Siting of Petrol Stations and Compliance to Environmental Regulations in Jalingo Metropolis, Taraba State, Nigeria

Environmental regulation is a complex interdisciplinary effort involving ethical principles, political interests, scientific knowledge, and technological capacities, that covers environmental media and protection and conservation of wildlife, fulfilling environmental legislation requirement. Compliance is a substantial element of environmental regulation. This study appraised the siting of petrol stations and compliance to environmental regulations in Jalingo metropolis. Specifically, it assessed the extent of compliance in the siting of petrol stations in Jalingo metropolis and compared the compliance level of the three categories of petrol stations-Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), major oil marketers and the independent oil marketers. The study adopted the survey research design. Data was obtained from twenty (20) petrol stations, two hundred (200) copies of questionnaires using 3-likert scale and published documents. Both inferential and descriptive statistics was used. The mean cut off of 2.5 was taken as threshold for decision, and any item below 2.5 falls below average and considered negative. Chi-square was used for test of hypothesis which was rejected and the alternative hypothesis was accepted. The findings revealed that major marketers complied more than the independent marketers and the NNPC. It further revealed that the environmental regulations followed by a successful implementation and monitoring, will improve petrol stations level of compliance with environmental laws and regulations. The study recommends the need to reassure the petrol station operators that environmental legislation and environmental regulation requirements are not punitive, but guidelines to help conserve the environment.