Enviro Exam
There are multiple sources of ground water pollution. List five of them.
-13,000 hazardous waste sites -millions of septic systems -180,000 surface impoundments (pits, ponds, lagoons) -500 hazardous waste land disposal facilities; 16,000 municipal and other landfills -millions of underground storage tanks (USTs) -thousand of underground injection wells for storage of hazardous and toxic wastes -Mmillions of tons of pesticides and fertilizers spread on the ground
Among public agencies, the Bureau of Land Management arguably has encountered the most political difficulties. What's the main reason for this?
. The Bureau historically has permitted the private use of public lands by ranching, mining, and other economic interests at prices far below their market value. When it has tried to charge market prices in recent years, those interests have protested.
What are three reasons that underlie the need for the Congress to allow the EPA to use its discretion when implementing environmental legislation?
1. words, phrases, or policy objectives in legislation are unclear Congress can't resolve disputes between contending interests over the wording of legislation. Members of Congress recognize that technical expertise lies with administrators 2. technical standards must be created or revised; the Congress lacks the expertise to do this Technical and economic justifications for regulatory standards are contestable Periodic review of standards often required 3. a need for compliance deadlines to be flexible Administrators usually have the discretion to extend compliance deadlines (e.g., EPA may extend deadline for an industry to meet a particular emission standard if it's not technically or economically feasible for it to do so)
There are multiple sources of ground water pollution. List five of them.
13,000 hazardous waste sites -millions of septic systems -180,000 surface impoundments (pits, ponds, lagoons) -500 hazardous waste land disposal facilities; 16,000 municipal and other landfills -millions of underground storage tanks (USTs) -thousand of underground injection wells for storage of hazardous and toxic wastes -Mmillions of tons of pesticides and fertilizers spread on the ground
What is Michigan's ranking in terms of the number of Superfund sites on the National Priority List?
5th
A goal of regulation is to strive for predictability, consistency in interpreting and applying the law, and stability in established norms for decision making. What factors in environmental regulation make this difficult?
All of these
Which of the following agencies is not housed within the Department of Interior?
EPA
What is the principal means of preventing Asia carp from reaching the Great Lakes?
Electric Barrier
Due to advances in drilling and sampling technology, it is relatively easy today to monitor ground water contamination.
False
Due to advances in recycling methods, electric utilities are now able to dispose of coal ash since it is now used by other companies as a mix for road pavement, charcoal, cosmetics, and other purposes.
False
Due to close oversight by regulators from the EPA regional offices, there is fairly uniform implementation of the Clean Water Act (1972) across the states.
False
Due to steadily growing funding from both federal and state governments, there has generally been sufficient budget for environmental agencies to adequately monitor compliance with federal environmental laws and regulations.
False
Electric utilities are increasingly switching from coal to natural gas because they no longer have options for disposing of coal ash.
False
In general, the Congress in land use legislation has not encouraged greater citizen involvement in agency decision making.
False
Most natural gas consumption in the United States is for the heating of homes.
False
Nuclear power plants are now able to ship their spent fuel rods to Yucca Mountain in Nevada. This has largely solved the problem of spent fuel rods piling up on utility properties.
False
Over the years, the complexity of the Clean Air Act and amendments and the regulations established under these laws have been greatly simplified in order to make the job of regulators far easier.
False
Pesticide contamination is a large problem with 90% of water and fish samples containing pesticides. Fortunately, when private water wells are tested for pesticide contamination, very few are found to contain pesticides.
False
President Trump succeeded in cutting all funds for the Great Lakes Restoration program.
False
Surface water quality has steadily improved since the 1970s.
False
The Clean Air Act (1970) identified 12 criteria air pollutants and over 500 toxic air pollutants.
False
The EPA and state environmental agencies know that they cannot rely upon polluters to accurately report their emissions. Over the years these agencies have greatly increased their monitoring of polluters and the accuracy of their self-reports.
False
The EPA currently lacks statutory authority to regulate CAFOs.
False
The EPA's IRIS tool is used for risk assessment In the Superfund program.
False
The U.S. Forest Service manages the largest portion of public lands.
False
The United States' total CO2 emissions exceed those of every other country in the world.
False
The caribou has become a symbol of the adverse environmental effects of climate change
False
The federal government no longer provides grants for the construction of municipal waste water treatment plants.
False
The issue of allowing greater exploration and drilling on the outer continental shelf is a partisan issue. Nearly all elected Democrats oppose these activities; nearly alll Republicans favor them.
False
The overall cost of purchasing, maintaining, operating and insuring electric cars is now less than the the comparable overall cost of a conventional car.
False
The policy of cap and trade failed to reduce acid rain.
False
The politics of New Source Review engaged the northeastern states, the midwestern states, coal burning electric utilities, a variety of other polluting industries, the EPA, the federal courts, the Congress, and three presidents and their administrations. In spite of changing presidential administrations, the EPA's stance with respect to New Source Review and its implementation remained unchanged.
False
The production of ethanol from corn and other plant materials is a cost effective way of producing fuel for cars.
False
Under the Clean Water Act (1972), only regulators from the regional offices of the EPA are authorized to issue permits to polluters.
False
When regulators monitor compliance with environmental laws, they will often bargain with polluters. Unfortunately, this often happens because many regulators are corrupt and willing to take money and other considerations from polluters as payment for looking the other way.
False
With respect to the regulation of small particulates, scientific knowledge has accumulated that small particulates pose a serious human health hazard. In spite of this growing knowledge, the EPA has been reluctant to issue more stringent regulations on small particulates.
False
The Superfund legislation or CERCLA was enacted in the aftermath of health complaints by the residents of Glen Avon, California, who lived in close proximaty to Stringfellow Canyon, a place where many industries had dumped hazardous chemicals. ,
Fasle
There is a norm that Presidents must appoint a conservationist or environmentalist to be Secretary of the Interior.
Fasle
When regulators monitor compliance with environmental laws, they are more likely to monitor small polluters because small polluters do not have the money or political connections to fight back and get regulators to back off.
Fasle
What was the Clean Power Plan?
It mandates that states develop plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Clean Air Act (and Amendments) for the most part uses the following policy tool.
Regulations
The U.S. Forest Service historically has been held in high regard. The main reason for this is:
Those serving in the agency are recruited carefully, support the agency's mission, and are very professional.
Which of the following is NOT a transboundary environmental problem?
Toxic Waste Disposal
About a third or more of the country's energy reserves are located on public lands. An exception is hydro power.
True
About half of the miles of rivers and streams that have been assessed for water quality are impaired (one or more pollutants above allowable limits).
True
According to climate scientists, the goal of limiting greenhouse gas emissions so that the global average temperature rises no more than two degrees centigrade is very unlikely, at this time, to be attainable.
True
Air pollutants from coal burning electrical utility plants located in the Midwest of the United States can result in acid rain in Eastern Canada due to prevailing westerly winds. An environmental problem of this nature that crosses the borders of two or more countries is called a transboundary environmental problem.
True
Air toxics have yet to be adequately regulated. These include dioxins, benzene, arsenic, beryllium, mercury, vinyl chloride,
True
An area where states have made some progress with respect to ground water contamination is the identification and removal of leaking underground storage tanks. Still, there are 5 to 6 million of them buried in the United States and nearly half of them were abandoned long ago and have no known owner. d
True
Climate change is an example of tragedy of the commons.
True
Federal grants provide up to 75% of the capital costs for the construction of municipal sewage treatment plants.
True
For many years tje Nuclear Regulatory Commission has increased the number of regulatory hurdles that must be overcome to construct and license a nuclear power plant. Approvals may be required from dozens of different federal and state agencies.
True
Implementation of the Clean Air Act and subsequent amendments contributed significantly to large reductions in all of the six criterion air pollutants.
True
In the U.S. federal system, state environmental agencies can enact laws with air quality standards that are more stringent than those specified in the Clean Air Act, its Amendments, and EPA regulations.
True
In the federal system, the regulation of ground water has long been left to the states and local governments.
True
Large polluters in order to avoid or put off the costs of complying with an EPA order will sometimes challenge the order in an administrative law court.
True
Most chemicals, about 98%, are harmless to human health and the environment.
True
Municipal waste water in combined sewer systems includes both point and non-point sources of pollution.
True
New Source Review included in the Clean Air Act Amendments (1977 ) required older air polluting facilities to install the best available control technologies whenever they underwent major modification. Implementation was difficult. What was a major modification? Some companies avoided New Source Review by arguing that their modifications amounted to routine maintenance.
True
Occasionally, polluters threaten regulators by telling them that they will not comply with an order; rather, they will shut down a facility. Doing so will result in a loss of jobs and income in a community. Although regulators know that this may be an empty threat, and a negotiating ploy, they also know that if they refuse to back off that there is a chance that the threat will be carried out.
True
President Obama issued an executive order opening up federal lands in several southwester states to solar energy development projects.
True
Public fears about contaminated ground water typically arise in crisis situations, such as the discovery of ground water pollution as a result of seepage from an abandoned well or toxic waste dump.
True
State environmental agencies have assumed primary responsibility for monitoring compliance of polluters with the Clean Air Act and Amendments.
True
State laws that require environmental impact statements have slowed the development of sites to dispose of hazardous chemicals and other wastes.
True
The Clean Air Act Amendments (1990) introduced a trading program for sulfur oxides, a precursor of acid rain.
True
The Clean Air Act Amendments (1990) introduced hammer clauses and multiple deadlines to give greater teeth to air quality regulations.
True
The Clean Air Act Amendments (1990) mandated the installation by 1998 of catalytic converters with a 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty.
True
The Congress in the 1970s greatly underestimated the costs of cleaning up the country's navigable waterways.
True
The G.W. Bush administration' issued the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) intended to reduce power plant emissions of nitrogen and sulfur oxides. Implementation of the rule was hampered by conflict in the federal courts over its legality.
True
The Price-Anderson Act (renewed in 2005) was enacted to limit the liability of electric utilities operating nuclear power plants.
True
The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased steadily since the 1950s and now is around 400 ppm.
True
The controversy over exploration and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been a partisan issue since 1980, dividing House Republicans who support it and House Democrats who oppose it.
True
The desire of governors and state legislators anxious to attract industry and jobs to their states has led to a "race to the bottom." Some states compete against each other to relax their enforcement of the Clean Water Act (1972) and thereby retain old and attract new polluting industries.
True
The history of mobile source emissions standards under the Clean Air Act 1977 Amendments is for the EPA to request the extension of deadlines for vehicle manufacturers to meet emission standards and for the Congress to grant them.
True
The states have generally been ahead of the federal government in terms of policy actions to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
True
There is no integrated federal law that regulates CAFOs.
True
Under Standard 1 of the Clean Water Act (1972), it was left to the states to determine the main uses of a particular body of water, whether for recreation, fishing, boating, waste disposal, or irrigation. These determinations were used to establish limits on discharges.
True
Under Standard 2 of the Clean Water Act (1972), effluent standards based on these designated uses identified what technologies any discharger had to use to control its effluents.
True
Under the Clean Water Act (1972), municipalities were required to use secondary treatment of municipal waste water by July 1, 1977 and the best practical treatment technology by July 1, 1983. These were both overly ambitious objectives and were not achieved.
True
Vehicles and coal and natural gas burning power plants are the wo largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
True
When regulators negotiate with polluters, it is often because of the special circumstances faced by polluters, such as the age of the equipment they currently have installed to reduce emissions, the costs of replacing or upgrading that equipment, the current financial condition of the company, and the ease and cost of finding suitable contractors to upgrade the equipment.
True
With regard to nonpoint source water pollution, states must now identify all their waters that fail water quality standards and for each impaired water identify the amount to which each nonpoint pollutant must be reduced to meet these water quality standards. For the most part, states have lacked the resources to get this done, resulting in a large number of lawsuits.
True
With respect to renewable energy, the greatest potential in Michigan exists with respect to this source.
Wind
What are four sources of air and water pollution and soil contamination from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)?
animal manure, animal disease and mortality -oxygen depletion and disease transmission in surface waters -pathogens and nutrient contamination of surface and ground waters -methane emissions -excessive buildup of toxins, metals, and nutrients in the soil
The Clean Air Act Amendments (1990) includes a number of titles to address specific air pollution problems. Match the problem on the left to the specific title on the right.
requires attainment of national air quality standards for designated pollutants establishes mobile source control programs programs to address hazardous air pollutants mobile source control programs establishes permitting requirements protection of the stratospheric ozone layer
Which of the following is NOT a major source of ground water pollution?
sand and gravel mining operations
What is the chief political obstacle to international action on climate change?
state sovereignty and the right of each state to make its own decisions that it regards to be in its own best interest
