A list of important laws presented in AP Environmental Science. Based on the course offered by FLVS.
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| 5634493888 | Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) | • The "Superfund Act," designed to ID and clean up abandoned hazardous waste dumpsites • Provides broad federal authority to clean up releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment • Was created to protect people, families, communities and others from heavily contaminated toxic waste sites that have been abandoned • Goal: Clean up abandoned hazardous waste site | 0 | |
| 5634493890 | Madrid Protocol | • Addition to Antarctic Treaty • Increased environmental protection by requiring assessments of possible environmental effects of any activities • Requires development of plans outlining responses to environmental emergencies & prohibits mining • Prohibits introduction of non-native species (except humans) | 1 | |
| 5634493892 | Clean Air Act | • Regulates ozone (O3), particulate matter, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and lead (Pb) • Legislation that protects and provides ways for improving the air quality in the United States • Sets standards for these 6 criteria pollutants called the National Ambient Air Quality Standards • Set Limits on SO2 Emitted by coal-fired (burning) power plants. Established SO2 pollution permits sold on the Chicago Board of Trade • Brings together federal, state, and local agencies to control levels of these pollutants from cars, factories, and other sources • Limits release of air pollutants | 2 | |
| 5634493893 | Clean Water Act | • Primary federal law in the US governing surface water quality (NOT drinking water) • Establishes standards for water meeting needs for human recreation by setting maximum permissible amounts of water pollutants that can be discharged into waterway • Goal: to make surface waters swimmable & fishable | 3 | |
| 5634493894 | Kyoto Protocol | • (1997) International agreement with binding targets for industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions • Goal: Control global warming • Requires actual emissions to be monitored & recorded in log & places more significant burden on developed nations | 4 | |
| 5634493895 | Montreal Protocol | International agreement to reduce production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances Goal: Phase out ozone-depleting substances | 5 | |
| 5634493896 | Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) | • (1973) Agreement amount 175 nations that regulates species that may become extinct/endangered because of international trade • List species that cannot be commercially traded as live specimens or wildlife products • Goal: to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival • Accords varying degrees of protection to more than 33,000 species of animals and plants | 6 | |
| 5634493897 | United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) | (1982) International agreement that set rules for the use of the world's oceans use, navigation rights, research, protection of marine environment, including restricting overfishing | 7 | |
| 5634493900 | Endangered Species Act | • IDs threatened and endangered animals in US and puts their protection ahead of economic considerations • Forbids Federal Agencies from authorizing, funding or carrying out actions which may "jeopardize the continued existence of" endangered or threatened species. • Forbids any government agency, corporation, or citizen from taking (i.e., harming, harassing, or killing) endangered animals without a permit • Once a species is listed as threatened or endangered, the act also requires that "critical habitat" be designated for that species, including areas necessary to recover the species | 8 | |
| 5634493907 | Safe Water Drinking Act | Allows EPA to set maximum contaminant levels for pollutants in drinking water that may have adverse effects on human health | 9 | |
| 5634493908 | Ocean Dumping Ban Act | Bans ocean dumping of sewage sludge and industrial waste | 10 | |
| 5634493909 | National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act | Protects rivers with due to aesthetic, recreational, wildlife, historical, or cultural reasons | 11 | |
| 5634493910 | Surface Mining & Reclamation Act | Requires coal strip mines to reclaim the land Regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in US | 12 | |
| 5634493911 | National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) | Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EISs), which are assessments of the likelihood of impacts from alternative courses of action, must be done before any project affecting federal lands can be started | 13 | |
| 5634493912 | Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) | Primary law in the United States governing disposal of solid waste Controls hazardous waste with a "cradle to the grave" system Goals: Protect public from harm caused by waste disposal, encourage reduce, reuse, recycle, and clean up spilled/improperly stored wastes | 14 | |
| 5634493913 | US Marine Mammal Protection Act | Prohibits taking, capturing or harassing marine mammals in US waters and by US citizens, and the importing marine mammals and marine mammal products into US | 15 | |
| 5634493914 | Low-Level Radioactive Policy Act | All states must have facilities to handle low-level radioactive wastes | 16 | |
| 5634493915 | Nuclear Waste Policy Act | US government must develop a high level nuclear waste site by 2015 | 17 | |
| 5634493916 | Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act | Requires purchase stamp by waterfowl hunters Revenue generated is used to acquire important wetlands | 18 | |
| 5634493918 | Oil Pollution Act | To prevent further oil spills form occurring in the US, company required to make a plan to prevent spills that may occur (must also have containment and cleanup plan in case of emergency) | 19 | |
| 5634493919 | Toxic Substances Control Act | Allows EPA screen existing & new chemicals for toxicity Gives EPA ability to track industrial chemicals currently produced/imported into the US Screens chemicals and can require reporting/testing of those that may pose hazard | 20 | |
| 5634493920 | Wilderness Act | Goal: to preserve large expanses of pristine lands | 21 | |
| 5634493926 | Water Resources Planning Act | Provided plans to formulate & evaluate water related land resource projects & to maintain a continuing assessment of adequacy of water supplies in US | 22 | |
| 5634493932 | Law of the Sea Convention | the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), which took place between 1973 and 1982. The Law of the Sea Convention defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources. | 23 | |
| 5634493933 | Marine Mammal Protection Act | the first act of the United States Congress to call specifically for an ecosystem approach to natural resource management and conservation. It was signed into law on October 21, 1972 (and took effect 60 days later on December 21, 1972) by President Richard Nixon. MMPA prohibits the taking of marine mammals, and enacts a moratorium on the import, export, and sale of any marine mammal, along with any marine mammal part or product within the United States. | 24 | |
| 5634493934 | Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act | it applies to ship-generated garbage, and it aims to reduce the amount of garbage—both plastics and other persistent wastes—that ships dump into the oceans. It also prohibits all ships from dumping plastics into the sea. | 25 | |
| 5634493938 | Oil Spill Prevention and Liability Act | was signed into law in August 1990, largely in response to rising public concern following the Exxon Valdez incident. The OPA improved the nation's ability to prevent and respond to oil spills by establishing provisions that expand the federal government's ability, and provide the money and resources necessary, to respond to oil spills. | 26 | |
| 5634493939 | Pollution Prevention Act | in the United States created a national policy to have pollution prevented or reduced at the source wherever possible. It also expanded the Toxics Release Inventory. | 27 | |
| 5634493940 | Soil and Water Conservation Act | requires USDA to periodically prepare a national plan for soil and water conservation on private lands based on an inventory and appraisal of existing resource conditions and trends. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is the lead agency in this effort, and completed appraisals in the early 1980s and late 1980s; a third appraisal was initiated in the early 1990s, but not completed. | 28 | |
| 5634493941 | Solid Waste Disposal Act | enacted in 1976, is the principal federal law in the United States governing the disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste. | 29 |
