Environmental Law & Policy

The ______ Act of 1964 emphasizes retention of natural resources for future generations where the priority is ecological function and scientific study.

Environmental Protection

Name the federal administrative agency responsible for enforcement of most of the Clean Water Act.

Environmental Protection Agency

Name the federal administrative agency responsible for enforcement of the Clean Air Act.

Environmental Protection Agency

What administrative agency is in charge of U.S. compliance under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES)?

Fish and Wildlife Service

What administrative agency is in charge of administering the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as it applies to terrestrial species?

Fish and Wildlife Service National Marine fisheries service for marine mammals

Effluent limitations for industrial sources were based on what technology could accomplish, and the level of technology used to set these limits depended on if the facility was old or new and what type of pollutant... put these in order from lenient limits (1) to strictest limits (3)

...

The act originally required POTW's to go to which of the above standards. Circle a. b. or c.

...

Why did drafters of Clean Water Act choose to regulate industrial sources using end-of-pipe technology rather than pollution prevention technology

...

Rank the 3R's in order of Preference.

1 - Reduce 2 - Re-use 3 - Recycle

Rank the following case studies in terms of the environmental "friendliness" of the GATT decisions in those cases. Tuna/Dolphin Case I Tuna/Dolphin Case II Shrimp/Turtle Case

3 2 1

How does RCRA define "solid" when addressing solid waste?

Any solid, liquid, or contained gas. heheheh poopy

How does Section 3 of the ESA define endangered species?

Any species in immediate danger of becoming extinct in a significant portion of its range.

What administrative agency is in charge of administering Section 10 of the Rivers Harbors Act and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act?

Army Core of Engineers

What international treaty is dealing with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions?_____ Annex I nations were to meet what target emission level in the first round (by 2012)? ________

a. Kyoto Protocol b. 5% reduction from 1990

Name the two regulatory instrument choices employed by the 1990 Amendments above.

a. Market Instrument b. Perscriptive Regulation

Under Section 7 of the ESA, federal activities are evaluated to determine if they will jeopardize endangered species. Is the administrative agency allowed to consider cost of compliance in this evaluation? _________ Explain the role of the "God Squad" (who are they and what do they decide?) _________

a. No b. Appointed public employee at federal or state

What air pollutants combine to form smog (also called ozone, O3, in the troposphere, ie. at the Earth's surface)?

a. NoX b. Hydrocarbons (VFC)

What are the air pollutants responsible for acid rain, and identify the primary source of their output.

a. NoX - vehicle emissions b. SoX - Burning dirty coal

Legislation in the USA, designed to protect natural resources, gets complicated by the dichotomy of ownership of natural resources. Identify whether the following components of the environment are primarily publicly (write PUB) or privately (write PRIV) owned. a. wildlife b. land c. air d. water

a. PVB b. PRIV c. PUB d. PUB

Under the Clean Water Act, publicly owned treatment works (POTW's) were regulated using technology-based standards. Define them. a. Primary treatment b. Secondary treatment c. Tertiary treatment

a. Particulate matter is sifted into water and then water is distributed back out of facility b. Bacteria is used to eliminate organic matter and then water is chemically treated and then water is distributed back out of facility c. primary and secondary treatment and greater filtration.

People have great difficulty assessing and accepting risk. Based on certain aspects of risk, people tend to over-fear it. Explain what people over-fear with regard to: Voluntary vs. Imposed Risk: Distribution of risk:

a. People overfear imposed risk, we subject ourselves to voluntary risk every day. We fear risk occurring all at once b. We fear risk occurring all in the same place

One of the key, "ground-breaking" principles of CERCLA is "______ pays." How did the Bush Administration attempt to abandon this principle with regard to "superfund?"

a. Polluters b. The wanted to take tax-payers money to fund superfund instead of taxing the industry

The institutional framework for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) establishes the dispute settlement process. Environmentalists have 3 major concerns for this process. Name them. Which one has been recently rectified?

a. Private entities should have a say in laws b. Panel is made up of people from trade community - trade priorities and not fully educated on matters c. Court should allow "fried of the court" briefings CIRCLE C! DO IT! I know you did your so smart!

Name 3 reasons for protecting wetlands (i.e. What are the various benefits of wetlands?).

a. Protect against flooding b. Natural filtration c. Protect against saltwater intrusion

The administrative agency in charge of CERCLA created a National Priority List where sites with the greatest danger get ranked higher. What criteria does the agency use to consider the danger level and rank the sites?

a. Risk of waste getting into water source b. The proximity to neighborhoods (large densities of people) c. The toxicity of the waste

Section 9 covers private violations of the ESA, and Section 10 allows for incidental takings. We discussed 2 mechanisms (documents) for obtaining an incidental take permit: Habitat Conservation Plans (HCP's) and another one. Name the other one and explain how it works. Name = Explanation =

a. Safe Harbor Agreement b. Set baseline and landowner can do whatever they want as long as baseline is maintained

EIS's are often challenged on the basis of their "quality." When considering these challenges, courts focus on 4 issues. Name them.

a. Scientific uncertainty b. New information

What is covered by RCRA (the 2 broad categories of waste)? Which one is strictly regulated and tracked under subtitle C?

a. Solid Waste b. Solid hazardous waste ITS B!!!! BBBBBBB

CERCLA establishes four broad classes of Potentially Responsible Parties (PRP's). Name 2 of them.

a. The current owner of a storage/disposal company b. The transporter if they chose the final destination for the waste

Who is covered by the RCRA (i.e. 3 categories of "players")? Which one has the most requirements to meet?

a. The generators b. The transporters c. The storage and Disposal Company PICK C!!!!!!!!!!!

Congress and/or agencies must decide which chemicals should be regulated and at what levels despite a paucity of scientific information. They only require testing of categories of chemicals of high concern (wave the caution flag!) based on:

a. Their purpose -> can't bankrupt a whole industry b. their use -> if they'll be ingested or absorbed

Environmentalists were highly critical of Habitat Conservation Plans. Explain 2 criticisms.

a. They didn't think the fish and wildlife service was educated enough to make the decisions b. Thought mitigation could lead to habitat fragmentation

The Occupational Health & Safety Act (OSHA) regulates work place exposure to toxic substances. The courts have ruled that exposure standards must be "feasible" in 2 ways:

a. They must be economically feasible -> can't bankrupt a whole industry b. technologically feasible -> engineers have to be able to apply standard now with current technology

What are the elements that are required in every recover plan under the ESA?

a. Threats analysis b. Delisting/ down listing criteria c. implementation priorities

Is this source covered by the RCRA?

NOOOOOO! NO! No. NOOO.....

What is the name of the policy in the more recent amendments to the ESA regarding HCP's which attempted to build trust between the federal government and private landowners.

No surprise clause I love you! so so so so muchhhhhhh!!!!!

In addition to smog, what other air pollutant causes significant respiratory damage?

NoX, CoX, HC

Which category above is currently the largest contributor to water pollution in the United States.

Non-point source

What does NIMBY mean?

Not in my back yard

Under the Clean Air Act, how are "old" stationary source and "new" stationary source emission standards different (I'm not asking you to name them... tell me how they are different)? Old Source= New Source=

Old Source=less strict, gave 20-30yr to update facilities New Source=very strict, cost could not be considered, put burden on new sources

Starting in the 1950's, how was pollution different (i.e. why was it no longer true that "the solution to pollution was dilution")?

Once synthetic chemicals were introduced and research began into their harmful effects peoples views began to change

According to the Water Quality Standards of the Clean Water Act, states must establish the designated use of their waterways, and then determine the water quality standards to support the designated use. If the waterway fails to meet its designated use, it is considered a _____ waterway.

Quality Limited Waterway

In the 1960's, ________ published Silent Spring, in which the dangers of this new pollution were desribed, thus sparking a re-newed interest in environmental protection.

Rachel Carson

Interestingly, there is dichotomy in the category of statues that have been challenged as regulatory taking. In which category have the challenges occurred?

Resource-protecting statutes

________ development assumes that poverty alleviation and environmental protection are mutually reinforcing, that current and future generations have equity in their ability to meet their needs, and that economic development can occur without physical growth.

Sustainable

______ is the coument that tracks waste products under RCRA.

THE MANIFEST!

What administrative agency is in charge of administering RCRA & CERCLA?

The EPA

What is the current institutional framework in charge of implementing GATT?

WTO

When deciding if a regulatory taking has occurred the courts have added (since Penn Central ruling) 2 specific criteria for defining a regulatory taking. What are they?

We don't know the answer....so the answer is penile implants.

Clean up of sites is originally funded by the "superfund" or by a PRP, and then the costs are recovered. How are the costs recovered?

Whoever performs the cleanup can sue other PRP's to regain the money they put out.

Section 10 of the Rivers and harbors Act covers what activities? _______ The jurisdiction is defined as __________.

a. Dredging, filling or otherwise altering waterway. b. narrowly defined truly navigable up to high water mark of waterway c. c. c.

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act covers what activities? _______ The jurisdiction is defined as ________.

a. Dumping dredging/filling materials into wetlands b. Broad -> any past present or future navigable waters

What are the advantages of regulation over common law to protect the environment (name 2)

a. Easier to enforce because its proactive b. Stops it at the source (instead of having to find the source)

Name 2 components of an EIS.

a. Environmental impacts of plan and plan alternatives b. Mitigation procedures I've run out of funny things to say :(

What are the two forms of market instruments?

a. Fees or taxes b. Tradable shares

California's Proposition 65 is more comprehensive than EPCRA in terms of the toxic substances that are covered by the act. Name 2 of the ways that Proposition 65 is more comprehensive that the coverage of EPCRA.

a. It covers substances that are included in the product and those that effect and reproduction b. It covers substances used in making the product Producers must tell consumers about the risks

Most environmental statutes _____ cost-benefit analysis

forbid

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was passed in 1976, and it was considered "ground-breaking" because it was the first legislation to take a ________ approach to the waste materials covered by the act.

precautionary lifecycle, cradle to grave

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) are both ______ statutes (regarding how "acceptable risk" is set).

risk vs benefit

The Clean Air Act's first attempt to reduce acid rain failed, so the 1977 amendments shifted from a performance-based standard to a technology-based standard. a. What was the performance-based standard for old stationary sources? b. What was the technology-based standard that the 1977 amendment required? c. The 1990 Amendments of the Clean Air Act returned to performance-based standards, but this time with______

this question was stupid anyway

The Tuna/Dolphin Case 1 was the first indication that environmentalists' concerns for global free trade were legitimate. Mexico claimed that the U.S.'s tuna ban was violating GATT. a. Explain Mexico's claim regarding Article I b. Explain Mexico's claim regarding Article III c. Explain Mexico's claim regarding Article XI d. The US claimed there were not violating these articles, and even if they were, Article XX would allow for it. Explain this claim.

a. US was buying tuna from countries that were not harming dolphins in their catching practices b. US was choosing to buy it's own tuna, which was caught softly instead of Mexico's c. US put quota on their import -> would buy zero tuna that was caught unsafely d. Tuna was not "like product" because of PPM's, Dolphins are an exhaustible resource

What nation is the world's leader in per capita greenhouse gas emissions? ______ Did this nation participate in the first round of the international treaty above? _____

a. United States b. No

Biodiversity occurs at multiple scales. The Clean Water Act (Section 404) protects biodiversity at the ______ level, and the Endangered Species Act protects it at the ______ level.

a. ecosystem b. species

Under the Clean Air Act, the federal administrative agency sets the standards nationwide for each pollutant and the states determine how to meet those standards by writing _______. If areas in the state fail to meet the federal standard, they are said to be in ________.

a. implementation plans b. Non-attainment

Did the administrative agency regulate industrial sources of water pollution on a facility-by-facility basis or on an industry-wide basis? Why?

a. industry wide b. It was more cost effective and easier to administer, it avoided confrontation from facilities

NEPA requires federal agencies to prepare an Environmental Impact System (EIS) if they are proposing a _______ federal action that will have _______ environmental impact.

a. major b. significant

The U.S. lost the above case. The dispute panel claimed the could only judge the tuna as "like product" based on its _____ characteristics and not its ________. This deliberately excludes environmental concerns. Also, the dispute panel denied the Article XX exceptions because _______, a decision that frustrates any attempt to protect international resources.

a. physical b. PPM's process and production methods c. a country can't protect a resource that's outside its borders

According to the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946, what are the requirements for informal adjudication?

a. right to adjudication b. right to appear before the agency c. right to receive a decision in a reasonable amount of time

When agency rulemaking is challenged, courts employ the "Chevron Two-Step." Fill in the steps. Step 1: Court asks______ If yes court considers ______ If no, court asks Step 2 ________

a. was the mandate clear b. did the agency follow the mandate c. was agencies interpretation based on a permissible construction of the statue

Under FIFRA, if a pesticide does pose "unreasonable risk," what can the administrative agency in charge do?

a.Ban production of the pesticide b.Give rules on how, when, and where the substance is used.

Name the greenhouse gases (GHG) responsible for global climate change, and identify the primary source of their output.

a.NoX - vehicle emissions b.CFC - industrial processes c.CoX - Fossil fuel burning power plants d.Methane - Agriculture

What international treaty is dealing with reduction of ozone-depleting pollutants? _____ Why was this treaty so successful? ______

a.The Montreal Protocol b.It eliminated free riders by saying if a country wanted to trade with another country who signed the treaty they to would have to sign and commit to a 50% reduction in CFC emissions over 10 years. And because it had a strict definition of a controlled substance and anything containing CFC's or made using CFC's in Industrial Processes.

The treaty dealing with GHG reduction included 4 trading mechanisms. Explain the following two: a. Joint Implementation = b. Clean Development Mechanism=

a.Two industries can create a bubble around their facilities and work together their overall emissions b.An industry can help developing nations develop technologies to limit their emissions and therefore avoid them ever having high emissions. By doing this the company receives credits that towards reducing their own emissions.

Name the administrative agency that implements FIFRA and TSCA.

EPA Enormous Penis Association

Under EPCRA, how does a company get placed on the National Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)?

EPA has a limit for each toxin that a company can release if company goes over that limit they have to file a report to EPA and they get placed on the list. Release more than a threshold amount.

What is the major criticism of prescriptive regulation?

Economic efficiency (costly)

What is the largest source of the waste stream in the USA?

Agriculture - 50% of waste stream

The Clean Water Act applies to _______ waters, but defines this jurisdiction broadly as "the waters of the United States"

All navigable waters of the US

What substance does TSCA cover?

All substances not included in a more specific act.

What is the purpose of the "Prevention of Significant Deterioration" (PSD) regulations?

Keeps companies from fleeing to attainment areas, makes it very costly to pollute in those areas and prevents clean areas from becoming dirty again.

Which one of the above standards does not consider the cost of the technology required to meet the standard?

BACT

Drafters of the Clean Air Act chose to use the sources of pollution as the regulatory target rather than the receptors or classes of receptors. Why?

Because it would be much more difficult to regulate at the individual/community level, and it would be more costly.

The example of the Fort Howard Paper Company applying for permits to construct a paper plant on either side of the Savanna River (one side is South Carolina and one side is Georgia) represents the problem of mismatched scales. it results in the "race to the bottom"...explain this: Identify below which scales are mismatched

Because jobs are seen as good, politicians will propose laws to entice the company to their area. These laws usually are environmental standards. The 2 laces compete by each gradually and their environmental standards. (Economic scale) =/ (Political boundaries scale)

What is the most likely explanation for why poor and minority communities bear a disproportionate share of environmental burdens (such as greater exposure to poor air quality, lead poisoning, or pesticides)?

Because most of the debates take place in large cities where they cannot travel to and once a harmful building is built near their community they don't have the money to relocate.

Why do companies care if they placed on the TRI?

Because the document is put out for the public, so sales and stocks will go down.

Protected interests don't have voices of their own, so proxies must bring litigation on their behalf. Based on Sierra Club vs. Morton, explain the injury-in-fact requirement for these proxies to get standing in environmental cases.

Before this case proxies must have had physical or economic harm to get standings, this case extended standings to recreational and ascetic harm.

In the 1987 Clean Water Act Amendment added section 319 to regulate non-point sources (after the failure of section 208). This section requires states to prepare a report identifying non-point sources and describing measures to reduce pollution levels (to the maximum extent practicable). The state must also require non-point sources to use______ at the earliest practicable date.

Best Management Practices

California's Proposition 65 is the first environmental statute in U.S. to include a ______ provision.

Bounty

The tragedy at Love Canal exposed a gap in the nation's hazardoes waste regulation, and the Comprehensive Emergency Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or "Superfund" was passed in 1979 to fill that gap. The gap was that no law effectively addressed ______.

Buried and forgotten waste

Name the pollutant responsible for depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer.

CFC's

According to the permitting process under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, applicants who cannot avoid wetland destruction must mitigate for the losses. Environmentalists criticize this approach. Explain 1 of the criticism______.

Can cause habitat fragmentation

Name on thing the federal agency can do in the above scenario.

Can deny funding to a state who is in non-attainment

To legislate environmental protection at the federal level, Congress relies primarily on its _____ powers.

Commerce clause

How did CERCLA contribute to the creation of brownsfields?

Companies were afraid to buy land in fear that they would become a PRP and could then be potentially sued.

Regarding where agency rules come from...Congress passes ______ legislation and the experts whin administrative agencies ______. Explain the constitutional concern with this arrangement.

Constitutional concern - this is allowing the executive branch to create laws (congress is pushing off their duties)

What is the administrative agency in charge of administering the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)?

Council on environmental Quality

The number of court issued injunctions under NEPA has INCREASED or DECREASED over time (1977 to 1987)?

DECREASED!!!! YAY!

What administrative agency implements EPCRA?

EPA

The _____ of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act are pure health-based statutes that take a zero-risk approach.

Delaney Clauses

What is the administrative agency in charge of OSHA?

Department of Labor

Explain the precautionary principle as it applies in the USA to developing environmental legislation in the face of scientific uncertainty.

If the effects of something are thought to be too great it is better to develop legislation before the event takes place rather to wait longer to collect more data. bow chicka wow wow

People are fearful about what kind of risk?

Imposed

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is "ground-breaking" because it is the first major international trade agreement to ____________.

Include environmental provisions within the treaty itself.

What was an unintended consequence of the 1984 Amendments to RCRA?

Industry began to burn waste -> change it to uncontained gas which isn't covered!

NEPA uses the ________ instrument

Information

Emergency Planning & Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) uses what regulatory instrument?

Informational Standard -> industry has to tel on themselves -> Burden of proof is on the industry

What does the Lacey Act of 1900 prohibit?

Interstate selling of poached wildlife

How did the 1984 Amendments of RCRA attempt to promote the 3 R's in the manufacturing process?

It made it very expensive for industry to dispose of waste products in a secure landfill.

Selection of the regulatory target is as important as choosing the regulatory instrument. What does "regulatory target" mean?

It means who is going to be responsible for making the change and enforcing the regulatory instrument

What is the problem of using "rights" as the analytical framework for protecting natural resources?

It pushes politicians to extremes on the spectrum, also there are multiple other laws to consider )employment, property, etc) that may contradict environmental outcomes.

FIFRA and TSCA have both been criticized...explain what "paralysis and analysis" means.

It takes a long time and a lot of money to test all of the substances so it takes a very long time for production to begin or to get canceled. Risk-Benefit statute has become to cumbersome ->get bogged down in details of the analysis

In the "Benzene Case" the Supreme Court addressed "acceptable risk" and keyed in on OSHA's language regarding a safe work place. How did the Court define a safe workplace in their ruling?

Less than 1 in a million chance of getting cancer

CITES uses a __________ system to control all import, export, re-export, and introductions of species across international borders.

Licensing

Technology-based standards have a ________ administrative cost than health-based standards.

Lower

What does "internalizing the externalities" mean when referring to environmental legislation (i.e. what are the drafters of the law trying to do)?

Make the costs internal, make people pay for the services they use.

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the administrative agency must set "maximum contaminant level goals" and "maximum contaminant levels." Which one must water suppliers meet?

Maximum contaminant levels

Circle the most effective market instrument in #21

Me doing this doesn't make up for all you've done for me. You are super duper duper awesome. :)

Ecological services are "external" to the accounting system of users... explain this important market failure.

People do not pay for the natural benefits of the environment and therefore there is no punishment when they become scarce

Explain the social criticism of the feasibility standards above.

People in poorer industries are more subject to higher levels of exposure because their economic feasibility is lower.

Explain how the information instrument for environmental protection works.

People must be informed on whats going on in the environment in order to change anything but people suffer from biases that make action difficult.

Which category above is regulated by the NPDES permit system.

Point Source

Who led the respective movements?

Preservationist Movement=John Murr Conservationist Movement=Gifford Pinchot, Teddy Rosevelt me love you long time

Compare the preservationist and conservationist movements regarding environmental protection:

Preservationist=Thought the land/environment had the right to exist in it's natural form, wanted to keep as much land untouched as possible. Conservationist=Thought land should serve the population, wanted to confirm land to better produce things human needed.

Administrative law addresses

Rule making and adjudication

How did the George W. Bush Administration undermine this attempt at reasonable, flexible legislation by drafters of Clean Air Act?

Said old sources could update facility 20% a year and remain an old source

What is the mitigation banking?

Save up a large sum of money in order to do large scale mitigation projects instead of small projects that lead to habitat fragmentation. Individuals permit holders give money to a bank.

Why does California's Proposition 65 benefit consumers nationwide?

Since industry has to follow a certain standard for California all of their products end up following the standard because it would be more expensive to have to make product for California and for everywhere else. Good luck you'll do great!

At what level of government are game species protected?

State

Explain the Dormant Commerce Clause.

States can't regulate interstate commerce unless federal government explicitly gives them responsibility. If the government stays silent the states do not get to regulate.

Who has perpetuated "paralysis and analysis?"

The courts HI JULIE!

What is "regulatory taking?"

The government must pay just compensation for taking away the ability for someone to raise money off their land.

Under TSCA, what does the manufacturer have to do?

The have to file a pre manufacturing notice before producing and selling their product

Explain how the homestead act of 1862 exemplifies how early settlers of North America felt about the wilderness?

The homestead act made it so you had to farm land for three years before you could own it, land was only good if it was being used for production!

Under FIFRA, who tests the new chemicals for toxic effects?

The industry

Explain the "collective action" problem.

The more people you have trying to solve a problem the harder it becomes to reach on agreement

According to the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946, how does the agency include the public in their rulemaking?

There is a review and comment period the law must undergo - the comments are then read and comment "groups" are responded to

Every major federal envronmental law since 1970 contains a "citizen suit" provision. What outcome do these provisions allow (what can a private citizen "win"?)?

They can with an injunction -> action they are fighting must be stopped

CITES has 3 Appendices of species. Appendix ______ lists the most critically endangered species that have the most restrictions, and Appendix _____ has the most species on its list.

a. 1 b. 2 Yay all done! now go ace your test snookums! Tootaloo!

Explain the "Tragedy of the Commons." The commons refers to ___________. What is the "tragedy" of how users respond to the exploitation of the "commons" ___________

a. All of the naturals resources the land provides. b. People think of how resources will benefit them now instead of the effect their use could have on the rest of the present and future population.

What did amendments to Clean Water Act do when the above original standards failed

a. Any POTW who put water back into coastal waters only had to go to primary treatment levels before distributing water into coastal waters b. Eliminated the best possible water treatment standard.

Under the Clean Air Act, mobile sources were treated differently than stationary sources. What is the regulatory target for mobile sources?______ What was the resulting technology forced by this approach?______

a. CAFE standards set nationwide standards each company had to meet standard on average for all cars they produce b. Catalytic Converter

Environmentalists argue that global free trade is not good for the environment for several reasons...explain 2.

a. Can lead to the race to the bottom b. Wealth is not evenly distributed

From a regulatory perspective, water pollution is divided into two main categories. Define them. a.Point source b.non-point source

a. Direct pollution from a source into a waterway b. Deposited into a waterway