Deck 16: Federal Policy on Toxic and Hazardous Substances

Question 1

Ontario's command-and-control program to deal with all types of water pollution is known by the acronym ________.

A)MISA
B)BATEA
C)BPT
D)BAT

Answer 1

A

Question 2

List the three roles the federal government plays in water-pollution regulation.

Answer 2

The federal government's key roles have been to:1)introduce national standards for some compounds;2)address international and interjurisdictional water-pollution problems;and 3)establish national guidelines for water quality.

Question 3

The federal government has the jurisdiction to ban or severely limit the release of toxic substances such as dioxans and furans into any waterways under the authority of the Canada Water Act.
If the federal government has the power under the Fisheries Act to regulate toxic substances like dioxans and furans that are harmful to fish populations.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The provinces and federal government through the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment have established binding standards for Canadian drinking water.
These are non-binding guidelines only.

Question 5

In Ontario,the phasing in of technology-based standards to cover agricultural practices,focusing particularly on storage of waste and the use of manure on fields is a response to ________.

A)the discovery of Trichloroethylene in the water supply in Beckwith Township near Ottawa
B)a study commissioned by MISA
C)new federal drinking water guidelines issued by the CCME
D)E.coli contamination of the water supply in Walkerton

Question 6

What can we conclude from the results of the Delaware Estuary Water Quality Control Study about the use of technology-based standards (TBS)to achieve high versus low target levels of DO (dissolved oxygen)in the waters of the estuary?

Question 7

Technology-based standards are frequently used in the context of regulating water pollution,but they will be cost-effective only if all the regulated plants in each category ________.

A)have identical marginal damages
B)have exactly the same marginal abatement costs
C)manufacture the same end products
D)install the same pollution control equipment

Question 8

Part 2 of the Canada Water Act was successful in reducing ________.

A)biochemical oxygen demand
B)phosphorus levels in the Great Lakes
C)non-point source emissions of agricultural pesticides
D)emissions of dioxins and furans from pulp and paper mills

Question 9

Why have few Canadian policies dealing with water-pollution problems stemming from nonpoint-source emissions been implemented? How might different types of pollution-control policies be employed in the case of nonpoint-source emissions?

Question 10

Define the term "persistent water pollutant" and give an example of such a pollutant.

Question 11

When point sources and nonpoint sources exist in close proximity and both contribute to the same water-quality problems,in order for the equimarginal principle to be satisfied the marginal emission reduction costs would need to be the same in for each source HYPERLINK "" .

Question 12

Because many companies control more than the MISA standards require,we can conclude this program has been very successful in achieving high water quality in Ontario.
The MISA standards are over 20 years old and may be set too low to protect health and the environment so over-control relative to MISA may be inadequate and concerns about water quality have been raised by the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario.

Question 13

High levels of ________ are associated with high-quality water.

A)chlorine
B)biochemical oxygen demand
C)ozone
D)dissolved oxygen

Question 14

Trading of emission reduction credits between point sources and nonpoint sources of phosphorus in Ontario's South Nation River watershed has been successful at reducing phosphorus without the need for upgrades to water treatment facilities.

Question 15

________ waterborne pollutants undergo a variety of biological,chemical,and physical processes that change their characteristics after emission until they are assimilated by the water body into which they are released.

A)Persistent
B)Degradable
C)Accumulative
D)Inorganic

Question 16

________ is an example of an episodic emission.

A)Agricultural runoff of pesticides
B)Emissions of sulphur dioxide from a coal burning electrical plant
C)An oil spill such as the Exxon Valdez
D)The effluent released from a sewage treatment plant