Chapter 4

Question 1

Role of Policy and
Environmental Challenges

Answer 1

• Protection from environmentally associated health hazards
• Regarded as a fundamental human right

Question 2

Environmental Policy

Answer 2

• “A statement by an organization [either public, such as government, or private] of its intentions and principles in relation to its overall environmental performance. Environmental policy provides a framework for action and for the setting of its environmental objectives and target”
• Example: United States: the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

Question 3

Principles of Environmental
Policy Development

Answer 3

• Precautionary principle
• Environmental justice
• Environmental sustainability
• The polluter-pays principle

Question 4

Precautionary Principle

Answer 4

•States that “preventive, anticipatory measures . . . [should] be taken when an activity raises threats of harm to the environment, wildlife, or human health, even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established”

Question 5

Environmental Justice

Answer 5

•Denotes the equal treatment of all people in society irrespective of their racial background, country of origin, and socioeconomic status

Question 6

Environmental Sustainability

Answer 6

•Adheres to the philosophical viewpoint “that a strong, just, and wealthy society can be consistent with a clean environment, healthy ecosystems, and a beautiful planet”

Question 7

Polluter-Pays Principle

Answer 7

•“Polluter should bear the expenses of carrying out the pollution prevention and control measures . . . to ensure that the environment is in an acceptable state”

Question 8

Figure 4.5 The policy cycle

Question 9

Relationship of Risk Assessment to Policy Process

Answer 9

•Risk assessment is closely aligned with the policy process through the balancing of economic and other costs with health and societal benefits that may accrue through specific policy alternatives.

Question 10

Risk Management

Answer 10

•Involves the adoption of steps to eliminate identified risks or lower them to acceptable levels

–Often determined by a government agency that has taken into account input from the public

Question 11

Examples of Risk Management

Answer 11

• Licensing laws
• Standard-setting laws
• Control-oriented measures
• Monitoring

Question 12

Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA)

Answer 12

•Process that reviews the potential impact of anthropogenic activities with respect to their general environmental consequences

Question 13

Health Impact Assessment (HIA)

Answer 13

• “Method for describing and estimating the effects that a proposed project or policy may have on the health of a population”
• Examples of projects that may affect health:

–Large dams, mines, power plants, airports

–Development corridors, urban redevelopment

Question 14

Case Studies of Environmental
Health Policies

Answer 14

• EPA strategic plan (2009–2014)
• Water policy reform in South Africa
• Environmental policies in economies in transition
• Control of pollution across international boundaries

Question 15

Figure 4.12 Overview of environmental health regulation agencies.

Question 16

World Health Organization (WHO)

Answer 16

• Major international agency
• Responsible for environmental health at the global level
• Provides leadership in minimizing adverse environmental health outcomes associated with pollution, industrial development, and related issues

Question 17

US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA)

Answer 17

• Mission: protect human health and the environment
• Established by the White House and Congress in July of 1970 in response to the growing public demand for cleaner water, air, and land

Question 18

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

Answer 18

• Federal agency
• Responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness
• Created in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 along with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Question 19

Clean Air Act of 1970

Answer 19

• Comprehensive federal law
• Regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources
• Authorizes EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and public welfare and to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants

Question 20

Figure 4.14 The 1990 Clean Air Act.

Question 21

Clean Water Act

Answer 21

• The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948
• First major US law to address water pollution
• Amended in 1972 and 1977 to become the Clean Water Act (CWA)
• Established basic structure for regulating pollutants discharged into the US waters

Question 22

Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974

Answer 22

• Established to protect the quality of drinking water in the US
• Authorizes EPA to establish minimum standards to protect tap water
• Requires all owners or operators of public water systems to comply with these primary (health-related) standards

Question 23

National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969

Answer 23

• One of the first laws ever written that establishes the broad national framework for protecting our environment
• NEPA’s basic policy is to ensure that all branches of government give proper consideration to the environment before undertaking major federal action that significantly affects the environment.

Question 24

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) of 1996

Answer 24

•Provides for federal regulation of pesticide distribution, sale, and use

–All pesticides distributed or sold in the US must be registered (licensed) by EPA.

–Before EPA registers a pesticide under FIFRA, the applicant must show that using the pesticide according to specifications “will not generally cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.”

Question 25

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) of 1996

Answer 25

•Provides for federal regulation of pesticide distribution, sale, and use

–All pesticides distributed or sold in the US must be registered (licensed) by EPA.

–Before EPA registers a pesticide under FIFRA, the applicant must show that using the pesticide according to specifications “will not generally cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.”

Question 26

Toxic Substances Control
Act (TSCA) of 1976

Answer 26

• Provides EPA with authority to require reporting, record-keeping, and testing requirements, and restrictions relating to chemical substances and/or mixtures
• Various sections of TSCA provide authority to maintain the TSCA Inventory, under Section 8, which contains more than 83,000 chemicals

Question 27

CERCLA 1980

Answer 27

• Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
• Provides federal “Superfund” to clean up waste

–Uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites

–Accidents, spills, and other emergency releases of pollutants and contaminants into the environment

•EPA was given power to seek out those parties responsible for any release and ensure their cooperation in the cleanup.

Question 28

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976

Answer 28

•EPA controls hazardous waste from the “cradle-to-grave.”

–Includes the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste

• Enabled EPA to address environmental problems that could result from underground storage tanks
• Focuses on waste minimization and phasing out land disposal of hazardous waste as well as corrective action for releases

Question 29

Endangered Species Act of 1973

Answer 29

• Provides a program for the conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animals and the habitats in which they are found
• The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) maintains a worldwide list of endangered species

–Birds, insects, fish, reptiles, mammals, crustaceans, flowers, grasses, and trees