Deck 14: Environmental Law and Regulation

Question 1

Herington Shoes, Inc., a giant shoe manufacturer, sold its land to Naylor Appliances, Inc.The land was later found to be highly contaminated with harmful chemicals.Herington, Inc, however, had sold the land to Naylor, Inc."AS IS" with a provision that if there are any cleanup costs, Naylor would have to pay for them entirely and would hold Herington harmless for any of the costs.Eventually, Naylor Appliances went out of business and filed for bankruptcy.The EPA is now pursuing Herington Shoes, and no other party, for the cleanup costs.In this situation:
(a)Herington is still responsible because the "AS IS" provision does not affect the EPA's rights.
(b)Herington is responsible for only its share of the contamination.
(c)Herington is responsible only if the EPA can prove it had intentionally dumped the contaminants.
(d)two of the above.
(e)none of the above.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which phase of a due diligence environmental review typically involves a review of the public records, interviews and questionnaires with those familiar with the area, a visit to the site, and an analysis of any environmental records possessed by the seller?
(a)Phase I.
(b)Phase II.
(c)Phase III.
(d)Phase IV.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

National environmental policy is stated in the National Environmental Policy Act.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Some administrative decisions are not subject to review by the
courts.
(Correct answers in boldface)

Question 5

American environmental policy tends to be consistent even when one political party replaces another in the presidency.

Question 6

Which of the following environmental acts has contributed the most to the creation of brownfields?
(a)Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).
(b)National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
(c)Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).
(d)Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
(e)Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

Question 7

Generally a court may substitute its opinion for that of an agency, so long as the "ripeness" requirement is met.

Question 8

An innocent purchaser of land will not be held liable for environmental cleanup if he first conducts a due diligence environmental review.

Question 9

The National Environmental Policy Act is a substantive law since it creates legal "rights" for those impacted by an unsafe and unclean environment.

Question 10

In the 1990s, the majority of responsible parties for environmental cleanups required under CERCLA have performed these cleanups voluntarily.

Question 11

A land developer might have to comply with the Clean Air Act.

Question 12

Under the National Environmental Policy Act, an affected agency must adhere to the dictates of the environmental impact statement once it is issued.

Question 13

Peter owned contaminated land but he had only deposited a very small amount of non-toxic contaminants on the land.Under CERCLA's "de minimus" defense, he will not have to pay for any of the cleanup.

Question 14

Under CERCLA, a past owner of contaminated properties is a responsible party for cleanup costs.

Question 15

Under the EPA's "bubble concept":
(a)factories that keep their air pollution under established limits may receive "pollution credits," which they can sell.
(b)individual factories in the bubble may exceed emission levels of air pollution as long as all the factories in the bubble do not exceed acceptable levels.
(c)both water and air pollution are governed by its provisions.
(d)two of the above.(a and b)
(e)none of the above.

Question 16

In order to have standing, a person must prove that he individually suffered an economic injury.

Question 17

Under CERCLA, mortgage lenders today no longer dare to foreclose on contaminated real estate since they will always become a responsible party for cleanup.

Question 18

A lumber company requested from the U.S.Forest Service a timber lease to engage in clear cut logging activities in an allegedly environmental sensitive area of western Oregon.An environmental impact statement (EIS)was issued that stated that clear cutting would create an unacceptable amount of topsoil erosion and pollute several streams.Under NEPA, the U.S.Forest Service:
(a)cannot grant the lease.
(b)may grant the lease after taking an objective look at the environmental impact and other alternatives.
(c)can only grant the lease if the price of timber is creating a national economic crisis.
(d)can grant the lease only if it receives the concurrence of at least one environmental group.
(e)none of these.

Question 19

In order to obtain court review, a person must always exhaust all administrative remedies first.

Question 20

Although the Environmental Protection Agency is an independent administrative agency, its head can be removed by the president without giving a reason.

Question 21

In the 1990s, an in-depth environmental justice study conducted by the National Law Journal discovered that:
(a)penalties for disposing of hazardous wastes in white areas were much higher than penalties incurred for disposing of wastes in minority neighborhoods.
(b)polluters intentionally sought out minority neighborhoods because many were racists.
(c)contaminants in minority neighborhoods, as opposed to white neighborhoods, were more likely to be contained rather than eliminated.
(d)two of the above.(a and c)
(e)all of the above.

Question 22

Under the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002:
(a)a small businesss' exposure to CERCLA liability has diminished.
(b)both transporters and generators of a small amount of hazardous waste may not be liable under the "de micromis" defense if their contributions were small.
(c)landowners who own property contiguous to contaminated land are not liable unless they do contribute to it or fail to reasonably monitor the contamination.
(d)all of the above.
(e)none of the above.

Question 23

The EPA has ordered Joyce to either shut-down her sulfur plant or pay a 5 million dollar fine for polluting the environment.Joshua, a good friend of Joyce, feels that the order is unreasonable and files suit to restrain the EPA from enforcing the order.Assuming that the EPA had no power to issue the order:
(a)Joshua will win.
(b)Joshua will lose because of ripeness.
(c)Joshua will lose because of reviewability.
(d)Joshua will lose because of standing requirements.

Question 24

All of the following are true regarding the Endangered Species Act (ESA), except:
(a)the act is sometimes called the "roadblock" statute.
(b)under the language of the statute, a "taking" includes actions against plants and animals that "harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill trap, capture, or collect...."
(c)under its statutory language, a landowner subject to the ESA cannot oppose it by claiming that it is a regulatory taking.
(d)it has been successfully used to halt major projects, such as building a dam and halting logging in old-growth forests.