Deck 14: Managing Environmental Quality

Question 1

Risk management decisions are based on the social sciences-law,economics,politics,and ethics.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Carcinogen is an agent capable of initiating cancer.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Cost-benefit approaches compromise ecosystems deserving absolute,not conditional,protection.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

A dose-response assessment is a qualitative estimate of how a toxic a substance is to humans or animals at increasing levels of exposure.

Question 5

Exposure assessment establishes a link between a substance and human disease.

Question 6

The Toxics Release Inventory is an Environmental Protection Agency Program that requires facilities handling any of 650 hazardous chemicals to disclose amounts each year that are released or transferred.

Question 7

The scientific process of discovering and weighing the dangers posed by pollutants is called risk assessment.

Question 8

Carbon offsets are projects that compensate for all or part of a company's greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating the equivalent sum of those emissions from another source.

Question 9

The environmental management system is an asset of methods and procedures for aligning corporate strategies,policies,and operations with principles that protect ecosystems.

Question 10

A cost-benefit analysis forces methodical consideration of each impact of a policy on social welfare.

Question 11

Risk decisions are based solely on science.

Question 12

The substitution of revenues from taxes on productivity for revenues from taxes on pollution is known as the environmental tax reform.

Question 13

Contingent valuation is a method for assigning a price to ecological goods or services that are traded in markets.

Question 14

The process of deciding what action to take regarding specific risks is called hazard assessment.

Question 15

Unlike command regulation,environmental taxes allow polluters to forgo,change,or control production in any way that reduces compliance costs.

Question 16

Voluntary regulation is used when the political will for stringent command rules is present.

Question 17

The CO₂e is a universal measure that uses the warming potential of carbon dioxide as a reference for the relative warming potential of the six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol.

Question 18

The Clean Development Mechanism was a carbon offset program set up under the Montreal Protocol.

Question 19

Extrapolation is the process of inferring the value of an unknown state from the value of another state that is known.

Question 20

Command-and-control regulation give polluters financial motives to control pollution while also giving them flexibility in how reductions are achieved.

Question 21

Risk management decisions are based on the:

A) social sciences.
B) natural sciences.
C) formal sciences.
D) applied sciences.

Question 22

The Environmental Protection Agency uses the _____ dose-response rate model that assumes that there will be a proportionate decrease in cancers from large exposures to small ones.

A) linear
B) quantal
C) graded
D) indirect

Question 23

In theory,_____ is a scientific process leading to an objective,quantitative measure of the risks posed by a substance.

A) contingent valuation
B) risk assessment
C) risk management
D) cost-benefit analysis

Question 24

The two basic methods of proving a substance dangerous are:

A) animal testing and natural experiments.
B) animal testing and epidemiological studies.
C) computer models and epidemiological studies.
D) computer models and natural experiments.

Question 25

The process of deciding which regulatory action to take regarding specific risks is called:

A) risk assessment.
B) contingent valuation.
C) cost-benefit analysis.
D) risk management.

Question 26

An agent capable of initiating cancer is known as a(n):

A) effluent.
B) precipitate.
C) carcinogen.
D) condensible.

Question 27

Epidemiological studies:

A) have high statistical power.
B) are totally reliable and valid.
C) do not measure human deaths.
D) measure real human illness.

Question 28

The study of the amount of a substance human beings can absorb through inhalation,ingestion,or skin absorption is called:

A) exposure assessment.
B) contingent valuation.
C) epidemiological study.
D) hazard characterization.

Question 29

A statistical survey of human mortality and morbidity in a sample population is called a(n)_____ study.

A) demographic
B) epidemiological
C) cosmology
D) community

Question 30

Identify the Act that prohibits consideration of economic factors in the decision to list a species.

A) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service Act
B) The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act
C) The Driftnet Impact Monitoring,Assessment and Control Act
D) The Endangered Species Act

Question 31

Attempting to establish a link between a substance and human disease is called:

A) hazard assessment.
B) risk management.
C) risk characterization.
D) hazard characterization.

Question 32

Which of the following is NOT an element of risk assessment?

A) Risk characterization
B) Exposure assessment
C) Control options
D) Dose-response assessment

Question 33

The systematic calculation of the bottom line and profit of a proposed regulatory action is called:

A) cost-effectiveness analysis.
B) cost-utility analysis.
C) cost-benefit analysis.
D) QALY.

Question 34

Risk is the probability that a harm will occur and it is typically measured on a scale that ranges between:

A) minus one and absolute certainty.
B) minus one to plus one.
C) zero and absolute certainty.
D) zero to ten.

Question 35

Which of the following refers to an exposure point greater than zero at which a substance begins to pose a health risk?

A) Hormesis
B) Absolute limit
C) Threshold
D) Level of tolerance

Question 36

Risk characterization:

A) is a measure of activities that bring individuals in contact with toxic substances.
B) is a statistical survey of human mortality and morbidity in a sample population.
C) is a quantitative estimate of how toxic a substance is to humans at increasing levels of exposure.
D) is a detailed,written narrative describing the scientific evidence,including areas of ambiguity.

Question 37

Which of the following methods is used to infer the value of an unknown state from the value of another state that is known?

A) Extrapolation
B) Hazard assessment
C) Interpolation
D) Contingent valuation

Question 38

According to the Environmental Protection Agency:

A) a sublinear relationship exists between the amount of exposure to a toxic substance and the effect it has on human health.
B) in the absence of a clear understanding of dose-response relationships at low doses,risk estimates should be based on a sublinear or threshold curve.
C) there should be more regulation to limit human exposure when the risk estimate is based on the linear curve.
D) the higher the inferred risk,the more justification there is for high expenditures to control polluting emissions.

Question 39

This Act sets forth the general guideline that regulators should develop criteria for urban air quality that are "reasonably anticipated" to protect public health with "an adequate margin of safety."

A) The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution)Act
B) The Air Quality Act
C) The Clean Air Act
D) The National Environmental Policy Act

Question 40

A quantitative estimate of how toxic a substance is to human beings or animals at increasing levels of exposure is called a(n)_____ assessment.

A) hazard
B) exposure
C) dose-response
D) chemical safety

Question 41

Projects that compensate for all or part of a company's greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating the equivalent sum of those emissions from another source are known as carbon:

A) footprints.
B) sequestrations.
C) offsets.
D) management systems.

Question 42

What is the major advantage of a cap-and-trade system?

A) It reduces costs for companies under the cap.
B) It puts companies under the cap at a competitive advantage when foreign competitors are outside the cap.
C) It allows developed countries to meet greenhouse gas reproduction pledges by paying for carbon offset projects in developing nations.
D) It actually reduces overall emissions as the cap is lowered.

Question 43

The substitution of revenues from taxes on pollution for revenues from taxes on productivity is known as:

A) pro-market tax reform.
B) capital gains tax reform.
C) environmental tax reform.
D) alternative minimum tax reform.

Question 44

_____ regulation gives polluters financial motives to control pollution while also giving them flexibility in how reductions are achieved.

A) Command-and-control
B) Market incentive
C) Cap-and-trade
D) Voluntary

Question 45

Which of the following is a carbon offset program set up under the Kyoto Protocol that allows developed countries to meet greenhouse gas reproduction pledges by paying for carbon offset projects in developing nations?

A) The Emissions Trading Mechanism
B) The Clean Development Mechanism
C) The environmental management system
D) ISO 14001

Question 46

Contingent valuation is the method of:

A) assigning a price to ecological goods that are not traded in markets.
B) calculating the dollar amount that people exposed to a risk are willing to pay to reduce the risk of premature death.
C) estimating economic values for ecosystem services that directly affect market prices.
D) harnessing market forces to motivate compliance with regulatory goals.

Question 47

The EPA program that requires facilities handling any of 650 hazardous chemicals to disclose amounts each year that are released or transferred is the:

A) Waste Management Inventory.
B) Resource Conservation and Recovery Information Inventory.
C) Toxics Release Inventory.
D) Criteria Pollutant Emissions Database.

Question 48

_____ is a mechanism in which a ton of CO₂e is a traded commodity with a price that fluctuates based on changes in supply and demand.

A) Clean Development Mechanism
B) Green market
C) Greenwashing
D) Carbon market

Question 49

The practice of regulating by setting uniform standards,strictly enforcing rules,and using penalties to force compliance is known as:

A) environmental tax reform.
B) cap and trade approach.
C) command-and-control regulation.
D) market incentive regulation.

Question 50

Command-and-control regulation:

A) gives polluters financial motives to control pollution.
B) does not grant abatements.
C) helps determine the value of statistical life.
D) can increase costs without commensurate increases in benefits.

Question 51

A universal measure that uses the warming potential of CO₂ as a reference for the relative warming potential of the six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol is the:

A) CO₂ equivalent.
B) carbon dioxide equivalent.
C) TRI.
D) EMS.

Question 52

Which of the following is a criticism of cost-benefit analysis?

A) It disciplines thinking and always dictates choices.
B) Fixing precise values of costs and benefits is difficult and controversial.
C) They compromise ecosystems deserving conditional,not absolute,protection.
D) Benefits and costs of a program often fall on the same party.

Question 53

_____ is a polling process in which people are asked to put a dollar amount on some aspect of nature.

A) Risk assessment
B) Contingent valuation
C) Cost-benefit analysis
D) Exposure assessment

Question 54

What method does the EPA use to calculate the value of a statistical life?

A) Willingness-to-accept approach
B) Willingness-to-pay approach
C) Social welfare approach
D) Social surplus approach

Question 55

The practice of harnessing market forces to motivate compliance with regulatory goals is known as:

A) cap-and-trade regulation.
B) command-and-control regulation.
C) market incentive regulation.
D) voluntary regulation.

Question 56

Cost-benefit analysis:

A) forces methodical consideration of each impact of a policy on social welfare.
B) disciplines thinking and always dictates choices.
C) injects untenable calculation into emotional arguments.
D) that reveals marginal abatement costs rarely helps regulators find efficient levels of regulation.

Question 57

Emissions trading programs are also known as:

A) command-and-control systems.
B) cap and trade.
C) carbon tax regimes.
D) carbon fees with rebates.

Question 58

Which of the following is NOT an element of the regulatory options spectrum?

A) Market incentives
B) Voluntary compliance
C) Flexible enforcement
D) Contingent valuation

Question 59

_____ is a market-based pollution abatement scheme in which emissions are limited and sources must hold tradable permits equal to the amount of their discharges.

A) Command-and-control
B) Carbon tax regime
C) Cap and trade
D) Carbon fees with rebates

Question 60

_____ regulations do not require legal compulsions or sanctions.

A) Voluntary
B) Market incentive
C) Required disclosure
D) Command-and-control

Question 61

When the political will for stringent command rules is absent,_____ regulation is used.

A) command-and-control
B) voluntary
C) market incentive
D) required disclosure

Question 62

Define threshold.

Question 63

What are the different approaches that companies can adopt to implement an environmental management system?

Question 64

Define environmental management system.What are its core elements?

Question 65

What is cost-benefit analysis? What are the advantages and disadvantages of a cost-benefit analysis?

Question 66

Define command-and-control regulation.What are the advantages and disadvantages of the command-and-control regulation?

Question 67

What does hazard assessment do?

Question 68

Define dose-response assessment.

Question 69

Define exposure assessment.What does it involve?

Question 70

The _____ is a standard for environmental management created by the International Organization for Standardization that allows companies to claim state-of-the-art ecological responsibility.

A) ISO 12207
B) ISO 11940
C) ISO 14001
D) ISO 13485

Question 71

Explain the process of contingent valuation.

Question 72

What are carbon offsets?

Question 73

Explain the term "risk."

Question 74

Discuss the process of emissions trading.

Question 75

The _____ principle holds that when industrial activity poses a risk,even if the threat is as yet poorly understood,prudence calls for restraint.

A) proactionary
B) postcautionary
C) maximin
D) precautionary

Question 76

How are environmental taxes important as policy tools? What is main drawback of these taxes?

Question 77

What is the method used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)to calculate the value of a statistical life? What are its criticisms?

Question 78

The Energy Star program:

A) advances control strategies that regulate greenhouse gases.
B) identifies household and commercial products with high energy efficiency.
C) reduces emissions by purchasing alternative energy and buying emissions offsets.
D) eliminates waste and warming gas emissions.

Question 79

Which of the following is a set of methods and procedures for aligning corporate strategies,policies,and operations with principles that protect ecosystems?

A) Superfund
B) UNFCCC
C) The environmental management system
D) The Clean Development Mechanism

Question 80

What are epidemiological studies?