Important Acts to know for APES Exam

Question 1

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Answer 1

Known as the Cradle to grave- gives the EPA authority to control any hazardous waste at all stages
Requires shippers, generators, and disposers to keep detailed accounts of the type and amount of hazardous waste that is handled from the time of generation to final disposal
Acronym- RCRA

Question 2

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

Answer 2

Is a Superfund US law set in 1980
Main purpose is to clean up or contain toxic abandoned waste sites using the concept of a superfund
Money comes from taxes on those that produce hazardous waste
Epa is given power to hold the parties responsible for any toxic waste release
Authorizes actions for short term and long term responses based on the nature of the threat to human health
Acronym- CERCLA

Question 3

Clean Air Act

Answer 3

A Major milestone in terms of air quality legislation
Set limits for criteria/conventional pollutants- 7 major air pollutants that are considered to have the most serious threats to humans
Sulfur oxides (sox)
Carbon monoxide
Particulate material (pm)
Volatile organic compounds (vocs)
Nitrogen oxides (nox)
Ozone (tropospheric)
Lead (regulated in fuels, leading to decrease of lead in the atmosphere)
Set standards to protect human health and secondary standards to protect property, visibility, and crops

Question 4

Clean Water Act

Answer 4

Makes it unlawful for anyone to discharge any point source pollution without permits
Requires that best practiceable technology be used to clean point sources and best available technology be used to clean up toxins (BPT and BAT)
Funds construction of several important facilities such as sewage treatment plants and has provisions to protest wetlands
Main goal is to get water to the point where it’s all fishable and swimmable
SCOTUS ruled in 2023 that apparently the EPA cannot regulate Clean Water anymore?

Question 5

Safe Water Drinking Act

Answer 5

Protects public health through regulation of public drinking water supply
Protects the sources of drinking water including reservoirs, lakes and rivers
Above ground or underground sources are included
Act allows for the EPA to set health standards in order to protect Americans from possible water contaminants

Question 6

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna

Answer 6

Acronym- CITES
International agreement regulating trade in living specimen and products derived from listed endangered species
Prevents species from reaching point of endangerment or extinction due to international trade
Countries collaborate to make sure any type of trade of the specimen is biologically sustainable and does not impede their survival

Question 7

Endangered Species Act

Answer 7

US law identifies endangered, threatened, and vulnerable species. In addition, it places restrictions and regulations on any recreational or commercial activities involving these
Endangered- species in danger of extinction
Threatened- species likely to become endangered in near future without further action or intervention
US fish & wildlife services is required to create recovery plans for reach listed species detailing how they will be supported to prevent further possible extinction

Question 8

Montreal Protocol

Answer 8

International treaty to eliminate production and consumption of ozone depleting substances (ODS)
Main goal is to protect the stratospheric ozone layer by phasing out substances including chloroflurocarbons (cfcs), halons and carbon tetrafluorides
Signed by all members of the UN. According to the EPA it was the first treaty in the history of the UN to receive universal ratification and is one of the most successful global environmental actions

Question 9

Kyoto Protocol

Answer 9

International agreement that was a part of the UN’s framework convention on climate change
Aim of the protocol is to bind the countries that sign the act to regulations that reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Set tighter regulations on more developed/industrialized countries- therefore, the US was one of the only countries to object it, with representatives refusing to sign it

Question 10

Delaney Clause of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

Answer 10

The Delaney clause is a provision of a larger amendment to the food, drugs, and cosmetic act of 1938
States that chemical additives “found to induce cancer in man” or in animals could not be approved for use in foods by the FDA
Any carcinogens causing reasonable harm cannot be added to food or drugs