APES Environmental Legislation

Clean Air Acts

The EPA regulates lead, ozone, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, SO2, PM 2.5, and PM 10.

Clean Water Act

A US law that regulates discharge of wastewater into rivers, lakes, & coastal waters.

Safe Drinking Water Act

US law that sets standards for drinking water. It standardized maximum contaminated levels of bacteria, heavy metals, & other toxins.

Delaney Clause

US law that bans food additives known to cause cancer.

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

An international treaty to protect endangered species by banning international trade on them and their parts.

Endangered Species Act

A US law that lists and protects threatened and endangered species & their habitats. Some successes are the peregrine falcon, bald eagle, gray wolf, and black footed ferret.

CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act)

A US law also known as the Superfund Act. It requires cleanup of hazardous waste sites using money from polluters and taxes.

RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act)

A US law that was designed to reduce hazardous waste use from a strategy called “cradle to grave” tracking. It sets standards for landfills.

Kyoto Protocol

An international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and in effect from 2005 to 2020. It was never ratified by the US.

Montreal Protocol

It was an international agreement that bans CFCs and later banned HFCs. Stratospheric ozone is recovering.