Deck 18: Comparative Environmental Policies

Question 1

Because the burden of proof is on ________,CEPA regulations tend to be ________ in nature.

A)firms to prove a substance is not toxic;proactive
B)firms to prove a substance is not toxic;reactive
C)the government to prove a substance is toxic;proactive
D)the government to prove a substance is toxic;reactive

Answer 1

D

Question 2

List four potential policies that could be adopted to provide firms with the incentive to reduce their production of hazardous wastes.

Answer 2

Four potential policies that could be adopted to provide firms with the incentive to reduce their production of hazardous wastes include:1)making hazardous waste disposal more difficult and costly;2)use of liability and compensation laws;3)incentive-based policies like emission taxes;and 4)use of moral suasion by making NPRI data public.

Question 3

Revenues from

A)general revenues;a Superfund for the cleanup of orphan sites
B)general revenues;environmental protection projects
B)C.'s hazardous waste permit fee system are placed in ________ which is used to address environmental problems and develop ________.
C)the Sustainable Environment Fund;environmental protection projects
D)the Sustainable Environment Fund;a Superfund for the cleanup of orphan sites

Answer 3

C

Question 4

CERCLA stands for ________.

A)Canadian Environmental Resources,Compensation,and Liability Act
B)Canadian Environmental Response,Compensation,and Liability Act
C)Comprehensive Environmental Resources,Compensation,and Liability Act
D)Comprehensive Environmental Response,Compensation,and Liability Act

Question 5

List two problems with making hazardous waste disposal more difficult and costly as an option for reducing hazardous waste.

Question 6

A lesson learned from the case of dioxans and furans is that because toxics decompose or dissipate very slowly,government policy should include ways of both intercepting toxics before they enter the waste stream and cleaning up existing toxic sites.

Question 7

Provide a brief critical assessment of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

Question 8

List two problems with using incentive-based policies to deal with hazardous wastes in Canada.

Question 9

Briefly describe the two-part fee structure of the B.C.waste permit fee system for hazardous waste.
The first part of the fee is a flat rate annual fee that is a licensing charge of $100 per medium for authorized discharges into air,water,for refuse,and storage.The second part of the fee is a variable fee based on authorized discharges times a unit fee per tonne discharged.These fees are set for each waste product and are based on the government's assessment of the risks of the contaminant to the environment,as well as the administrative costs of the program.

Question 10

Levying a tax on the inputs used to manufacture chemicals could be a cost-effective approach to reducing emissions of hazardous wastes since the inputs are fewer in number and easier to measure than the various chemicals themselves.

Question 11

Marginal abatement cost curves tend to fall over time if polluters are regulated by a technology-based standard.

Question 12

Discuss one problem with the current structure of the B.C.waste permit fee system that could lead to unintended increases in environmental damages and suggest a possible solution.
One problem with the fee structure is that permits are based on the volume of discharges,not loadings (concentration,time,volume)to the environment.Under a volume-based system,dischargers have an incentive to increase the concentration of the waste material per unit of volume discharged.This is a problem since higher concentrations of wastes generally lead to more environmental problems.One possible solution would be to base permits on loadings.In this case,monitoring of discharges would become essential to ensure compliance which could raise the costs of the program substantially.

Question 13

Trying to reduce the amounts of hazardous material that are in need of disposal by either recycling residuals back into the production process,or by shifting technologies and operations so that the amount of residuals generated by firms is reduced is known as ________.

A)waste reduction
B)recycling
C)chemical treatment
D)CERCLA

Question 14

Prior to 1992,the fees charged to firms under the B.C.hazardous waste permit fee system were low and unconnected to actual discharges so they provided firms with the incentive to reduce wastes.
Because the fees were unconnected to actual discharges,they provided no incentive to firms to reduce emissions.

Question 15

Historically,the federal government has taken an antagonistic approach towards dealing with firms in the pulp and paper industry when developing environmental regulations.

Question 16

In Canada,the key federal legislation dealing with toxic substances is the ________.

A)Clean Air Act
B)Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
C)Canadian Environmental Protection Act of 1999
D)Fisheries Act of 1868

Question 17

Because dioxans and furans ________ the impact of banning these substances on environmental quality is ________.

A)biodegrade;uncertain
B)biodegrade;a success story
C)bioaccumulate;uncertain
D)bioaccumulate;a success story

Question 18

The National Pollution Release Inventory uses moral suasion to try to get polluters to voluntarily reduce emissions of potentially harmful substances.

Question 19

The Canadian Environmental Protection Act authorizes the federal government to collect data and research into potentially toxic compounds released into the environment as well as giving it the right to ban discharges of substances that pose a significant danger to human health or the environment.List the key features of CEPA concerning toxic substances.

Question 20

The ________ facilitates coordination among all of the involved governments,the public,and industry to accomplish ________ for 43 contaminated sites around the Great Lakes that require decontamination and ongoing efforts to reduce further discharges.

A)CERCLA;site remediation
B)International Joint Commission;Remedial Action Plans
C)CEPA;orphan site cleanup
D)Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan;site-specific remediation plans

Question 21

What is CERCLA and what are the main features of this program?

Question 22

No federal legislation specifically covers toxic waste sites.Instead,the federal approach is based on policy outlined by the Treasury Board,rather than in legislation.List the four principles established by the Treasury Board for dealing with this issue.