Transcript Document

Environmental Legislation Review
For the AP Exam
in alphabetical order…
U.S. Clean Air Act
(CAA)
Chapter 18
The Clean Air Act
 In 1970, Congress passed The Clean Air Act and
created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
to enforce it.
• The Clean Air Act was most recently amended in 1990
 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
are established to regulate six major pollutants.
• Primary standards – protects human health
• Secondary standards – prevents environmental and
property damage
 The EPA also establishes standards for 188 other
hazardous air pollutants (or HAPs)
• Mostly chlorinated hydrocarbons, VOC’s, and toxic metals
The Clean Air Act
 How do you remember the six outdoor criteria
pollutants regulated by the National Ambient Air
Quality Standards (NAAQS)?
NOSCLP – A nose clip will save you from air pollution
• Nitrogen oxides
• Ozone
• Sulfur dioxide
• Carbon monoxide
• Lead
• Particulate matter
The Clean Air Act
 The CAA has reduced emissions of the six criteria
pollutants by a total of 49% from 1980-2006.
 However, environmental scientists still point out
several deficiencies in the Clean Air Act:
• The U.S. still relies on cleanup rather than prevention
• There is little or no regulation of air pollution from
oceangoing ships in American ports
• Airports are exempt from many air pollution regulations
• The CAA does not regulate CO2 which is a major
greenhouse gas
• The CAA has failed to deal seriously with indoor air
pollution - Ultrafine particles are not regulated
The Clean Air Act
 To help reduce SO2 emissions, the 1990 amendment
to the Clean Air Act authorized an emission trading
or cap-and-trade program
• Enables the 110 most polluting power plants to buy and sell
SO2 pollution rights.
• Since 1990, the emission trading system has greatly
reduced emissions
• Sulfur dioxide emission are down 53%
• The program has cost less than 10% of original
industry projections
 The same system is being talked about to combat
NO2 and CO2 emissions.
U.S. Clean Water Act
(CWA)
Chapter 20
U.S. Clean Water Act
 The U.S. Clean Water Act sets standards for
allowed levels of key water pollutants and requires
polluters to get permits limiting how much they can
discharge into aquatic systems.
• EPA is experimenting with a discharge trading policy
similar to that for air pollution control.
• Early focus of the CWA was on point sources, but
with the 1987 amendment, efforts to control nonpoint
sources have increased.
• The act does not deal directly with groundwater.
• But remember, the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act does…
U.S. Clean Water Act
 Important CWA vocabulary:
• Water quality standards (WQS) are risk-based
requirements which set site-specific allowable
pollutant levels for individual water bodies, such as
rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands.
• States set WQS by designating uses for the water body
(e.g., recreation, water supply, aquatic life, agriculture)
• Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), is a calculation
of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water
body can receive and still meet WQS.
Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act
(CERCLA)
Chapter 21
Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act
 Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
• Commonly known as Superfund
• The Superfund law was designed to have polluters pay for
cleaning up abandoned hazardous waste sites.
• Also created a tax on chemical and petroleum industries
• The revenue from the tax went into a fund to help pay for the clean
up of hazardous waste sites when no responsible party is identified.
Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act
 Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
• This act also establishes a National Priorities List (NPL)
of the worst sites in the country.
• These are otherwise known as Superfund Sites
• These sites are scheduled for clean up using the most
cost-effective methods.
• Only 70% of the cleanup costs have come from the polluters, the
rest comes from the “superfund” financed until 1995 by taxes on
chemical raw materials and oil.
• Congress refused to renew the tax in 1996, so now the
superfund is broke and taxpayers foot the bill when guilty parties
cannot be found
Case Study:
Love Canal
 In 1957, Hooker Chemical warned the school not to
disturb the site because of the toxic waste.
• In 1959 an elementary school,
playing fields and homes were
built disrupting the clay cap
covering the wastes.
• In 1976, residents complained
of chemical smells and chemical
burns from the site.
• There were also increased cases
of cancers and birth defects
reported by residents of the area.
Case Study:
Love Canal
 President Jimmy Carter declared Love Canal a federal
disaster area.
• The area was abandoned in 1980
 It still is a controversy as to how much the chemicals at
Love Canal injured or caused disease to the residents.
 Love Canal sparked creation of the
Superfund law, which forced polluters
to pay for cleaning up abandoned
toxic waste dumps.
Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species
(CITES)
Chapter 9
Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species
 International treaties have helped reduce the trade of
endangered and threatened species.
 The 1975 Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES)
• Lists 900 species that cannot be commercially
traded as live specimens or wildlife products
• Signed by 172 countries
• Enforcement is difficult
• Probably only 10% of illegal trade in the U.S. is caught
Endangered Species Act
(ESA)
Chapter 9
The U.S. Endangered Species Act
 One of the world’s most far-reaching and controversial
environmental laws:
 The 1973 U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)
• Overall goal is to identify and protect endangered
species in the U.S. and abroad.
• ESA makes it illegal for Americans to engage in
commerce associated with, or hunt / kill / collect,
endangered or threatened species.
• ESA forbids federal agencies (besides defense
department) to carry out or even fund projects that
would jeopardize an endangered species.
The U.S. Endangered Species Act
 Accomplishments:
• More than half of the species listed are stable or improving
• 99% of all listed species are still living
 Challenges:
• Very small budget
• Species are listed when faced with serious threat of extinction
• It can take decades to bring a species’ populations up
 Suggested changes to ESA:
• Increase the budget
• Develop recovery plans more quickly
• Establish a core of the endangered organism’s survival habitat
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,
and Rodenticide Act
(FIFRA)
Chapter 12
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act
 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) regulate the sale and use of
pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).
• The EPA has only evaluated the health effects of 10% of
the active ingredients of all pesticides.
• Cite lack of funding for complex and lengthy project
Food Quality Protection Act
Chapter 12
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act
 The Food Quality Protection Act strengthens FIFRA by
reducing the allowable level of chemicals by a factor of 10
for which the health effects are still unknown.
• Precautionary Principle
The Kyoto Protocol
Chapter 19
The Kyoto Protocol
 In 1997, delegates from 161 countries met in Kyoto,
Japan to negotiate a treaty on global warming which
went into effect January, 2005.
 It requires 38 participating developed countries to
cut their emissions of CO2, CH4, and N2O to 5.2%
below their 1990 levels by 2012.
• This represents a reduction of 2010 levels by 29%
 The protocol implements a “cap-and-trade” program
that involves setting a cap or limit on emissions.
• If a country emits less than their allowed limit, they can
sell the remaining allowances to another country.
• Many countries distribute their allowance to specific
companies or power plants.
 Developing countries were excluded.
The Kyoto Protocol
 191 countries have signed and ratified the protocol.
 U.S. signed the protocol but has not ratified it.
• Developing countries such as China, India and Brazil
were considered exempt
• Belief that it would hurt the U.S. economy
 The U.S. did not sign, but 10 U.S. states and 740 U.S.
Cities are participating.
 The Kyoto Protocol will have little effect on global
warming without support and action by the U.S.,
China, and India.
U.S. Mining Law of 1872
Chapter 14
U.S. General Mining Law of 1872
 U.S. General Mining Law of 1872
• Encouraged mineral exploration and mining of hard-rock
minerals (gold, silver, copper, nickel) on U.S. public lands
• Developed to encourage settling the West (1800s)
• Until 1995, land could be bought for 1872 prices
• Estimated $285 billion of mineral resources now owned/
controlled by private companies, 1/5 are foreign.
The Montreal Protocol
&
The Copenhagen Protocol
Chapter 19
Montreal Protocol &
Copenhagen Protocol
 Montreal Protocol – A 1987 international treaty
that controls the production and consumption of
chemicals that destroy the ozone layer.
• Later strengthened and accelerated in 1992 by the
Copenhagen Protocol.
 191 countries have ratified this treaty and many of
them do not produce or consume any CFCs.
 Substitutes for CFCs are available.
 Some developing countries still use CFCs and other
damaging chemicals.
Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act
(RCRA)
Chapter 21
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
• Our nation's primary law governing the
disposal of solid and hazardous waste
• Congress passed RCRA in 1976 to
address the increasing problem of our
growing municipal and industrial waste
• RCRA banned all open dumping of waste, encouraged
source reduction and recycling, and promoted the safe
disposal of municipal waste and mandated strict controls
over the storage, and disposal of hazardous waste.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
 Under this law, the EPA :
• Categorizes hazardous wastes into specific categories and
sets standards for each one
• Issues permits that allow the production and disposal of a
certain amount of wastes in certain ways
• Requires permit holders to keep track of their wastes from
“cradle-to-grave”
• Cradle – where/who it was produced
• Grave – where/how it is disposed of
U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act
Chapter 20
U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act
 The U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act requires
the EPA to establish national drinking water
standards (maximum contaminant levels)
for any pollutant that may have adverse
effects on human health.
• Originally, it only focused on
standards for water treatment
• Now, it includes protections for
drinking water sources as well
• rivers, lakes, springs, groundwater
U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act
 The U.N. estimates that 5.6 million Americans drink
water that does not meet EPA standards.
 1 in 5 Americans drinks water from a treatment plant
that violated one or more safety standard.
 Industry pressures to weaken the Safe Drinking Act:
• Eliminate national tests and public notification of violations
• Allow rights to pollute if provider cannot afford to comply
• Reduce EPA’s budget which limits its ability to monitor and
enforce water quality standards
Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act
Chapter 14
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977
• Requires the reclamation of land surfaced mined for coal.
There are no laws to control or reclaim lands from other
types of mines, like hard-rock, etc.
• Reclamation – an attempt to return mined land back to its
original state (or at least a functional ecosystem)
• Recreation
• Commercial use
The Wilderness Act
Chapter 10
Wilderness Act of 1964
 Wilderness Act of 1964
• Established 9.1 million acres of federally protected
wilderness in national forests
 Wilderness is land legally
set aside in a large enough
area to prevent or minimize
harm from human activities.
 Only a small percentage of
the land area of the United
States has been protected
as wilderness.