Mba560

Business Regulation

Business enterprise is a major cause of water pollution in the United States. Nearly 50% of all water used in the United States is for cooling and condensing purposes in connection with industrial activities. The resulting discharge into rivers and lakes may take the form of heated water, called thermal effluents. In addition to thermal effluents, companies also discharge chemical and other effluents into the nation's waterways (Reed, Shedd, Morehead & Corley, 2005).

Alumina Incorporated, a four billion dollar aluminum manufacturer, operating globally, faces many risks including the federal governmental environmental regulations. Environmental regulations are perhaps the most stringent of government's regulation of business. The government enforces large technology investment demand on industry for regulatory compliance. However, the penalty for not complying with the regulations can be far greater (University of Phoenix, 2002).

Facts and Regulations

Facts

Alumina Inc. is currently operating in eight countries around the world. With 70% of its sales coming from the United States, Alumina has a variety of concentrated markets including manufacturing automotive components, packaging materials, bauxite mining, aluminum refining and aluminum smelting (University of Phoenix, 2002).

Regulations

Alumina is currently facing negative external publicity and a possible lawsuit for the violation of the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act, passed by Congress in 1972, is administered primarily by the states in accordance with EPA standards. The Clean Water Act sets goals to help eliminate water pollution (University of Phoenix, 2002). Five years ago, Alumina faced a similar situation where its Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) concentration in test samples proved