Laws for Solid and Hazardous Wastes

date Name What it did

1975 Hazardous Governed the transportation of hazardous material and wastes in

Materials commerce.
Transportation
Act
1976 The Resource ◆ The solid waste program encouraged states to develop
Conservation and comprehensive plans to manage nonhazardous industrial solid
Recovery waste and municipal solid waste, sets criteria for municipal solid
Act(RCRA) waste landfills and other solid waste disposal facilities, and
prohibits the open dumping of solid waste.
◆ The hazardous waste program established a system for controlling
hazardous waste from the time it is generated until its ultimate
disposal—in effect, from “cradle to grave.”
◆ The underground storage tank (UST) program regulates
underground storage tanks containing hazardous substances and
petroleum products.

1976 Toxic Substances Gave the EPA the ability to track the 75,000 industrial chemicals
Control currently produced in or imported to the United States. EPA repeatedly
Act(TOSCA) screens these chemicals and can require reporting or testing of those
that may pose an environmental or human health hazard. Allows the
EPA to ban the manufacture and import of those chemicals that pose
an unreasonable risk.
date Name What it did
1980 The Comprehensive ◆ Created a tax on the chemical and petroleum
Environmental industries and provided broad federal authority to
Response, respond directly to releases or threatened releases
Compensation, and of hazardous substances that may endanger public
Liability Act health or the environment.
(CERCLA), ◆ Established prohibitions and requirements
commonly known as concerning closed and abandoned hazardous waste
Superfund sites.
◆ Provided for liability of persons responsible for
releases of hazardous waste at these sites.
◆ Established a trust fund to provide for cleanup when
no responsible party could be identified
1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Established both the federal government’s
Act responsibility to provide a place for the permanent
disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent
nuclear fuel, and the generators’ responsibility to bear
the costs of permanent disposal.
There are many United States laws that have been passed to reduce the rates of
extinctions and protect specific organisms
DAT Name What it did
E
1972 Marine This act protected marine mammals from falling below
Mammal their optimum sustainable population levels
Protection Act
1973 Endangered Provided broad protection for species of fish, wildlife,
Species Act and plants that are listed as threatened or endangered
in the United States or elsewhere
1973 Convention on This international treaty bans the capture, exportation,
International or sale of endangered and threatened species.
Trade in
Endangered
Species of
Wild Flora and
Fauna (CITES)
federal government’s policies on preserving public lands

DAT Name What it did

E
1972 Wilderness Act Established a review of road-free areas of 5,000 acres or
more and islands within the National Wildlife Refuges or
the National Park System for inclusion in the National
Preservation System. This act restricted activities in these
areas.

1973 Wild and Established a National Wild and Scenic Rivers System for
Scenic Rivers the protection of rivers with important scenic, recreational,
Act fish and wildlife, and other values.
 Some Major Environmental Policy Acts

DATE Name What it did

1970 National Created the Council on Environmental Quality that
Environmental resulted in the creation of the Environmental Protection
Policy Act Agency (EPA) from the consolidation of various
environmental agencies. It also mandates that federal
agencies prepare environmental impact statements.
1983 International Authorized the president to assist countries in
Environmental protecting and maintaining wildlife habitats and in
Protection Act developing sound wildlife management and plant
conservation programs. Special efforts should be made
to establish and maintain wildlife sanctuaries, reserves,
and parks; enact and enforce anti-poaching measures;
and identify, study, and catalog animal and plant
species, especially in tropical environments.
1990 Pollution Designed to promote source reduction (stop pollution
Prevention Act from being produced).
1990 Environmental Established the Office of Environmental Education
Education Act within the Environmental Protection Agency to develop
and administer a federal environmental education
program.
Some Major Environmental Policy Acts

Environmental impact statement (EIS)

A document outlining the scope and purpose of a development project, describing the
environmental context, suggesting alternative approaches to the project, and analyzing the
environmental impact of each alternative

Environmental mitigation plan

A plan that outlines how a developer will address concerns raised by a project’s impact on the
environment
 pollution issues
DATE Name What it did

1978 Montreal Accord Cut the emissions of CFCs that damage the ozone layer.
This was amended in Copenhagen (1992) to include other
key ozone-depleting chemicals.

1992 Basel Convention 169 parties aimed to protect human health and the
on the Control of environment against the adverse effects resulting from the
the Transboundary generation, management, transboundary movements, and
Movements of disposal of hazardous and other wastes. Note that the
Hazardous Wastes United States has not ratified this agreement and, therefore,
is not bound to abide by it.

1997 Kyoto Protocol Required the participating 38 developed countries to cut

their greenhouse gas emissions back to 5% below 1990
levels. While the United States signed the agreement, it did
not ratify the agreement. As a result, the United States is
not bound to abide by the Kyoto Protocol.
 pollution issues
DATE Name What it did

2016 Paris Agreement Required the participating countries to reduce their greenhouse
gas emissions by a pledged percentage. The United States and
China (who together account for more than 40% of global
greenhouse emissions) have both signed and ratified the Paris
Agreement. The United States had pledged to reduce its
emissions by 26–28% below 2005 levels by 2025, but President
Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement in
2017. As of February 2019, the United States is the only country
opposed to the Paris Climate Agreement.
 Water Quality Legislation
DATE Name What it did
1972 Clean Water Used regulatory and non-regulatory tools to protect all surface
Act waters in the United States.
• sharply reduced direct pollutant discharges into waterways
• financed municipal wastewater treatment facilities to manage
polluted runoff
• achieved the broader goal of restoring and maintaining the
chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters
• supported “the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and
wildlife, and recreation in and on the water”
1972 Ocean Made it unlawful for any person to dump, or transport for the
Dumping Act purpose of dumping, sewage, sludge, or industrial waste into ocean
waters
1974, Safe Drinking Established a federal program to monitor and increase the safety of
1996, Water Act the drinking water supply. It does not apply to wells that supply
2005, fewer than 25 people. Amendments in recent years have led to
2011, more stringent regulation of lead and algal toxins in drinking water.
2015
1990 Oil Spill Strengthened EPA’s ability to prevent and respond to catastrophic
Prevention oil spills. Established a trust fund (financed by a tax on oil), which is
and Liability available to clean up spills.
Act
 several laws that govern mining in the United States.

DATE Name What it did

1972 Mining Act Governed prospecting and mining of minerals on

publicly owned land
1920 Mineral Leasing Act Permitted the Bureau of Land Management to grant
leases for development of deposits of coal, phosphate,
potash, sodium, sulphur, and other minerals on public
domain lands
1980 Comprehensive Regulated damage done by mining
Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability
Act (Superfund)

Resource Conservation and Regulated some mineral processing wastes

Recovery Acts (RCRA)

1976 Surface Mining Control And Established a program for regulating surface coal mining
Reclamation Act and reclamation activities; established mandatory
standards for these activities on state and federal lands,
including a requirement that adverse impacts on fish,
wildlife, and related environmental values be minimized