National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA); 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347

Synopsis: NEPA is the basic national charter for protection of the environment. It establishes policy, sets goals, and provides means for carrying out the policy.

http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/nepanet.htm

Chemical Safety Information, Site Security and Fuels Regulatory Relief Act Public Law 106-40, Jan. 6, 1999; 42 U.S.C. 7412(r)

Synopsis: The purpose of this public law is to amend Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act to remove flammable fuels from the list of substances with respect to which reporting and other activities are required under the risk management plan program, and for other purposes. Under Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), by June 21, 1999, certain facilities were required to have in place a risk management program and submit a summary of that program - called a Risk Management Plan (RMP) - to the Environmental Protection Agency. On Aug. 5, 1999, President Clinton signed legislation that removes from coverage by the RMP program any flammable fuel when used as fuel or held for sale as fuel by a retail facility. The legislation also limits access to Off-Site Consequence Analysis (OCA) data that are reported in RMPs by covered facilities. For one year beginning Aug. 5, 1999, OCA information will not be available to the public except in certain ways. During that one-year period, the federal government will conduct an assessment and issue regulations governing future public access to OCA data.

http://www.epa.gov/ceppo/ap-99law.htm

Clean Air Act (CAA); 42 U.S.C. s/s 7401 et seq. (1970)

Synopsis: The Clean Air Act is the comprehensive Federal law that regulates air emissions from area, stationary, and mobile sources. This law authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and the environment. The following criteria pollutants have been identified: ozone, particulate matter (PM10), carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide.

The goal of the Act was to set and achieve NAAQS in every state by 1975. The setting of maximum pollutant standards was coupled with directing the states to develop state implementation plans (SIPs) applicable to appropriate industrial sources in the state.

The Act was amended in 1977 primarily to set new goals (dates) for achieving attainment of NAAQS since many areas of the country had failed to meet the deadlines. The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act in large part were intended to meet unaddressed or insufficiently addressed problems such as acid rain, ground-level ozone, stratospheric ozone depletion, and air toxics.

State Implementation Plans.

The Act requires each state to develop a state implementation plan (SIP) to attain the NAAQS by the applicable attainment deadlines. SIPs must be approved by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as containing sufficient measures to timely attain NAAQS and meet other requirements described below. SIPs must contain air pollution measures in adopted, "regulatory" form within one year after approval by EPA. Upon approval by EPA, SIP requirements can be enforced against regulated sources by EPA and by any citizen.

SIP Requirements.

Among the numerous other SIP requirements are: a mandate that the region achieve a three percent annual reduction in emissions of ozone precursors (VOC an NOx); a requirement that new sources over 10 tons per year of VOC or NOx, and modifications to such sources, achieve lowest achievable emission rate and offset their emission increases by equal reductions elsewhere in the region; transportation control measures to reduce vehicle trips; and measures to increase average vehicle occupancy of commuters to employers of over 100 employees.

Sanctions, Federal Implementation Plans, and Conformity Findings.

If the state fails to submit an approvable SIP according to schedules in the Act, EPA is required to impose one sanction within 18 months, and a second if the failure is not cured within another six months. The sanctions are cutoffs of federal transportation funds (with certain exceptions) and an increased offset ratio (2:1) that would make it more difficult for stationary sources wishing to construct or modify to obtain required permits. In addition, EPA is required to, within two years of disapproving the SIP, promulgate a federal implementation plan (FIP) to fill the gap in the deficient state plan. Finally, new conformity findings, which are required for federal approval or funding of highway and other projects, cannot be made 120 days after SIP disapproval.

Motor Vehicle Emission Controls.

1970 Act required EPA to adopt emission limitations for motor vehicles. The 1990 Amendments require EPA to adopt regulations to achieve further reductions in emissions from motor vehicles, as well as from other mobile sources such as locomotives. States are preempted from adopting emission limitations for motor vehicles and certain other mobile sources. Exception: California can adopt motor vehicle standards, and standards for some --but not all-- other mobile sources, and other states can adopt the California standards.

Hazardous Air Pollutants.

In addition to criteria pollutants, the Act regulates 189 "hazardous air pollutants" i.e. those which can cause cancer or other severe localized health effects due to emissions from a single facility. EPA is required to adopt regulations mandating that new and existing sources emitting 10 tons per year or more of such pollutants employ maximum achievable control technology (MACT) according to specified schedules. EPA is to consider further reductions in the future to eliminate any remaining unacceptable residual risk.

http://www.epa.gov/region5/defs/html/caa.htm

Clean Water Act (CWA); 33 U.S.C. s/s 121 et seq. (1977)

Synopsis: The Clean Water Act is a 1977 amendment to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, which set the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants to waters of the United States.

The law gave EPA the authority to set effluent standards on an industry basis (technology-based) and continued the requirements to set water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters. The CWA makes it unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters unless a permit (NPDES) is obtained under the Act.

The 1977 amendments focused on toxic pollutants. In 1987, the CWA was reauthorized and again focused on toxic substances, authorized citizen suit provisions, and funded sewage treatment plants (POTW's) under the Construction Grants Program.

The CWA provides for the delegation by EPA of many permitting, administrative, and enforcement aspects of the law to state governments. In states with the authority to implement CWA programs, EPA still retains oversight responsibilities.

http://www.epa.gov/region5/defs/html/cwa.htm

Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA); 42 U.S.C. s/s 300f et seq. (1974)

Synopsis: The Safe Drinking Water Act was established to protect the quality of drinking water in the U.S. This law focuses on all waters actually or potentially designed for drinking use, whether from above ground or underground sources.

The Act authorized EPA to establish safe standards of purity and required all owners or operators of public water systems to comply with primary (health-related) standards. State governments, which assume this power from EPA, also encourage attainment of secondary standards (nuisance-related).

http://www.epa.gov/region5/defs/html/sdwa.htm

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund); 42 U.S.C. s/s 9601 et seq. (1980)
Synopsis: The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, was enacted by Congress on December 11, 1980. This law created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and provided broad Federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment. Over five years, $1.6 billion was collected and the tax went to a trust fund for cleaning up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. CERCLA:

established prohibitions and requirements concerning closed and abandoned hazardous waste sites;

provided for liability of persons responsible for releases of hazardous waste at these sites; and

established a trust fund to provide for cleanup when no responsible party could be identified.

The law authorizes two kinds of response actions:

Short-term removals where actions may be taken to address releases or threatened releases requiring prompt response.

Long-term remedial response actions that permanently and significantly reduce the dangers associated with releases or threats of releases of hazardous substances that are serious, but not immediately life threatening. These actions can be conducted only at sites listed on EPA's National Priorities List (NPL).

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl.htm

CERCLA also enabled the revision of the National Contingency Plan (NCP) (http://www.epa.gov/oilspill/ncpover.htm). The NCP provided the guidelines and procedures needed to respond to releases and threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. The NCP also established the National Priorities List (NPL) (http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl.htm). CERCLA was amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) (http://www.epa.gov/superfund/whatissf/sara.htm ) on October 17, 1986.

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/whatissf/cercla.htm

Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA); 42 U.S.C.9601 et seq. (1986)

Synopsis: The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) amended the CERCLA on October 17, 1986. SARA reflected EPA's experience in administering the complex Superfund program during its first six years and made several important changes and additions to the program. SARA:

stressed the importance of permanent remedies and innovative treatment technologies in cleaning up hazardous waste sites;

required Superfund actions to consider the standards and requirements found in other State and Federal environmental laws and regulations;

provided new enforcement authorities and settlement tools;

increased State involvement in every phase of the Superfund program;

increased the focus on human health problems posed by hazardous waste sites;

encouraged greater citizen participation in making decisions on how sites should be cleaned up; and

increased the size of the trust fund to $8.5 billion.

SARA also required EPA to revise the Hazard Ranking System (HRS) (http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/npl_hrs/hrsint.htm) to ensure that it accurately assessed the relative degree of risk to human health and the environment posed by uncontrolled hazardous waste sites that may be placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) (http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl.htm).

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); 42 U.S.C. s/s 321 et seq. (1976)

Synopsis: RCRA (pronounced "rick-rah") gave EPA the authority to control hazardous waste from "cradle-to-grave." This includes the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. RCRA also set forth a framework for the management of non-hazardous wastes.

The 1986 amendments to RCRA enabled EPA to address environmental problems that could result from underground tanks storing petroleum and other hazardous substances. RCRA focuses only on active and future facilities and does not address abandoned or historical sites (see CERCLA).

http://www.epa.gov/region5/defs/html/rcra.htm

Emergency Planning & Community Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA); 42 U.S.C. 11011 et seq. (1986)
Synopsis: Also known as Title III of SARA, EPCRA was enacted by Congress as the national legislation on community safety. This law was designated to help local communities protect public health, safety, and the environment from chemical hazards.

To implement EPCRA, Congress required each state to appoint a State Emergency Response Commission (SERC). The SERCs were required to divide their states into Emergency Planning Districts and to name a Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) for each district.

Broad representation by fire fighters, health officials, government and media representatives, community groups, industrial facilities, and emergency managers ensures that all necessary elements of the planning process are represented.

http://www.epa.gov/region5/defs/html/epcra.htm

Endangered Species Act (ESA) ; 7 U.S.C. 136;16 U.S.C. 460 et seq. (1973)

Synopsis: The Endangered Species Act provides a program for the conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animals and the habitats in which they are found. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) of the Department of the Interior maintains the list of 632 endangered species (326 are plants) and 190 threatened species (78 are plants).

Species include birds, insects, fish, reptiles, mammals, crustaceans, flowers, grasses, and trees. Anyone can petition FWS to include a species on this list. The law prohibits any action, administrative or real, that results in a "taking" of a listed species, or adversely affects habitat. Likewise, import, export, interstate, and foreign commerce of listed species are all prohibited.

EPA's decision to register a pesticide is based in part on the risk of adverse effects on endangered species as well as environmental fate (how a pesticide will affect habitat). Under FIFRA, EPA can issue emergency suspensions of certain pesticides to cancel or restrict their use if an endangered species will be adversely affected. Under a new program, EPA, FWS, and USDA are distributing hundreds of county bulletins that include habitat maps, pesticide use limitations, and other actions required to protect listed species.

http://www.epa.gov/region5/defs/html/esa.htm

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA); 7 U.S.C. s/s 135 et seq. (1972)
Synopsis: The primary focus of FIFRA was to provide federal control of pesticide distribution, sale, and use. EPA was given authority under FIFRA not only to study the consequences of pesticide usage but also to require users (farmers, utility companies, and others) to register when purchasing pesticides.

Through later amendments to the law, users also must take exams for certification as applicators of pesticides. All pesticides used in the U.S. must be registered (licensed) by EPA. Registration assures that pesticides will be properly labeled and that if in accordance with specifications, will not cause unreasonable harm to the environment.

http://www.epa.gov/region5/defs/html/fifra.htm

Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); 15 U.S.C. s/s 2601 et seq. (1976)

Synopsis: The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976 was enacted by Congress to give EPA the ability to track the 75,000 industrial chemicals currently produced or imported into the United States. EPA repeatedly screens these chemicals and can require reporting or testing of those that may pose an environmental or human-health hazard. EPA can ban the manufacture and import of those chemicals that pose an unreasonable risk.

Also, EPA has mechanisms in place to track the thousands of new chemicals that industry develops each year with either unknown or dangerous characteristics. EPA then can control these chemicals as necessary to protect human health and the environment. TSCA supplements other Federal statutes, including the Clean Air Act and the Toxic Release Inventory under EPCRA.

http://www.epa.gov/region5/defs/html/tsca.htm

The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA); 33 U.S.C. 1411 et seq. (1972)

Synopsis: The purpose of this Act was to prevent "unregulated dumping of material into the oceans, coastal, and other waters" that endanger "human health, welfare, and amenities, and the marine environment, ecological systems and economic potentialities." Within this law, the transportation and dumping of radioactive, chemical, or biological substances were forbidden. However, this Act also included Title III, later called the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, which charged the Secretary of the Department of Commerce to identify, designate, and manage marine sites based on conservational, ecological, recreational, historical, aesthetic, scientific or educational value within significant national ocean and Great Lake waters.

Under the newly created agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Secretary of the Department of Commerce with the approval of Congress began examining nationally significant marine areas for possible sanctuary designation. Two years after the Act was passed, the nation's first marine sanctuary was created to preserve the wreckage of the USS Monitor, a Civil War ironclad, resting in 240 feet of water off North Carolina, 16 miles off the coast of North Carolina.

http://www.epa.gov/cludygxb/programs/nmsp.html
http://www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/natprogram/nphistory/nphistory.html#NMSact

The Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA); 42 U.S.C. 7901 (1978)

Synopsis: The UMTRCA is based on the finding that uranium mill tailings located at active and inactive mill operations may pose a potential and significant radiation health hazard to the public, and that the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare and the regulation of interstate commerce require that every reasonable effort be made to provide for the stabilization, disposal, and control in a safe and environmentally sound manner of such tailings in order to prevent or minimize radon diffusion into the environment and to prevent or minimize other environmental hazards from such tailings.

The UMTRA provides for the following:

In cooperation with the interested States, Indian tribes, and the persons who own or control inactive mill tailings sites, a program of assessment and remedial action at such sites, including, where appropriate, the reprocessing of tailings to extract residual uranium and other mineral values where practicable, in order to stabilize and control such tailings in a safe and environmentally sound manner and to minimize or eliminate radiation health hazards to the public.

A program to regulate mill tailings during uranium or thorium ore processing at active mill operations and after termination of such operations in order to stabilize and control such tailings in a safe and environmentally sound manner and to minimize or eliminate radiation health hazards to the public.

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/42/7901.html

Pollution Prevention Act (PPA); 42 U.S.C. 13101 and 13102, s/s et seq. (1990)
Synopsis: The Pollution Prevention Act focused industry, government, and public attention on reducing the amount of pollution through cost-effective changes in production, operation, and raw materials use. Opportunities for source reduction are often not realized because of existing regulations, and the industrial resources required for compliance, focus on treatment and disposal. Source reduction is fundamentally different and more desirable than waste management or pollution control.

Pollution prevention also includes other practices that increase efficiency in the use of energy, water, or other natural resources, and protect our resource base through conservation. Practices include recycling, source reduction, and sustainable agriculture.

http://www.epa.gov/region5/defs/html/ppa.htm

Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA); 33 U.S.C. 2702 to 2761

Synopsis: The Oil Pollution Act (OPA) of 1990 streamlined and strengthened EPA�s ability to prevent and respond to catastrophic oil spills. A trust fund financed by a tax on oil is available to clean up spills when the responsible party is incapable or unwilling to do so. The OPA requires oil storage facilities and vessels to submit to the Federal government plans detailing how they will respond to large discharges. EPA has published regulations for aboveground storage facilities; the Coast Guard has done so for oil tankers. The OPA also requires the development of Area Contingency Plans to prepare and plan for oil spill response on a regional scale.

http://www.epa.gov/region5/defs/html/opa.htm

Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA); 29 U.S.C. 651 et seq. (1970)

Synopsis: Congress passed the Occupational and Safety Health Act to ensure worker and workplace safety. Its goal was to make sure employers provide their workers a place of employment free from recognized hazards to safety and health, such as exposure to toxic chemicals, excessive noise levels, mechanical dangers, heat or cold stress, or unsanitary conditions.

In order to establish standards for workplace health and safety, the Act also created the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as the research institution for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA is a division of the U.S. Department of Labor that oversees the administration of the Act and enforces standards in all 50 states.

http://www.epa.gov/region5/defs/html/osha.htm