General
Conservation of Energy
Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975
1. This law helps the nation energy demands and starting the development of conservation methods. It was created for the purpose of regulating the fuel economy standards and oil prices and setting up a reserve of petroleum. It also authorized programs including, United States being part of the International Energy Agency, setting up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It also allows the president to withdraw oil from the reserve in case of emergency.
2. This law conserves our petroleum by creating reserves that can hold up to one billion barrels of petroleum. It is also helping to conserve energy through conservation programs.
3. Congress and the president are in control of this law and there is an appointed secretary of energy, who can establish correct procedures.
4. This law was passed after the Arab oil embargoes.
5. Congress reauthorized the efficiency and conservation programs created by this law in 2002. Also, this law has been amended to include the development of alternative fuels with the Alternative Fuel Act of 1988.
6. Violations of this law will be assessed by the Commission and a civil penalty and a fee may result.
Energy policy Act of 1992
1. The law protects energy and reduces our nation’s dependence on imported petroleum. It addresses energy efficiency, energy conservation and energy management, natural gas imports and exports, alternative fuels, electric motor vehicles, radioactive waste, coal power and clean coal, renewable energy, and other issues.
2. The U.S. Department of Energy administers the regulations through the Federal Fleet Requirements, State and Alternative Fuel Provider Rule, Private and Local Government Fleet Rule, and Alternative Fuel Designation Authority
3. The Act was designed in most part to encourage the use of alternative fuels to help reduce the United States dependence on imported oil in the late 1880’s.
4. The Energy Conservation Reauthorization Act of 1998 amended EPAct to allow fleets to generate one AFV acquisition credit for every 450 gallons of pure biodiesel purchased for use in diesel vehicles more than 8,500 lb GVWR.
5. Compliance with EPAct is met by AFV acquisition credits, which are granted on the basis of the number of AFVs acquired and the quantity of biodiesel fuel used. The law is enforced by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Conservation of Wildlife
Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956
1. This law helps protects fish, shellfish, and wildlife in their natural habitat, but at the same time allowing fishing for pleasure. The act puts a strong emphasis on commercial fishing.
2. This law protects wildlife including fish and their natural environment particularly water.
3. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service in the Department of the Interior was created with this law and they help regulate this law.
4. The depletion of fish because of commercial fishing and the pollution in the water.
5. This act had been amended many times to include volunteer programs for the benefit of the national wildlife refuges. Also it has been amended to comply with new technologies and the growing oil and fishing industries.
6. With the creation of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Department, an office of enforcement was created with different penalties with different actions.
National Wildlife Refuge System Act of 1966
1. The law provides guidelines for management of all areas in the system, including wildlife refuges, areas for the conservation of fish and wildlife that are threatened with extinction, wildlife ranges, game ranges, wildlife management areas and waterfowl production areas.
2. The National Wildlife Refuge System Act consolidated the refuges under the jurisdiction of the Interior Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service.
3. Theodore Roosevelt set aside Pelican Island in Florida as the first refuge in 1903 and for the next several decades, other presidents established other refuges and many were established with no overall strategy. This act was enacted to create a system from the loose network of refuges established over the years.
4. In 1977, the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act made significant amendments to the 1966 act. It was amended because many refuges suffered from numerous uses that were harmful to wildlife, such as farming, livestock grazing, recreational activities, and others.
5. The most common violations of the law are people being involved in recreational activities on refuge land that are harmful to the wildlife including hunting and fishing. Violations are assessed by the Interior Department Fish and Wildlife Service and each violation is handled differently.
Wilderness act of 1964
Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972
1. The law protects all marine mammals in the U.S. waters and seas from harassment, killing, capturing, and collecting by humans.
2. The U.S. Secretary of commerce (National Marine Fisheries Service) monitors compliance regarding cetaceans (whales, porpoises, and dolphins) and pinnepeds (seals and sea lions but not walruses). The U.S. Secretary of Interior (US Fish and Wildlife Service) monitors compliance regarding sea otters, polar bears, walruses, and manatees.
3. There was a growing concern among scientists and the public that certain species of marine mammals were in danger of extinction or depletion because of human activities. Scientists concluded that measures should be taken to replenish these species, the public needs to be educated about marine mammals, and that mammals have great international significance.
4. The act has been amended in 1976, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, and 2007. The most significant amendments were in 1988 and 1994. In 1988, because fishermen could not obtain permits, the act was amended to give commercial fishermen a five-year interim exemption for commercial fishing operations. The interim lasted until 1993, but was elongated after. In 1994 amendments were made to improve of the program to reduce the incidental taking of marine mammals during the course of commercial fishing operations, replacing the interim exemptions. It also defined two levels of harassment.
5. Common violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 are: killing or collecting marine mammals for individual monetary gain, importing marine mammal products, and killing marine mammals for food. Officials conducting periodic surveys to estimate the populations of marine mammals enforce the law. If there is a large decline in the population of any animal in an area, officials from the US Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service will closely monitor the area for illegal activity. The penalties for a person violating a provision of the law or of a permit issued under the law may be fined up to $10,000 or taken to court. If convicted in court, the person may have to pay up to $20,000, spend a year in jail, or both. Any unlawful taking or importing of an animal for personal use may be tried in the district court of the U.S.
Endangered Species Act of 1973
1. The Law protects both flora and fauna.
2. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are in charge of the compliance of the Act.
3. The Act was passed because wildlife was being harmed as a consequence to the economic growth and development of the nation.
4. The Amendment of 1978 was passed in order to make some flexibility to the act. This included the God Squad, which is a group that has the power to allow a species to go extinct under certain circumstances. The specific conditions that must be followed in order to do so are:
Endangered Species Act
1. There must be no reasonable alternative to the agency’s action.
2. The benefits of the action must outweigh the benefits of an alternative action where the species is conserved
3. The action is of regional or national importance
4. Neither the federal agency or the exemption applicant made irreversible commitment to the resources
6. The most common violations of the law include importing or exporting, taking, possessing, selling, delivering, carrying, transporting, or shipping endangered species without permission from the Secretary. The penalty for this can be a fine up to 50,000 dollars, a year in prison, or both.
Whale Conservation and Protection Study Act of 1976
1. This act says that the United States will work to protect and conserve specific types of whales including California gray, Sperm, bowhead, and killer whales as far out as two hundred miles. Whale's habitats and all the dynamics of their environment are unknown, and the United States needs to continue research in order to be able to fulfill their responsibilities. Studies will include research on commercial fishing, chemical activity, and food ability. As well as studying their environment research will be done on the whales themselves including migration patterns and population.
2. This aspect of the environment protects fauna and water.
3. The United States has placed great emphasis on many sided efforts with other nations through the International Whaling Commission to achieve effective conservation of whales throughout the world. The negotiations with Mexico and Canada directed by this bill will reinforce the efforts of our three nations within the Commission.
4. Whales have been overexploited by man for many years, severely reducing several species and endangering others.
5. The United States has extended its authority and responsibility to conserve and protect all marine mammals, including whales, out to a two hundred mile limit by making the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This act was placed because the whales are a resource of scientific study and are a vital part of the marine ecosystem.
6. Many people lack the knowledge of the whales’ ecology, habitat, requirements, and population to know if what they are doing in the ocean is bad for the whales. The most common violation of this law is the killing of the whales. Most people are then sent to court if caught.
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980
1. The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980 is also known as the “No-Game Act.”
2. The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980 protects various species of fish and wildlife.
3. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to monitor the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.
4. Since prior American law regarding fish and wildlife conservation was lax and unsuccessful, Congress ratified the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980 (FWCA) in an attempt to protect 83 percent of fish and wildlife that were previously neglected. The EPA disliked how “97 percent of federal money for wildlife management ‘goes to less than three percent of the species—the ones used for hunting, fishing and trapping’” and that the only exception that merited protection also was if a species was engendered. The FWCA was created as a reaction to the lack of protection animals had and intended to help no-game species survive. The main goal of the FWCA is to protect different species of fish and wildlife before “they became imperiled and merited ESA protection.”
5. The FWCA of 1980 was amended in 1989, requiring the USFWS to “identify lands and waters in the United States and other nations in the Western Hemisphere whose protection, management, or acquisition will foster the conservation of migratory nongame birds.”
6. Violations of the FWCA usually result in a $10,000 fine. A common offense to the Act includes killing protected fauna.
Included is the actual wording of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980:
National Invasive Species Act of 1996
1. It protects fauna.
2. UCS or Union o Concerned Scientists a well as bipartisan groups in Washington D.C.
3. The introduction of the Zebra mussel into the Great Lakes initiated this law.
4. There have been no amendments yet.
5. The law initiated mandatory boat screening to check for species. Fines are the main penalty for violating this law.
Conservation of Land
Taylor Grazing Act of 1934
1. The law protects federal public land from destruction by grazing.
2. The Beaureau of Land Management within the Department of the Interior establishes grazing districts on public lands and monitors all compliance with the law.
3. The Taylor Grazing Act was initiated by congressman Edward Taylor from Colorado as he and many others felt that the public grazing lands were being injured and the soil was deteriorating because of overgrazing. It was also initiated to protect the western livestock industry because people in the livestock industry did not like the amount of land damaged by grazing hurting their businesses.
4. The law was amended in 1968 allow grazing by people who leased the land from the government but only if two or more people were leasing the same piece of land. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 was not an amendment to the Grazing Act but it amended it by to establishing a policy for management of the lands under the Beaureau of Land Management by directing grazing advisory boards that were formed under the Taylor Grazing Act to guide the Bureau of Land Management to develop allotment plans.
5. The most common violation of this law is ranchers letting their cattle graze on public land and the punishment is a large fine. The Bureau of Land Management enforces this by periodically checking to see the quality of the land and if the land is damaged, then they will further investigate as to why.
Soil Conservation Act of 1935
1. This law protects soil.
2. The Department of Agriculture monitors the compliance of this Act.
3. During the 1930s, the Great Plains were experiencing drought-like conditions, which made the soil very dry. Farmers were greatly affected by this, and there were also many dust storms because the soil was so dry. Because of this, the Soil Conservation Act was implemented in 1935.
4. During the 1930’s and 1940’s, farmers were still unconcerned with the conservation of soil, so the Soil Conservation Act of 1938 was issued.
5. The United States still has to deal with soil erosion issues, but these issues are far less consequential with the surveys that are taken on behalf of the law.
Wilderness Act of 1964
1. This act states that a wildlife preservation system be composed of federally owned areas designated by Congress as "wilderness areas". These shall be administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people so that the future wilderness will be unimpaired. This act is also to provide for the protection of these areas, the preservation of their wilderness character.
2. This law protects the aspect of flora, fauna, air, water, soil, and land.
3. The signing of the Wilderness Act created the National Wilderness Preservation System.
4. In 1956, Howard Zahniser, executive director of The Wilderness Society, drafted a bill to protect some of the nation's remaining wilderness. U.S. Representative Wayne Aspinall called it "a crazy idea," and even the National Park Service originally opposed it. The first version was introduced in 1957 by Sen. Hubert Humphrey and U.S. Rep. John Saylor, and was rewritten 66 times.
5. After September 3, 1964 it has not had any amendments.
6. The most common violation of this law is the use of motor vehicles on trails that prohibit all types of motor transportation or other human influences. People that get caught have to pay a major fine.
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968
1. Was made to protect the water and rivers that have good recreation, are scenic, and support wildlife.
2. Under this act, the secretary of the interior and secretary of agriculture can study areas and submit proposals to the president of congress.
3. Senator Frank Church proposed it to help protect the rivers that are scenic and wild.
4. It was amended to control the lamrey eel population.
National Trails System Act of 1968
1. This law authorized a national system of trails to provide additional outdoor recreation opportunities and to promote the preservation of access to the outdoor areas and historic resources of the nation. This law protects flora and soil.
2. The National Park Service, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management monitor the trails.
3. As population expanded in the 1950s, our nation sought better opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. Congress established and directed the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC) to make a nationwide study of outdoor national recreation needs. In 1958, the ORRRC concluded that 90% of Americans participated in outdoor recreation and that walking for pleasure was second among recreation activities.
4. Originally there were 3 types of trails that the act authorized: National Recreation Trails, National Scenic Trails, and connecting-and-side trails. In 1978, a fourth category was added: National Historic Trails.
Forest and Rangeland Protection Act of 1974
1. This law gives power to the Forest Service to manage the renewable resources in the United States. This agency, working within the Department of Agriculture, is to study the state of renewable resources and their projected uses. From both an economic and environmental stand point reports are written and the resources are managed in order to preserve resources while simultaneously minding the economy.
2. This law protects fauna.
3. The United States Forest Service, Department of Agriculture is in charge of implementing the law through studying the environmental and economic state of the natural resources.
4. Exploitation of forestlands by the timber industry led the government to pass this law as the necessity for an economically wise and sustainable plan became apparent.
5. This law was amended in 1978. It was extended and expanded to include a section on environmental education for landowners.
6.This law is not one that can truly be violated. The law is more of a delegation of responsibility in that the Forest Service was given the job of writing and
updating reports on the “state of affairs” of renewable resources.
Air Quality and Noise Control
Water Quality & Management
Ocean Dumping Ban Act of 1988
1. This law protects the ocean from waste material being dumped.
2. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are the two main organizations that monitor compliance.
3. The Ocean Dumping Act was passed in response to the "Syringe Tide." The Syringe Tide refers to a period during 1987-1988 in New Jersey when significant amounts of medical waste and raw garbage was washing up on the Jersey Shore.
4. No.
5. There are two types of penalties: Criminal Penalties and Civil Penalties. The most common penalties are fines or seizure/forfeiture of vessels.
Control of Pesticides
Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics Act of 1938
1. This act protects people.
2. The FDA, or Food and Drug Administration, monitors this law.
3. Harmful products such as Lash-Lure which were insufficiently labeled were the historical reasons behind this law.
4. It has been amended several times to fit into the ever changing economy and the products it demands.
5. The FDA enforces this law strictly with heavy fines and even trials for harmful products.
Management of Solid & Hazardous Waste
Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965
1. The Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965
2. The Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1956 regulates both non-hazardous and hazardous waste with regards to how it is treated, stored, or disposed.
3. The USPHS and the APWA have partnered to monitor the Solid Waste Disposal Act.
4. As America became increasingly industrialized during and after WWII and as American lifestyles changed, the amount of solid waste emissions drastically increased. Consequently, people wanted to create legislation in order to clean the country of the refuse. Also, as society became more technologically advanced, the U.S. saw an increase in the amounts and types of wastes.
5. The Act was amended in 1976 and became the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); then later, the Act was amended once again in 1984 and became known as the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendment (HSWA).
6. Generally, those who violate the Act are punishable by fines of up to $50,000 per each day of violation and/or imprisonment for up to five years.
Resource Recovery Act of 1970
1. This act have the EPA the authority to design new landfills which would be required to maintain higher sanitation levels. This act implemented a strict set of rules for disposal of potentially hazardous materials.
2. This law protects the water, the soil, the flora and the fauna. It effects almost all walks of life because it aids in keeping our water clean and free of hazardous materials.
3. The EPA creates the guidelines for the landfills and hazardous waste as well as enforcing said guidelines and persecuting violators.
4. Citizens concern for the contamination of groundwater as a result of run off from landfills and fuel emissions led to this act.
5. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 extended the initial act with more specific details of how hazardous materials should be handled. The act was further revised throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s as recently as 1996. All of those revisions passed in some way or another deal with keeping hazardous waste and potentially harmful substances away from our drinking water.
6. Common violations of this law are Violations yield civil and criminal penalties as set forth by the EPA. State governments help to enforce laws through inspections. Common violations include mishandeling, improper storage and improper disposal of hazardous materials. Violations that threaten human lives are taken very seriously, punishable by serious fines and jail time.
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986
1. Made to help clean up waste sites.
2. Required EPA to revise the Hazard Ranking System (HRS) to ensure that it accurately assessed the relative degree of risk to human health and the environmen posed by uncontrolled hazardous waste sites that may be placed on the National Priorities List (NPL). It increased state funding for superfund, and provided new enforcement authorities and settlement tools.
3. The president wanted to make a cleanup effort financed mainly by the polluters.
4. If you break the law you get fined $1000
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