Lesson 18: Environmental Law Flashcards
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
The first major step came in 1970, when Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
One of the goals of this act is to “encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment.”
NEPA seeks to meet this goal primarily by requiring the federal government to assess and, if necessary, mitigate, the environmental impact of all projects under federal jurisdiction.
California Environmental Quality Act of 1970 (CEQA)
After the creation of the National Environmental Policy Act, many states passed similar statutes that are intended to mitigate the impact of projects falling under state jurisdiction.
California’s law is the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970 (CEQA).
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Another important step was the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970.
The EPA was charged with the implementation of federal environmental regulations, but its primary goal was the cleanup of toxic waste left from decades of unchecked dumping.
Endangered Species Act (ESA)
By 1973, Congress was concerned about the risk of extinction of many plants and animals, a threat caused by pollution and overdevelopment.
As a result, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which seeks to protect endangered plants and animals by restricting development in their habitats.
California later passed a similar statute protecting species within state boundaries. We’ll discuss both the federal and state laws in more detail later in the lesson.
environmental impact assessments
Now we’ll turn to the process of assessing the potential environmental impacts of proposed projects, the main method federal and state governments have to prevent environmental problems from arising.
The National Environmental Policy Act and the California Environmental Quality Act require preparation of environmental impact assessments—reports that describe how to limit the environmental impact of developments and other projects before work begins.
environmental impact statement (EIS)
Federal and state assessments are similar in nature, although they go by different names.
Under the National Environmental Policy Act, the assessment is called an environmental impact statement (EIS).
environmental impact report (EIR)
Under the California Environmental Quality Act, the assessment is known as an environmental impact report (EIR).
negative declaration
Under CEQA, a finding of no significant impact is known as a negative declaration.
innocent landowner
An innocent landowner is someone who acquired contaminated property but didn’t know (and had no reason to know) about the contamination when the property was acquired.
contiguous property owner
A contiguous property owner is someone whose property has been contaminated by an adjacent property owned by someone else.
To qualify for this exception, the owner can’t have a relationship or affiliation with the party responsible for the contamination.
And the owner can’t have known (or had reason to know) about the contamination when the property was purchased.
bona fide prospective purchaser
A bona fide prospective purchaser is someone who purchases a property knowing (or having reason to know) that the property is contaminated.
A bona fide prospective purchaser can’t have a relationship or affiliation with the party responsible for the contamination.
Superfund
Sometimes the EPA can’t locate any potentially responsible party. Or the PRP avoids financial liability by declaring bankruptcy, a common strategy in the face of huge cleanup bills. In these cases, the cleanup contractors are paid out of the Superfund.
This fund, created under CERCLA, is funded by taxes on industries that have been frequent sources of pollution, such as the oil and chemical industries.
