Law Chapter 25
Superfund: minimizing liability
-A business can minimize its potential liability under Superfund by conducting environmental compliance audits of its own operations regularly -The EPA will waive all fines if a small company corrects environmental violations within 180 days after being notified of violations that do not involve pollution-prevention techniques -Policy does not apply to criminal violations or to violations that pose a significant threat to public health, safety, or the environment
Nuisance
-A person is liable if they use their property in a manner that unreasonably interferes with others' rights to use or enjoy their own property -To obtain relief under the nuisance doctrine, a property owner may have to identify a distinct harm separate from that affecting the general public. This harm is referred to as a "private" nuisance -A public authority (such as a state's attorney general) can sue to stop a "public" nuisance
Environmental Impact Statements
-All federal agencies must take environmental impact into account when making significant decisions -An EIS must analyze the impact of the proposed action on the environment, any adverse effects of the action and alternatives to the action, and any irreversible effects the action might generate
Negligence and Strict Liability
-An injured party can sue a business or person who failed to use reasonable care toward a party whose injury was foreseeable and/or caused by the lack of reasonable care -Lawsuits for personal injuries caused by exposure to a toxic substance (such as asbestos) have given rise to a growing body of tort law known as toxic torts -Businesses that engage in ultrahazardous activities are strictly liable for any injuries the activities cause
Standards for Equipment (clean water act)
-Best available control technology (BACT) must be installed. -New sources must install BACT equipment before beginning operations -Existing sources are subject to timetables for BACT equipment installation and must immediately install equipment that utilizes the best practical control technology, or BPCT. -Some provisions require EPA to weigh cost of BACT with benefits
Violations of the Clean Air Act
-Civil penalties can be assessed for up to $25,000 per day. -Additional fines of up to $5,000 per day can be assessed for other violations. -Intentional violations may involve criminal penalties
Superfund: CERCLA (as amended) has four primary elements:
-Established information-gathering/analysis system that enables the government to identify chemical dump sites and determine the appropriate action. -Authorized the EPA to respond to emergencies and to arrange for the clean-up of a leaking site directly if the persons responsible fail to clean up the site -Created Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund (also called Superfund) to pay for the clean-up of hazardous sites using funds obtained through taxes on certain businesses -Allowed the government to recover the cost of clean-up from persons who were (even remotely) responsible for hazardous substance releases
Clean Water Act
-Goals: Safe swimming, protection of fish and wildlife, and elimination of the discharge of pollutants into waterways. -The CWA also set specific schedules that limit the discharge of various types of pollutants based on the technology available for controlling them
Reducing Emissions
-Long-term goals are to reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2050 and to develop national standards regulating fuel economy and emissions for medium- and heavy-duty trucks starting with 2014 models
State and Local Regulations
-Many states have enacted laws to protect the environment by restricting the disposal or recycling of wastes and motor vehicle emissions -Local zoning laws may be designed to inhibit or regulate growth of cities and suburbs by prohibiting certain land uses -A firm's proposed development plan may have to be altered to lessen the development's environmental impact
Oil Pollution Act
-Passed by congress in 1989 after the Exxon Valdez oil spill - Under the act, any oil facility, oil shipper, vessel owner, or vessel operator that discharges oil into navigable waters or onto an adjoining shore may be liable for clean-up costs and damages. Polluters can be ordered to pay for damage to natural resources, private property, and the local economy
Violations and Penalties (The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA))
-Selling a pesticide or herbicide that is unregistered or has a canceled or suspended registration -Selling a pesticide or herbicide with a false or misleading label. -Destroying or defacing any labeling required under the act -Penalties for commercial dealers include imprisonment for up to one year and a fine of up to $25,000 (producers can be fined up to $50,000). Farmers and other private users of pesticides or herbicides who violate the act are subject to a $1,000 fine and incarceration for up to thirty days
Authority to Regulate Greenhouse Gases
-The Clean Air Act (as amended) does not specifically mention CO2 emissions. -In 2009, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA had the authority to regulate CO2 emissions. In 2015, the EPA started regulating greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes
Stationary Sources
-The Clean Air Act authorizes the EPA to establish air-quality standards for stationary sources. -The primary responsibility for implementing these standards rests with state and local governments -The standards aim to control hazardous air pollutants that are likely to cause death or a serious, irreversible, or incapacitating condition
Maximum Achievable Control Technology
-The Clean Air Act requires major new sources to use pollution-control equipment that represents the maximum achievable control technology, or MACT, to reduce emissions. -The EPA issues guidelines as to what equipment meets this standard
Hazardous Air Pollutants
-The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to list all hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) on a prioritized schedule. -Nearly two hundred substances have been classified as hazardous
EPA actions (The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA))
-The EPA can cancel or suspend registration of substances that it has identified as harmful and can inspect the factories where the chemicals are made. -A substance is considered harmful if human exposure to the substance results in a risk of one in a million (or higher) of developing cancer
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
-The RCRA authorizes the EPA to issue regulations for the monitoring, transporting, storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous substances -The act requires all producers of hazardous waste materials to label and properly package any hazardous waste that must be transported -Under the RCRA, a company may be assessed a civil penalty of up to $25,000 for each violation -Criminal penalties include fines of up to $50,000 for each day of violation, imprisonment for up to two years (in most instances), or both
Jurisdictional Determination (clean water act)
-The government allows landowners to seek a jurisdictional determination (JD) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as to whether the CWA applies -If the CWA applies, the landowner will be required to procure a permit before filling or dredging the property. -If the CWA does not apply, no permit is required
Superfund: Defenses
-The innocent landowner defense may protect a landowner who acquired the property after it was used for hazardous waste disposal. -Landowner must not have had a contractual or employment relationship with the person (or other entity) who owned the land when the contamination occurred -Landowner must show that there was no reason to know that property had been used for hazardous waste disposal at time of acquisition. -Landowner must show that she/he appropriately investigated the possibility of environmental hazards before buying the property at the time of the purchase
Violations of the Clean Water Act
-The permits are the key to enforcement. -States have primary responsibility for enforcing the permit system, subject to EPA monitoring. -Violators are subject to a variety of civil and criminal penalties -Depending on violation, civil penalties range from $10,000-$25,000 per day -Criminal penalties apply if a violation was intentional. Penalties range from a fine of $2,500 per day and imprisonment for up to one year to a fine of $1 million and fifteen years' imprisonment
Environmental Regulatory Agencies
-The primary federal agency is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Other federal agencies that regulate environmental matters include the Department of the Interior, the Department of Defense, the Department of Labor, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -Citizens can usually sue to enforce environmental regulations if government agencies fail to do so -Citizens can also sue to limit enforcement actions if agencies go too far in their actions
Permit System for Point-Source Emissions (Clean Water Act)
-Under this system, called the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), municipal, industrial, and agricultural sources must have a permit. -NPDES permits can be issued by the EPA, authorized state agencies, and Indian tribes. -The permits may be issued only if the discharge will not violate water-quality standards, and they must be reissued every five years
Water pollution
-Water pollution stems mostly from industrial, municipal, and agricultural sources -Pollutants include organic wastes, heated water, sediments from soil runoff, nutrients (including fertilizers and human and animal wastes), and toxic chemicals and other hazardous substances
Superfund: The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
-commonly known as Superfund—regulates the clean-up of disposal sites in which hazardous waste is leaking into the environment
The National Environmental Policy Act requires that an environmental impact statement (EIS) be prepared for...
-every major federal action that significantly affects the quality of the environment -A "major" action involves a substantial commitment of resources
Toxic Substances Control Act
-regulates chemicals and chemical compounds that are known to be toxic -The act controls the introduction of new chemical compounds by requiring investigation of their possible harmful effects -Under the act, the EPA can require that firms determine the effects of the chemicals on human health and the environment upfront -The EPA can regulate substances that could pose an imminent hazard or an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment -The EPA can also require special labeling, limit the use of a substance, set production quotas, or prohibit the use of a substance altogether
The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (or Ocean Dumping Act)
-regulates the transportation and dumping of pollutants into ocean waters -It prohibits the dumping of radiological, chemical, and biological warfare agents and high-level radioactive waste -The act established a permit program for transporting and dumping other materials -It also designated certain areas as marine sanctuaries -Each violation of any provision or permit requirement in the act may result in a civil penalty of up to $50,000 -A knowing violation is a criminal offense that may result in a $50,000 fine, imprisonment for not more than a year, or both
The Safe Drinking Water Act
-requires the EPA to set maximum levels for pollutants in public water systems -Operators of public water systems must meet the EPA's standards as much as possible by using the best available technology that is economically and technologically feasible -Under the act, drinking water suppliers are required to send an annual statement describing the source of their water to every household they supply. -The statement must disclose the contaminant level in the water and any possible health concerns associated with the contaminants
Joint and Several Liability (Superfund: Potentially responsible parties)
A PRP who generated only a fraction of the hazardous waste disposed of at a site may nevertheless be liable for all the clean-up costs
Wetlands (Clean water act)
CWA prohibits filling or dredging of wetlands unless a permit is issued
Controlling Climate Change
In 2016, a federal district court in Oregon allowed a lawsuit to go forward against the U.S. government for doing too little to control climate change
Strict liability of PRPs (Superfund: Potentially responsible parties)
Superfund imposes strict liability that cannot be avoided through transfer of ownership
Superfund: Potentially responsible parties
When release or a potential release of hazardous chemicals from a site occurs, the following persons may be held responsible for cleaning up the site: -The person who generated the wastes disposed of at the site -The person who transported the wastes to the site, -The person who owned or operated the site at the time of the disposal, or -The current owner or operator
Clean Air Act
provides the basis for issuing regulations to control multistate air pollution. It covers both mobile and stationary sources of pollution
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)
regulates the use of pesticides and herbicides. These substances must be: -registered before they can be sold, -certified and used only for approved applications, and -used in limited quantities when applied to food crops