Environmental Policy Quiz #1

Abatement

Reducing the degree or intensity of pollution

Administrative Order on Consent

A legal agreement between the EPA and a business to pay for corrections of violations that require cleanup actions or to cease activity

Anadromous

Fish that spend their entire life in the sea but swim upriver to freshwater to reproduce

Anoxic/Anaerobic

A life or process that occurs in the absence of oxygen

Aquifer

An underground geological formation containing a usable amount of groundwater that can supply wells

Biological Magnification

Process of certain substances such as metals moving up the food chain which can be consumed by humans

Brackish

Mixture of fresh and salt water

Carrying Capacity

In recreation and wildlife management the maximum use a particular area can sustain without degradation

Catalytic Converter

A control device on a motor vehicle which removes pollutants from vehicle exhausts

Clear Cut

Forest management technique

Consent Decree

A legal document detailing and formalizing an agreement between the EPA and a polluter through which a polluter will clean up at a Superfund site

DDT

Chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide that was banned completely in 1972 due to how harmful it was

Decomposition

The breakdown of matter by bacteria

Dispersants

The use of detergents that break down oil molecules so they break down better in water

Dissolved Oxygen

Freely available oxygen in any body of water critical for marine life

Ecosystem

All living things and non-living things in a specific community and how they interact