting requirements for hazardous waste generators and owners and operators of hazardous waste treatment, storage, ad disposal (TSD) facilities with a biennial survey of representative samples of those populations. This approach will provide verifiable data on a wider range of topics, better serve EPA's long term regulatory needs under RCRA, and reduce significantly the information burden on the regulated community.     

Container and waste pile standards for owners and operators of hazardous waste facilities: consolidated permit regulations--Environmental Protection Agency. Amendments to interim final rule

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is today promulgating amendments to the hazardous waste management regulations regarding the management of hazardous waste in containers and piles and associated permit regulations (40 CFR Part 264, Subparts I and L, and Part 122, Subpart B). These amendments better tailor the standards to the particular type of hazard posed by specific situations. The standards for containers are amended to waive the containment system requirements for wastes that do not contain free liquids, provided that the wastes are protected from contact with accumulated liquid. The standards for waste piles are amended to waive the containment system requirements for wastes that do not contain free liquids, provided that the pile is protected from precipitation by a structure and from surface water run-on and wind dispersal of the waste by the structure or some other means. The Agency believes these amendments believes these amendments will not reduce the level of protection of human health and the environment.     

Hazardous waste management system standards for owners and operators of hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities and EPA administered permit programs; hazardous waste permit program. Environmental Protection Agency. Interim final amendments to rule

On May 19, 1980, EPA promulgated regulations applicable to owners and operators of hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities which prohibited the landfill disposal of most containerized liquid waste or waste containing free liquid on and after November 19, 1981. Further on June 29, 1981, EPA amended its hazardous waste management regulations so as to extend the compliance date of the restriction on the landfill disposal of containerized liquid ignitable wastes to coincide with the compliance data of the general restriction on landfill disposal of liquids. The Agency is today extending the compliance date on both these requirements until May 26, 1982, and, in a separate action, is proposing amendments to these restrictions. This extension of compliance dates is provided for the sole purpose of allowing time to complete the rulemaking action on today's proposed amendments. The Agency is also today exempting from the requirements of the hazardous waste management regulations, the acts of adding absorbent material to hazardous waste in containers and adding hazardous waste to absorbent material in a container, at the time waste is first placed in the container, in order to reduce the free liquids in a container.     

Hazardous waste management system; standards applicable to generators of hazardous waste; state program requirements. Environmental Protection Agency. Final rule

On February 26, 1980 and May 19, 1980, under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published regulations establishing a system to manage hazardous waste. Those regulations allowed hazardous waste generators to accumulate hazardous waste on-site without obtaining a permit or meeting financial responsibility requirements if they shipped the waste off-site within 90 days. On November 19, 1980, the Agency published an interim final rule which expanded the scope of the provision to include generators who treat, store or dispose of hazardous waste on-site. The final rule published today retains this change. As a result of public comments, the Agency is making several changes to the interim final rule. These changes (1) Clarify that the provision is applicable to all generators, including those who accumulate hazardous waste for the purpose of use, reuse, recycling and reclamation, (2) remove the requirement for use of DOT containers, (3) revise the labelling and marking requirements for wastes accumulated in containers and tanks; and (4) allow an extension to the 90-day accumulation limit in certain circumstances.     

Economic analysis of the legal standard for deceit in English tort law

Scholars of law and economics have produced a huge amount of literature on how to design an optimal legal standard in tort law to regulate international torts. However, there are few works to use these theories in the analysis of tort law in an individual jurisdiction. In this paper, I apply a law-and-economics analytical framework to the study of the legal standards for deceit in English tort law with an aim to show that the law-and-economics approach could generate new insights valuable to broad our understanding of the law of deceit.

Minimal standards for the performance and interpretation of toxicology tests in legal proceedings.

There have been several high profile criminal and civil cases that have been litigated in recent years involving toxicologic analyses and interpretations of blood, urine, and other specimens for drugs of abuse. Disputes have erupted between prominent toxicologists and laboratory scientists as to the validity and interpretation of the data presented. The disputes centered around the fact that the procedures used in these cases had not been properly validated with analytical noise being misinterpreted as a positive result. As with any analyses, forensic tests must be conducted in a manner such that they meet the minimum standards accepted within the toxicology community. No conclusions as to presence or absence of drug, its concentration, or its physiologic effects can be made if there is a failure to meet these basic standards. Several cases are presented where these standard tenets may not have been followed.     

Interim status standards for owners and operators of hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities: Environmental Protection Agency. Proposed amendments to rule

On May 19, 1980, EPA promulgated regulations, applicable to owners and operators of hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities during interim status, which prohibited the landfill disposal of most containerized liquid waste or waste containing free liquid on and after November 19, 1981. As a result of issues raised by the regulated community with respect to this prohibition, the Agency is today proposing an amendment to this regulation to allow some containers holding free liquids to be disposed of in a landfill, in some circumstances. In a separate action in today's federal Register, EPA is providing a 90-day extension (from today's date) of the compliance date for the prohibition of landfill disposal of containerized liquid waste and the restrictions on the landfill disposal of liquid ignitable waste to allow time to complete this rulemaking action and to avoid immediately imposing requirements that might be changed as a result of this rulemaking action.     

State hazardous waste programs; procedures for revision of state RCRA programs--EPA. Proposed rule

EPA is today proposing to amend its requirements under 40 CFR 271.21(e) (formerly Section 123.13(e)) for the approval and revision of authorized state hazardous waste programs. One purpose is to ensure that states applying for final authorization under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended, (RCRA) do not have to revise their programs and applications to respond to federal regulatory changes occurring while the states' applications are being prepared or processed. The second purpose is to provide all authorized states with one full year (or two years, if there is a need for state legislative action) from the effective date of amended federal regulations to make the revisions in their programs required by such federal amendments. This action would provide the state with an additional six months since the existing regulation requires that program revisions be made within one year (or two years) after the promulgation of amended federal regulations.     

Interim status standards for owners and operators of hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities--Environmental Protection Agency. Interim final rule and interim final amendments to rules and request for comments

The Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] has issued standards applicable to owners and operators of hazardous waste management facilities as required by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act [RCRA]. One of these standards bans the disposal of most containerized liquid hazardous waste in landfills, effective November 19, 1981. As a result of reconsideration of this restriction, EPA is today promulgating an interim final rule to allow the disposal of small containers of liquid and solid hazardous waste in landfills provided that the wastes are placed in overpacked drums [lab packs] in the manner specified in today's rule. The purpose of today's rule is to provide an environmental sound disposal option for generators of small containers of hazardous wastes, such as laboratories.     

侵权责任法背景下再议医疗侵权适用举证责任倒置

医疗侵权损害赔偿诉讼中,举证责任的分配可能对判决结果产生重大影响,关乎到能否有力地保护医患双方合法权益,因而成为医学界与法学界共同关注的热点问题之一。2002年4月1日起施行的〈〈最高人民法院关于民事诉讼证据的若干规定》,是我国第一次以司法解释的形式规定医疗侵权诉讼适用“举证责任倒置”。本文中,笔者将主要针对《中华人民共和国侵权责任法》实施后对“医疗侵权诉讼适用举证责任倒置”的影响以及今后立法趋势等方面做出阐释与论述。     

单亲亲子鉴定及其法律问题思考--附275例单亲鉴定分析

目的探讨单亲鉴定及其有关的法律及社会问题. 方法对1998年1月至2002年12月275例单亲鉴定进行回顾分析,对案例的数量、来源、鉴定事由、鉴定结论等作统计分析. 结果单亲鉴定近3年明显增多,占亲子鉴定总数的三成.案例来源以自诉为主,占95.27%.鉴定事由中,怀疑妻子有婚外性关系为主 ,占88.36%.275例单亲鉴定中,排除亲生关系39例,占14.18%.结果表明,非婚生子女只占少数. 结论自诉单亲鉴定存在法律盲区,但在维护家庭稳定具有一定作用.受理单亲鉴定宜取慎重态度,有关的社会及法律问题需要解决.     

单亲亲子鉴定及其法律问题思考——附275例单亲鉴定分析

目的探讨单亲鉴定及其有关的法律及社会问题. 方法对1998年1月至2002年12月275例单亲鉴定进行回顾分析,对案例的数量、来源、鉴定事由、鉴定结论等作统计分析. 结果单亲鉴定近3年明显增多,占亲子鉴定总数的三成.案例来源以自诉为主,占95.27%.鉴定事由中,怀疑妻子有婚外性关系为主 ,占88.36%.275例单亲鉴定中,排除亲生关系39例,占14.18%.结果表明,非婚生子女只占少数. 结论自诉单亲鉴定存在法律盲区,但在维护家庭稳定具有一定作用.受理单亲鉴定宜取慎重态度,有关的社会及法律问题需要解决.     

Burning of hazardous waste in boilers and industrial furnaces--EPA. Final rule: corrections; technical amendments

On February 21, 1991, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule to regulate air emissions from the burning of hazardous waste in boilers and industrial furnaces (56 FR 7134). Today's notice corrects typographical and editorial errors that appeared in the regulatory text, including corrections to appendices II and III, and adds two appendices, appendix IX and appendix X, to part 266. Appendices IX and X were not ready at the time of publication; therefore, a note was placed in the appropriate location in the rule to inform readers that these appendices were to be published at a later date. Copies of these appendices were, however, made available to the public through the RCRA Docket maintained at EPA and through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS).     

Hazardous waste management system: identification and listing of hazardous waste--Environmental Protection Agency. Interim final rule and request for comments

The Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] is today revising the regulations for hazardous waste management under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to exempt certain categories of mixtures of solid wastes and hazardous wastes from the presumption of hazardousness presently contained in the regulations. EPA is taking this action because the Agency believes that the risk posed to human health and the environment from the management of these waste mixtures is not substantial, so that automatically defining these waste mixtures as hazardous is inappropriate. This amendment will substantially reduce the regulatory burden to those persons who would otherwise have applied the regulations for hazardous waste management to these mixtures.     

Hazardous waste management system; identification and listing of hazardous waste--EPA. Final rule and response to comments

On May 19, 1980, as part of its regulations implementing section 3001 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). EPA promulgated a series of criteria for listing wastes as hazardous. On July 19, 1991, the Agency proposed to conform the language of the regulation to reflect the Agency's intent and consistent interpretation of that regulation. Today's rule finalizes the proposed rule.