Chapter 46 Flashcards
Oldest means of protecting the environment
tort law
tort is
an injury to one’s person or property
How is pollution a tort?
Pollution causes injury to individuals and their property, thus causing harm, it’s a violation of tort law.
Nuisance
Nuisance arises when a person uses his/her property in a manner that unreasonably interferes with another’s use and enjoyment of his/her land
Earth Day 1970
Strict environment laws to protect purity of air and water
Marketable Discharge Permits
The government can determine how much of a given pollutant should be emitted during a year and issue permits to allow that amount, prohibiting emissions without a permit.
Green taxes
tax on environmentally harmful activities
technology forcing direct regulation
environmentally regulations were based on primarily health considerations, with the assumption that once standards had been established, industries would be forced to develop technology to meet them
technology driven direct regulation
set to achieve the greatest possible improvements while taking into account existing levels of technology
The EPA operates under the direction of
Congress
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) serves two primary functions
- Requires that agencies take into account the environmental consequences of their actions
- Established an advisory body called the Council on Environmental Quality
An environmental impact statement must be filed for
- Every federal legislative proposal or agency action
- That is major, requiring a substantial commitment of resources
- Would have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment
EIS must contain a detailed statement of
- the environmental impact of the proposed action
- Any adverse environmental effects that cannot be avoided
- Alternatives to the proposed action
- The relationship between local short-term uses for the human environment and the maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity
- Any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources in the proposed activity should it be implemeneted.
Six Major Conventional Air Pollutants - Criteria Pollutants
- Carbon Monoxide
- Nitrogen Oxide
- Sulfur dioxide
- Lead
- Ozone
- Suspended particulates
primary standards
are those necessary to protect the public health, including an adequate margin of safety
secondary standards
are limits needed to protect the public welfare (crops, buildings and animals) from any known or anticipated adverse effect associated with a pollutant
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 1970
Congress passed this law that required any project (a dam, stadium, canal, highway) with significant federal involvement to have an approved environemtna impact statement (EIS) prior to the commencement of any work on the project.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Creation year
- Business activities
- 1970
1. Conducts environmental research
2. Assists states, municipalities with grants and technical advice
3. Administers the federal pollution laws that cover businesses
Important federal legislation aimed at protecting the environment
- The Clean Air Act
- The Clean Water Act
- The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and liability Act (CERCLA/Superfund)
The Clean Air Act (1972)
Created with recognition of the fact that pollution sometimes crosses the boundary lines of local jurisdictions and extends into two or more statements
Clean Air Act emphasized
that when it comes to protecting the environment, state regulation is insufficient and federal law is needed.
Clean Air Act established two goals
- “fishable” and “swimmable” waters by 1983
2. the total elimination of pollutant discharges into navigable waters by 1985
Clean Water Act is
technology forcing goals
Point sources
distinct places from which pollutants can be discharged into water, such as factories, refineries and sewage treatment facilities.
effluents
are discharges from a specific source
effluent limitations
are the maximum amounts of pollutants that can be discharges from a source within a given time period.
Clean Air Act covers two forms of pollutants
- stationary pollution - factories, production facilities
2. mobile pollution - automobiles, trucks, airplanes
Amendments to the Clean Air Act require that
- Emissions from automobiles contain ___
- Gasoline sold in the United States be ____
- Factories install new technologies to reduce the _____ of _____ into the air
- fewer pollutants
- cleaner
- discharge of pollutants
The Clean Water Act (1972)
sets minimum standards for water purity in a manner similar to the Clean Air Act.
Clean Water Act
An intermediate standard of water quality that allows the navigable waterways to be used for
1. The propogation of ______
2. _________
- fish, shellfish, wildlife
2. Recreation Purposes
Ultimate goal of clean water act
eliminate the discharge of pollutants into the nations waters
Safe Drinking Water Act sets two levels of drinking water standards
- __________ (_____)
- __________ (_____)
- Maximum contaminant-level goals (MCLGs)
2. Maximum Contaminant levels (MCLs)
Maximum Contaminant-Level Goals (MCLGs)
nonenforceable health goals set at the level at which there would be absolutely no adverse health effects
Maximum contaminant levels (MCLs)
enforceable standards set as close as possible to the MCLGs, taking into account available technology and cost of treatment
Superfund
regulates the dumping of waste onto land
Superfund designates
- specific sites, placing them on the National Priorities List, and mandating that these locations be cleaned up by their owners
The EPA, under Superfund, has authority to:
- To conduct _______ needs to be taken
- To enforce _______ parties.
- To _______
- Involve _____
- Ensure _________
- To conduct cleanups when immediate actions needs to be taken
- To enforce penalties against potentially responsible parties
- To ensure community involvement
- Involve statements
- Ensure long0term protectiveness
Superfund also created ______ to help allay costs in addressing environmentally scarred land.
Hazardous Substance Trust Fund
Ultimate liability for cleanup of land contaminated by waste is placed on potentially responsible parties, who include
- Present owners or operators of a facility where hazardous materials are stored
- owners or operators at the time the waste was deposited there
- Generators of the hazardous waste dumped at the site
- Those who transported hazardous waste to the site
removal action
occurs when there is a spill or an immediate danger to human health or the environment posed by a hazardous waste site and removal of contaminants is necessary to provide immediate protection, not a permanent solution
remedial action
sites are ranked on a 12 point scale; those who rank highest are placed on the National Priorities List. EPA then goes through process to determine the best way for cleanup to proceed. Sites are then cleaned up.
In the event a business firm creates pollution or damages the environment, in addition to being required to pay a fine…..
it may be held liable to private persons as well.
Types of lawsuits by private citizens
- negligence
- nuisance
- trespass
all of which are considered torts
negligence
- tort that allows a plaintiff to bring a lawsuit against a defendant under state law for causing personal injury/property damage.
- Businesses that create pollution frequently cause injury for people or damage to their property and the businesses maybe found liable by a court for the tort of negligence.
two categories
- public nuisance
2. private nuisance
public nuisance
impacts public property
private nuisance
impacts private property
trespass
unauthorized entry onto another persons property
particle trespass
most states recognize a cause of action for particle trespass, accepting the theory that businesses are trespassing on another person’s property with their pollution particles.
The Toxic Substances Control Act
regulates any chemicals or mixtures whose manufacture, processing, distribution, use or disposal may present an unreasonalbe risk of harm to human health or the environment
Under TSCA, every manufacturer of a new chemical must submit a
- premanufacturing notice (PMN) or Section Five notice to the EPA at least 90 days before the first use of the substance in commerce.
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)
Regulates pesticides
For a pesticide to be sold, it must be registered, properly labeled and meet three criteria
- its composition warrants the claims made for it
- its label complies with the act
- the manufacturer’s data demonstrates that the pesticide can perform its intended function without unreasonable risk to human health or the environment
Kyoto Agreement
countries agreed to reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs)
