Deck 17: Managing Hazardous Solid Waste and Waste Sites

Question 1

The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) maintained the "Superfund" at its original level of $1.6 billion.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The first federal legislation passed in the United States that dealt with waste control was the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The Brownfields Act was passed during the Obama administration and deals with abandoned properties whose redevelopment is compromised by contamination.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Removal actions are long-term official responses to the release of a hazardous substance aimed at achieving a more permanent solution.

Question 5

Hazardous wastes that exhibit certain characteristics that imply a substantial risk are identified under the law as characteristic wastes.

Question 6

The land restrictions may act to provide an incentive to reduce hazardous waste generation.

Question 7

Unwanted materials that pose a substantial threat to human health or the environment are referred to as municipal solid wastes.

Question 8

Waste management is a preventive strategy directed toward the generation stage of the waste stream.

Question 9

The most common type of damage linked to hazardous wastes is water and soil contamination.

Question 10

Standards on treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs) are set to achieve allocative efficiency.

Question 11

Hazardous waste sites posing the greatest threat to health and the ecology are placed on the National Priorities List (NPL).

Question 12

Types of hazardous substances include heavy metals, acids, and solvents.

Question 13

The "cradle-to-grave" management system uses primarily market instruments to control and track hazardous wastes through the stages of the waste stream.

Question 14

The RCRA Amendments of 1984 continued to promote land disposal for hazardous wastes.

Question 15

A permit system is used to control hazardous waste management at treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs).

Question 16

According to the textbook application, Love Canal was originally contaminated by runoff from a military base.

Question 17

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), or Superfund, was the first legislative act aimed at hazardous waste sites in the United States.

Question 18

Identification of hazardous wastes under the law relies on risk-benefit analysis.

Question 19

A waste-end charge is a fee based on the quantity of waste generated that is imposed at the time of disposal.

Question 20

The legislative provisions that govern waste control policy in the United States today are the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (commonly known as the RCRA Amendments of 1984).

Question 21

To establish legal responsibility under the Superfund Act, courts use strict liability as well as joint and several liability.

Question 22

In 1984, amendments to RCRA restrict landfilling activity, which in turn

A) would cause the MPC of land disposal to rise
B) may offer some incentive for waste disposers to generate less waste
C) reduce the external cost of landfilling
D) all of the above

Question 23

Lack of good information was among the issues facing the United States as it began to address the hazardous waste site problem in the nation.

Question 24

A major component of the "cradle-to-grave" management system is

A) identification of hazardous waste
B) a permit system for treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs)
C) a national manifest system for tracking through the waste stream
D) all of the above
E) (a) and (c) only

Question 25

A type of hazardous substance is

A) an acid or base
B) a heavy metal like copper or mercury
C) synthetic organic chemicals, such as pesticides
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 26

A set of control strategies to reduce the amount and toxicity of hazardous waste at every stage of the waste stream is known as

A) source reduction
B) waste management
C) "cradle-to-grave" management
D) risk-benefit analysis

Question 27

The national manifest system,

A) tracks only the most toxic hazardous wastes
B) tracks hazardous and nonhazardous wastes from the point of generation to disposal
C) was eliminated with the 1984 RCRA amendments
D) is a market-based approach aimed at achieving an efficient solution
E) none of the above

Question 28

The most prevalent type of damage associated with hazardous waste sites is

A) water and soil contamination
B) loss of livestock
C) fish kills
D) air pollution

Question 29

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)

A) is a national database providing information about hazardous releases
B) provides information on hazardous substances solely to government officials
C) is no longer maintained and reported to the public
D) provides an annual list of the parties responsible for hazardous releases

Question 30

The identification of hazardous wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)

A) uses benefit-cost analysis for characteristic wastes
B) uses a uniform approach to implement the identification criteria
C) employs an index based on toxicity
D) is based on risk-benefit analysis

Question 31

The feedstock taxes to finance Superfund were devised mainly to act as a market incentive to improve the environment.

Question 32

In assessing Superfund, we observe

A) a market-based approach to waste site clean-up
B) the use of benefit-cost analysis to determine abatement levels
C) inefficiency due to uniform site cleanup
D) weak legal standards to identify PRPs

Question 33

Under the Superfund Act, the EPA has the authority to require those responsible for a hazardous substance release, known as potentially responsible parties (PRPs), to correct the problem and pay for damages.

Question 34

Under the Superfund law (CERCLA),

A) remedial actions are official short-term responses to restore immediate control
B) high-risk sites are placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) through a risk-ranking system
C) only current waste site owners are potentially responsible parties (PRPs)
D) EPA has no authority to force responsible parties to pay for damages

Question 35

Love Canal was declared a disaster area by

A) the State of California
B) President Reagan
C) President Carter
D) the Department of Justice

Question 36

According to the textbook application, General Electric is dredging the Hudson River because it illegally released tons of pesticides into the river, starting in 1940.

Question 37

Official responses to a hazardous substance release aimed at restoring immediate control are referred to as

A) removal actions
B) remedial actions
C) records of decisions
D) preliminary assessments

Question 38

Abandoned or underdeveloped real properties whose development is complicated by contamination are referred to as

A) NPL sites
B) Superfund sites
C) brownfield sites
D) RCRA sites

Question 39

The economic sector responsible for the largest amount of hazardous waste is

A) households
B) industry
C) government
D) institutions

Question 40

The series of events that begins with waste generation and continues through transport, storage, treatment, and disposal is known as

A) the "cradle to grave" management system
B) the waste manifest system
C) the waste stream
D) the Superfund cleanup process

Question 41

Use marginal analysis (i.e., marginal social benefit (MSB) and marginal social cost (MSC)) to graphically illustrate a Superfund site abatement decision that is solely risk-based relative to one that is based on the efficiency criterion. What do you observe?
b. Repeat the exercise using total analysis (i.e., total social benefits (TSB) and total social costs (TSC)).

Question 42

Superfund relies in part on strict liability, which means that
a. an individual can be held liable even if negligence is not proven
b. only current waste site owners are liable for damages
c. polluters can be held liable for damages but not waste site owners
d. a single party can be held liable for all damages even if their contribution to damages is minimal

Question 43

According to the textbook application, GE was ordered to dredge the Hudson River

A) because it illegally dumped chemicals into the river
B) even though its release of PCBs into that river was done legally
C) under the rulings of RCRA
D) none of the above