Environmental Laws

Clean Air Act (CAA)

•Established in 1970

•6 criteria air pollutants: SO2, NOx, Particulate matter. Lead, Carbon monoxide, and Ozone (O3)

•The biggest points of legislation is how the act is supposed to help deal with air pollution and air quality.

Clean Water Act (CWA)

•Established in 1972

•It focuses on protecting and restoring chemical, physical, biological properties of surface waters

•It has a system to keep point sources of water pollutants from discharging above acceptable levels

Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

•Established in 1973

•It is an international agreement to prevent the international trade of over 35,000 endangered species

•Countries may seize illegal wildlife and fine violators

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)

•Established in 1980

•Created in response to the Love Canal

•It is a tax on highly polluting industries like petroleum and chemical

•Funds from tax go to cleaning up old abandoned hazardous waste sites

Montreal Protocol

•Established in 1987

•The Montreal Protocol is an international agreement that aims to protect the ozone layer by reducing the production of ozone depleting substances (ODS).

Kyoto Protocol

•Established in 1997

•The biggest points of legislation are to assist countries in adapting to the adverse effects of climate change, as well as facilitating the development and deployment of technologies that can help increase resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Endangered Species Act (ESA)

•Established in 1973

•The biggest points of legislation are protecting habitat for endangered species by purchasing critical land, prohibiting harm/trade of these species, and creating and establishing recovery plans to increase the population sizes of endangered species.

Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)

•Established in 1974

•The biggest points of legislation are ensuring that tap water is safe to drink by regulating contaminants like bacteria, chemicals and metal. Therefore, reducing the risk of waterborne illnesses.

Delaney Clause of Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (DCFDCA)

•Established in 1958

•The biggest points of legislation are prohibiting the addition to the human food supply of any chemical that has caused cancer in humans or animals. Specifically, it requires the FDA to ban any food additive that causes cancer in humans or animals regardless of risk, the same applies for pesticides, the FDA cannot approve pesticide residues in processed food or animal feed.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)

•Established in 1976

•The biggest points of legislation are the ability to track the use of hazardous materials from "cradle to grave". It also allows the EPA to set a list of said hazardous wastes and requires industry to monitor and dispose of hazardous waste properly