Lecture 25 | Environmental Law

Costs & Benefits of Environmental Regulation, Origins of Environmental Law, and the Background & Function of the 9 Major US Environmental Laws

Case Study | What are the costs of environmental regulations?

decrease job growth, hurts the economy, gives businesses incentives to move overseas

Case Study | Explain the economic impacts of environmental regulations:

money spent on complying could have been used to grow business, hire more people, and contribute tax revenue

Case Study | What are the benefits of having environmental regulations?

knowing we have access to clean water, clean food, and air that won’t kill us

Case Study | What provides a stark example of the benefits that environmental regulations provide?

china suffers from problems we solved 50 years ago due to little regulation

Describe the impact of Silent Spring (1962) by Rachel Carson:

about ddt damage, started environmentalism movement, people pushed for federal environmental regulations

What were the two federal environmental laws before 1962? What was their purpose?

air pollution control act, water pollution control act, funded doctors to prevent deaths due to air & water pollution

What pollution issues can the federal government regulate?

interstate issues, must cross state lines

What 9 laws were enacted after Silent Spring was published? List the abbreviations:

CAA, WQA, NEPA, CWA, ESA, SDWA, RCRA, TSCA, CERCLA

Describe Environmental Regulation Before 1962:

wild west, legally dump whatever wherever

What famous tragedy reflects environmental regulation before 1962? What did it lead to the creation of?

love canal, burying chemicals that affected housing and schools, creation of superfund

Describe the Basic Background & Function of the CAA

clean air act, used to be research fund, now regulates 200 air pollutants from mobile & stationary sources, enforced by civil & criminal penalties

Describe the Basic Background & Function of the WQA (1/2)

water quality act, required states to set pollution standards for water that crossed state lines, major rivers & great lakes

Describe the Basic Background & Function of the CWA (2/2)

clean water act, regulates point source discharges into interstate surface water bodies with civil & criminal penalties, not groundwater or drinking water

What is the difference between the WQA and the CWA?

cwa is an update to the water quality act, replaced it

What does the CWA apply to? What does it not apply to/protect?

applies to interstate surface water bodies, not drinking water or groundwater aquifers

Describe the Basic Background & Function of the NEPA

national environmental policy act, created the epa and ceq to enhance the environment, requires federal agencies to create environmental assessments and impact statements for any action they take

CEQ

council on environmental quality, oversees impact statements & reports to president

What is the difference between NEPA enabling environment enhancement instead of just protection?

protection = don’t get any worse, enhancement = make the environment better

What are environmental assessments (NEPA)?

what ecosystems and resources could be impacted?

What are impact statements (NEPA)?

what are the potential impacts on those resources, justifications

What is the most significant environmental regulation passed in the US?

NEPA

Describe the Basic Background and Function of the ESA

endangered species act, empowered FWS and NOAA to protect species in danger of going extinct, successful due to severe penalties

FWS

fish and wildlife services, protects endangered species on land

NOAA

national oceanic atmospheric administration, protects endangered species in water

What is the most successful environmental regulation passed in the US?

ESA

What near-extinction pushed for the creation of the ESA?

bison

What are the penalties for violating the ESA?

$50K and 1 year in prison per organism

What are some success stories of the ESA?

flying squirrel, grey wolf, bald eagle

Describe the Basic Background and Function of the SDWA

safe drinking water act, protects public drinking water supplies and banned lead pipes

What does the SDWA apply to? What does it not apply to?

applies to any public drinking water supply, not private groundwater drinking wells

Why are there still issues with lead in drinking water after the SDWA (Flint, Michigan)?

doesn’t require existing pipes to be replaced, only that new construction couldn’t include them

Describe the Basic Background and Function of RCRA:

resource conservation and recovery act, transportation, storage, and disposal of solid & hazardous waste, cradle to grave liability, regulates usts

Describe “Cradle to Grave” liability:

epa sues everyone involved with handling a toxic chemical, all liable for the damage the chemical caused

How does RCRA manage USTs?

prevent leaking & contamination

Describe the Basic Background & Function of TSCA:

toxic substances control act, regulates introduction of new chemicals, manufacturers must submit hazards of new chemicals to EPA to decide if allowed

Pre-Manufacturing Notice

under tsca, manufacturers send ld-50, dose-response, and other info to epa who decides if chemical is safe

How does TSCA implement “Use Cost-Benefit Analyses?”

if the chemical could be dangerous, the potential benefits of the use could outweigh the costs

Describe the Basic Background & Function of CERCLA:

created to remediate contaminated sites that pose a threat to human health that no one else cleans up by creating Superfund

Superfund

a large sum of money the EPA uses to clean up a site endangering human health

Why is the Superfund always running out of money?

epa meant to go after companies associated with damage, but lawsuits held up in courts

How are Superfund sites cleaned?

in order of contamination severity

The US spends billions of dollars enforcing and implementing environmental laws. Why?

benefits are difficult to quantify, but numerous & important, value of safety