Deck 4: An Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy

Question 1

Factors indicating an EIS must be filed include

A) the activity may have a significant effect on the environment.
B) the activity cannot be completed in less than a year.
C) both a and b.
D) all of the above.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The fact that clean air is a collective good means that

A) once it is produced, nobody can be excluded from using it.
B) if the government does not mandate its production, it's likely that it will not be produced.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The goals of the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 is furthered by

A) developing and improving methods of coordinating and making available to the public, data collected under federal statutes.
B) identifying barriers to source reduction and recommending to Congress ways to eliminate these barriers.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Companies that comply with environmental regulations often gain increases in efficiency from the use of new technology.

Question 5

When Congress passed the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, it recognized that end-of-pipe regulations may not be enough to combat pollution

Question 6

Federal environmental legislation

A) has been continually strengthened by each succeeding administration.
B) is one of the newest areas of law, with most environmental laws having been passed after 1978.
C) both a and b.
D) none of the above.

Question 7

Nuisance actions would be the ideal means for controlling pollution if most nuisances were private rather than public nuisances.

Question 8

Which is the most accurate assessment of the EIS process?

A) It is a waste of time and money because the agencies just draw up EISs to justify what they want to do; agencies do not change their plans because of the EIS.
B) At minimum, the agency will have before it a statement of the potential environmental impacts of their proposed activities; without the EIS they usually would not even have this material before them.
C) The requirement of an EIS ensures that environmental goals not be sacrificed for short-term economic gain.
D) So few actions require the filing of an EIS that regardless of their impact on any individual project, the cumulative impact of all EISs filed is insignificant.

Question 9

The "Tragedy of the Commons" is frequently cited to justify the use of the tort law to prevent pollution.

Question 10

The EIS must include

A) a summary of the proposed action.
B) alternatives to the proposed action.
C) environmental consequences of the proposed action.
D) all of the above.

Question 11

The CEQ

A) was one of the largest federal agencies.
B) promulgated regulations pertaining to the implementation of NEPA procedures with respect to the EIS process.
C) no longer exists.
D) both b and c.

Question 12

The primary goal of NEPA was to reform agency decision making so that environmental concerns would be taken into account.

Question 13

An environmental impact statement must be filed whenever a business wants to undertake a project that will affect the environment.

Question 14

Business managers are not likely to engage in the most environmentally sound behavior because their primary concern is often with making short run profits.

Question 15

Direct regulation is the primary means we use to control pollution today, although other methods, including discharge permits and tort actions, supplement direct regulation.

Question 16

Which of the following is not contained in the EIS?

A) a statement of any adverse negative environment impacts that cannot be avoided if the proposal is carried out.
B) alternatives to the proposal, including taking no action.
C) both a and b.
D) none of the above.

Question 17

The Boomer case is important in environmental law because it ensured that injunctions would remain the premier method of preventing environmental harm.

Question 18

The EIS requirement is frequently criticized by environmentalists as being too weak; the only remedy available under the Act when an EIS is inadequate is to have the EIS rewritten.

Question 19

Green taxes

A) are widely used in the United States to correct market failures.
B) are an indirect way to control pollution
C) are one type of subsidy for businesses.
D) are a form of direct regulation.
Answers to the critical thinking questions after "The Right to Pollute"

Question 20

Tort law was an ineffective means of controlling pollution because

A) many times judges would grant only permanent damages rather than an injunction as a remedy, and this remedy allowed the pollution to continue.
B) many times the pollution was a public nuisance, for which a suit could be filed only by a public official, and such officials were often reluctant to sue a company which provided jobs for the community.
C) proof in these cases was often difficult.
D) all of the above.