Mara final
CERCLA and RCRA both regulate certain hazardous materials, but differ significantly in their applicability at different points in time. What best describes this difference?
CERCLA is mostly retrospective and RCRA is mostly prospective.
A corporation will be liable for the criminal acts of its employees and agents done within the scope of their employment with the intent to benefit the corporation. This is known as:
Corporate Criminal Liability
What term does the Clean Water Act use for municipal sewage treatment systems, and what regulations apply?
Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) and sources discharging into them are subject to the "pretreatment program"
Which of the following addresses the regulation of the disposal of solid wastes?
RCRA
Under MARPOL, the dumping of plastics into the ocean is sometimes permitted.
false
The biggest exemption under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act deals with:
farming activities
Superfund was established in 1980 in response to a major incident of chemical contamination. This incident was known as:
love canal
CFCs were originally used in:
refrigerants, aerosols, fire extingushers
The states are left to set emissions standards for all of the following, except:
smokestacks motor vehicles(answer) factories nuclear power plants
Environmental law includes a large component of constitutional law and administrative law.
true
Liquid sludge can be solid waste under the RCRA.
true
Market Failure refers to the idea that the supply and demand model doesn't work with environmental resources.
true
Mitigation banking is when private or public organizations restore, enhance, or create wetlands on a coordinated basis and use the mitigation credits to satisfy the 404 mitigation requirements for development projects.
true
The federal government's basis of regulating wetlands is the Commerce Clause.
true
The federal government's basis of regulating wetlands is through the Commerce Clause.
true
Under the CWA, "the discharge of any pollutant by any person" is unlawful without an NPDES permit.
true
In the 1970's, the leading cause of lead in the air was from:
vehicle emission
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act provides the principal protection of:
wetlands
What is an "effluent limitation" under the Clean Water Act?
"Effluent Limitations" are limits on the quantity or concentration of pollutants that some point source may discharge.
The principal protection of wetlands is provided by:
404 clean water act
An "estuary" is:
A place where fresh water and ocean water mix, and an essential breeding ground for many wild animals and fish.
Judy is a new project manager at the EPA in its Air Pollution division. Her supervisor assigns her the task of determining the best "health-based standard" for carbon dioxide, which the EPA has never before regulated. Judy feels confused by the assignment. What does the supervisor mean by a "health-based" regulation under the Clean Air Act?
A regulation that defines maximum "healthy" levels of pollutants in the ambient air and mandates that all stationary sources of those pollutants find ways to keep ambient air within those levels.
What is the primary cause of nonpoint source water pollution in rivers and streams?
Agriculture
A species is considered a threatened species when the species is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout:
All or a significant portion of its range.
Superfund refers to which of the following?
CERCLA
Intrepid attorney Perry Mason discovers that the murder victim in his case, who was the owner of a factory near the local river, obtained a "point source" NPDES permit for his site immediately before his untimely death. Perry Mason has not yet visited the factory site, but using his powers of deduction and the existence of a "point source" permit, he knows that somewhere on the property he will find something in particular. What does Perry Mason expect to find there?
An open pipe or drainage ditch that flows from the facility into navigable waters.
It is estimated that about 20% of carbon emissions come from:
Deforestation
Assume that in response to political pressure and litigation by various special interest groups, the EPA agrees to list carbon dioxide as a "criteria pollutant" to address global warming concerns. The EPA then promulgates regulations about the appropriate maximum levels for this criteria pollutant. What is the primary mechanism for implementing and enforcing these new standards?
Each state's SIP will have to include a detailed plan for attaining the required levels of carbon dioxide in the ambient air.
The Endangered Species Act protects only species that are listed as:
Endangered and Threatened.
The framework that focuses on distributing harm equally.
Environmental justice.
Which of the following addresses the toxic substances in pesticides and other agricultural chemicals?
FIFRA
Which of the following would be classified as a non-point source run off?
Farms Factories Sewage plants Commercial facilities
A major finding by the court following Massachusetts v. EPA included:
Greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the CAA EPA must issue an endangerment finding or provide a valid reason to decline At least in the climate context, states are owed "special solicitude" and have a lower threshold for standing than private parties All of the above
In the case of Massachusetts v. EPA, the major findings of the court include:
Greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. In "climate" context, states have a lower threshold for standing than private parties.
Which of the following is NOT one of the categories of those personally liable under CERCLA?
Household consumers.
An example of a Preservationist is:
John Muir
What is the National Priorities List?
NPL is the list of the most serious uncontrolled and polluted waste sites identified for long-term remedial action under Superfund.
What does NPDES stand for?
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
Trading can achieve the goals of the CAA at a lower cost than directly regulating each source. Which is not a type of trading?
Netting Bubbling Stringing (answer) Offsets
Where was Love Canal located and what chemical was responsible for the resulting health effects?
New York; Dioxin
Cody runs several businesses, including an older facility that puts lots of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. He obtains the standard "allowance" for emitting one ton of sulfur dioxide per year into the air. Cody decides that the facility is not very profitable, and that he could make more money if he scales back operations and sells his allowance to a competitor who has a more successful plant. What would the legal consequences be if this sale was discovered?
Nothing, because the EPA intends sulfur dioxide allowances to be transferable/tradable.
Peggy likes grilling meat for her family on a charcoal grill, but she is wasteful with the lighter fluid, which contains listed hazardous wastes. In fact, she regularly discards bottles that are half-full of lighter fluid, throwing them into the trash, which the garbage men take away a few days later. If her ex-husband Hank reports her to the EPA for violations of the RCRA, what is the likely result?
Nothing, because there is a categorical exemption under the RCRA for household or municipal wastes like this.
The Montreal Protocol is related to:
Ozone layer depletion
While most environmental statues (CAA, CWA, RCRA, etc.) regulate the actions of individual polluters (and substances they introduce into the environment), CERCLA instead regulates:
Places - contaminated sites
Dumpitt Inc., has received a phone message from their legal counsel stating that the EPA has listed the firm as a "PRP" in a CERCLA matter. Dumpitt's management is concerned because they are not sure what this means, and their lawyer rarely returns their phone calls. What is a "PRP" for purposes of CERCLA?
Potentially Responsible Party
What is the Tragedy of the Commons?
Refers to the depletion of common resources without regard to future regeneration or replenishment. Occurs when individuals exploit a shared resource to the extent that demand overwhelms supply and the resource becomes unavailable to all. It results from an inherent tension between collective and individual responsibility. All of the above.
The Hetch Hetchy project was undertaken to supply water to what city and it was notable because:
San Francisco; it led to an exponential growth of supporters of the preservationist movement and popularized the wilderness ethic.
Why is is so difficult to regulate toxic substances?
Scientific uncertainty: substances are not known to be hazardous until much later.
In response to growing public concerns about "global warming," a group of student activists demands that the EPA designate carbon dioxide as a "criteria pollutant," so that limitations on emissions could come into effect for major urban areas. What other pollutants already have this designation?
Six. Ozone, particulate matter, sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and lead.
The framework that focuses on both environmental protection and developmental interests:
Sustainable development.
Who is charged with protecting the navigability of the nation's waterways and protection of wetlands?
The Army Corps of Engineers
If the EPA brings a cleanup and recovery action against a certain company as the sole defendant (despite the fact that their contribution to the contamination was far less than others), what percentage of the cleanup costs will the company bear?
The CERCLA defendant has joint and several liability, and is therefore liable for 100% of the costs.
What was the name of the legislation passed in 1972 that called to "provide protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife" and for "recreation in and on the water" by July 1, 1983 and to eliminate all discharges of pollutants by 1985?
The Clean Water Act
Car Wash Inc., pumps water from a well to use at its "touchless" car wash. The well water, however, contains alarming amounts of kryptonite hydroxide, a hazardous waste. The EPA insists the well itself is now hazardous waste. The rule for this categorization is usually called:
The Contained-In Rule
Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA has authority (or even a duty) to identify and regulate certain air pollutants as "criteria pollutants." What is the significance of the EPA designating an airborne substance as a "criteria pollutant."
The EPA must promulgate and enforce National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for each of these criteria pollutants.
Perry Mason suspects the victim's killer is a gardener at Southview Estate who was being blackmailed by the victim, a local factory owner. Attorney Mason finds during his investigation that the state environmental agency has long considered Southview Estate a "nonpoint source." Using his ferocious wit and powers of deduction, what can Perry Mason infer about Southview Estate?
The Estate includes open fields for grazing or crops, which generate significant amounts of rainwater runoff, contaminated with fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, and animal manure.
The two main agencies responsible for administering the Endangered Species Act are:
The Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Which of the following Protocols involved the Climate Change Convention that established reduction targets for the US and developed countries?
The Kyoto Protocol
The vast areas of west Texas remain largely unpopulated and have relatively low levels of criteria pollutants in the ambient air. Assume the air is actually cleaner than what is required by the NAAQS. To preserve this happy situation, what special programs or regulations is the EPA likely to impose there?
The Prevention of Significant Deterioration "PSD" for new stationary sources.
Which pollution control method was an example of technology forcing following enactment of the CAA?
The adoption of catalytic converters
What is an example of leaching?
The percolation of water through a landfill.
Assume that the EPA lists carbon dioxide as a criteria pollutant, promulgates the necessary regulations, and devises an appropriate implementation mechanism. Even so, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and New York City all fail miserably at meeting the standards. What will be the legal consequence of the failure?
These cities will receive the designation "non-attainment zone" and will face special burdensome restrictions about new construction of pollution sources and reductions by existing sources.
________________ covers any chemicals not covered by other specific statutes.
Toxic Substances Control Act
The first case regarding the Endangered Species Act that was brought before the Supreme Court was Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hiram Hill, which was about:
Whether courts could enjoin the construction of a dam in Tennessee that cost $80 million and was virtually complete, due to the discovery of the critical habitat of a previously unknown species of fish, the snail darter.
The Clean Air Act directs the Environmental Protection Agency to establish national _________ air quality standards.
ambient
Which of the following is charged with protecting the navigability of the nation's waterways and protection of wetlands?
army corps of engineers
In the 1970's, the leading cause of lead in the air was:
automobile emissions
It is estimated that about 20% of carbon emissions come from:
deforestation
The Multilateral Fund is used to help _________________ countries decrease their use of CFCs by helping fund CFC alternative technologies.
developing
Limiting performance standards to new sources, exempting facilities already operating at the time of the passage of the CAA is known as?
grandfathering
Regions that do not meet air quality standards are designated as ________________ areas.
non attainment
A source that dumps pollution directly into waterways through some type of pipe or channel is known as:
point source
Before a person can bring a lawsuit, the party must have standing, or a sufficient stake in the matter to justify getting relief from the court system.
true
