Environmental Law

7 Criteria Pollutants

-carbon monoxide CO -nitrogen dioxide NO2 -ozone O3 -sulphur dioxide SO2 -particulate matter PM2.5 -particulate matter PM10 -lead

How long did the drafters of the Clean Air Act expect the national air quality problems to persist?

10 Years

Which time period most closely matches the "era of modern environmental law," a period when many of the key federal environmental laws were enacted?

1965-1980

What is the liklihood that a regulated party in the United States will be inspected by the EPA (federal or state deligate)?

2%

Suppose a new toxicity test correctly identifies a carcinogenic chemical 95% of the time and also correctly identifies non-carcinogenicity 95% of the time. If there are 500 known carcinogens among a total of 10,500 chemicals, which would be closest to the probability that a positive toxicity test result is correct?

50%

The "Chevron two-step" is ________________.

A nickname for the judicial process used for statutory interpretation.

A wetland that is privately owned provides habitat that benefits fishers in the community, but the owner of the land receives no direct financial benefit from the wetland. This is an example of:

A positive externality

Unregulated harvesting of fish from international oceans at an unsustainable rate is an example of ____.

A tragedy of the commons

What does the Enviornmental Rights framework tend to push policy towards?

Absolute positions

Exercising the precautionary principle means to __________________.

Act with caution, even when the perceived threats are uncertain

What is the key federal legislation that sets out procedures that agencies must follow when establishing rules and adjudicating conflicts?

Administrative Procedure Act

A major factor in determining whether to use a technology or health based regulatory standard is _____________.

Administrative cost

With regards to scientific uncertainty, the 'precautionary principle'

Advances policy action despite the uncertainty

Which statement is not true regarding how administrative agencies fit within the three parties of the federal government?

All agency actions must be authorized by the courts

Once a person forms an opinion about the likely risk from an environmental problem, it is difficulty to change that opinion. This is a cognitive bias referred to as:

Anchoring effect

The health risks from radon exposure at concentrations near the EPAs limit are low relative to likely exposure to other sources of radioactivity. This scenario illustrates a cognitive bias known as ____.

Availability heuristic

What value matches the following statement: "Knowing that our kids and grandkids will be able to enjoy a particular species in the future."

Bequest value

The famous preservationist John Muir was asked what the value of a rattlesnake was and responded "it is good for itself." This perspective and its influence on environmental policy addresses _____.

Biocentric rights

What source of air pollution is responsible for about 3/4 of all CO, over half of NOx, and about half of VOC levels?

Cars

Fines and penalties are forms of ____________.

Civil enforcement

A __________ ____________ problem is due to the increased transaction costs in negotiating solutions as the number of parties increases.

Collective action

To justify constitutional authority for environmental actions, the Supreme Court has explicitly held that the ___________ power is broad enough to permit Congressional regulation of activities causing air or water pollution, or other environmental hazards.

Commerce

Initiated with an international conference in 1972, The United Nations Environment Program has been instrumental in establishing which agreement?

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

Which of the following terms belongs to this definition? "Pollutants that are emmitted from numerous or diverse sources and that endanger public health or wellfare"

Criteria Pollutants

What are outcomes of the Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference v. Federal Power Commission case?

Demonstrating the benefit of requiring agencies to consider environmental impacts of decisions. Established a precedence of an environmentally based group bringing a lawsuit before a court and being granted standing by the court.

The US Environmental Protection Agency established administrative law as dictated by congressional legislation such as the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. Where EPA does gets its lawmaking authority?

EPAs authority to establish administrative law is delegated by congress

What U.S. proposed dam construction project was never constructed in one of the first victories for the preservationist movement?

Echo Park

Reflexive laws seek to modify behaviour through ____.

Education and access to information

What US Environmental Law is heralded as the strongest protection of biodiversity in the world?

Endangered Species Act

One of the main foci of Environmental Jusice also known as "substantive environmental justice" is centered around

Equal distribution of burdens

Which is true about externalities?

Externalities can be both positive and negative. Externalities are costs borne by the public When we have to pay for something, we use less of it.

An air quality standard under NAAQS causes a Race to the Bottom

False

Congress has been open to arguements of cost-benefit analysis for choosing environmental regulation.

False

What does the EPA start if they believe that an SIP is not adequate?

Federal Implementation Plan

A power utility offers to subsidize the homeowners costs to increase the amount of insulation in homes. The utility in-turn recieves a federal tax rate incentive. This is an example of ____________.

Financial payments

When an agency fines a violator, the fine sends a signal to others about the risk of violation. This concepts is _________________.

General deference

As the first chief of the US Forest Service, this individual espoused the conservationist doctrine of 'wise use' of natural resources.

Gifford Pinchot

What do the primary standards of NAAQS aim to protect?

Human Health

Which of the following is an example of technology that was adopted by power plants for CAA compliance, but had the unintended consequence of aggravating the acid rain problem?

Increasing the height of smokestacks

Which is not true about externalities?

Internalizing externalities gives a false price signal to buyers

What was the historical significance of the 1977 amendment to the Clean Water Act?

It recognized the value and ecosystem services provided by habitats such as wetlands

Who founded the Sierra Club?

John Muir

Collective action is best describe by ______.

Large numbers of interests and costly negotiation

The first application of a trading approach under the Clean Air Act was the regulation of __________.

Lead in gasoline

One disadvantage to prescriptive regulation is __________________.

Little incentive for innovation

The majority of legislation passed under the Environmental Justice framework is done at which government level?

Local level

A potential drawback to use of trading approaches to achieve air quality goals is that trading _________.

May create pollution hot-spots

The need for watershed organizations grows out of what environmental policy theme?

Mismatched scales

Sustainable Development at it's core dictates that we must develop within the constaints of?

Natural systems

What is the term for when SIPs fail?

Non-attainment

A regulatory instrument that seeks to charge or tax those who impact the environment at a cost-level equal ot the harm imposed is a __________________.

Pigouvian Tax

Which of the following is not a type or component of air pollution trading:

Pigovian taxes

The broad subject of environmental law is often viewed as comprising which two distinct fields?

Pollution Law and Natural Resources Law

A specific environmental policy that mandates what parties can and cannot do is known either as a command and control regulation or a ____.

Prescriptive regulation

The Hetch Tetchy Reservoir was built on the Tuolumne River near modern Yosemite National Park in 1913. While those who opposed its construction did not get their way, the event is seen as important in the history of environmental policy because _____.

Preservationists gained support and popularised the wilderness ethic

Which regulatory tool is most associated with low administraiton costs?

Property Rights Regulations

The Madison v. Ducktown Sulphur, Copper, and Iron Co. case (1904) was brought by farmers against and ore smelter on the basis that smelter emissions were damaging crops. What principle is demonstrated?

Regulatory action should be more proactive than reactive

What principle is demonstrated in the Madison v. Ducktown Sulphur, Coppr and Iron Co. case (1904)?

Regulatory action should be more proactive than reactive

What was not an outcome of the Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference v. Federal Power Commission case?

Resolution of the conflicting viewpoints between the Federal Power Commission and those who opposed the construction of the dam

Which of the following was not an outcome of the Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference v. Federal Power Commission case?

Resolution of the conflicting viewpoints between the Federal Power Commission and those who opposed the construction of the dam

Deciding whether to build a nuclear or coal fired power plant is an example of a ___________ choice.

Risk - Risk

The primary source of information for identifying organizations with environmental non-compliacne is gained through _______________.

Self reporting

What were the first three administrative departments to be established?

State, Treasury, and War

Non-traditional, flexible agreements in which violators agree to "beyond compliance" measures in exchange for reduced fines are called ______________.

Supplemental environmental projects (SEPs).

This following definition belongs to which term: "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Sustainable development

Which environmental framework seeks to balance environmental protection and economic development?

Sustainable development framework

In the 1800s, federal policy related to the wilderness prioritised ______.

Taming and settling the land

Which best describes a Pigouvian Tax?

Taxing those who cause environmental damage at a rate that matches the cost of those damages

The CAA's approach to regulating mobile sources involved setting strict emission reduction requirements and deadlines, even though there was no known technology for achieving the emmisions reduction at that time. This policy strategy is knows as ___________.

Technology forcing

Who provides legal representation for th US EPA?

The US Department of Justice (DOJ)

Regarding the impact of the CAA, which statement about average air quality conditions over the United States is most true?

The air quality has improved overall despite increases in numbers of cars

Which is true with respect to air pollution trading as ammeded by the 1990 CAA amendment?

The amendment increased the trading ratio to 1.1:1 for non-attainment area

The advantage to using financial payments as a way to encourage environmental protection is ____.

The catalysing of adoption

Suppose that a regulation is enacted that bans the sale of the genetically modified, Bt Corn seed, due to the possible, but not certain, risk that pollen from the corn impacts the population of some butterflies. IN this situation, who bears the burden of proof about the environmental safety of the pollen?

The manufacturer of the corn seed

An advantage to using a property rights approach in policies of environmental protection is that ____.

There is incentive for innovative solutions beyond minimum compliance

A market based economy does not inherently promote environmental protection because ________.

There is no market to exchange public goods

The significant effect of Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring was

To demonstrate the environmental impacts of pesticides

What was the motivation for the creation of a forest reserve system in the Adirondacks by New York State?

To protect a clean water supply

A situation where an individual's personal incentive works against the collective long-term best interest is knows as

Tragedy of the commons

Did Congress gave the authority to regulate vehicle emissions to EPA?

True. Lobbying effort by auto industry which did not want to create vehicles with difference specification for different states

Travel cost valuation is an economic tool that estimates the value of an ecosystem based on what people would pay to visit the location. This tool might be employed by someone using which of the following analytical frameworks?

Utilitarian framework

Reflexive laws are those that _______________.

attempt to change behavior through education

What do anthropocentric rights encompass?

current and future generations of humans

In 1990, a science advisory board evaluated EPA's budget priorities and found that ____________.

there was little connection of agency spending to highest priority environmental concerns