Upgrade to remove ads
Only $35.99/year

AP Environmental Science Flashcards

Terms in this set (44)

1934 Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act
...authorizes the Secretaries of Agriculture and Commerce to provide assistance to and cooperate with Federal and State agencies to protect, rear, stock, and increase the supply of game and fur-bearing animals, as well as to study the effects of domestic sewage, trade wastes, and other polluting substances on wildlife.
1940 Bald Eagle Protection Act
...This law provides for the protection of the bald eagle (the national emblem) and the golden eagle by prohibiting, except under certain specified conditions, the taking, possession and commerce of such birds.
1948 Federal Water Pollution Control Act
...authorized the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, in cooperation with other Federal, state and local entities, to prepare comprehensive programs for eliminating or reducing the pollution of interstate waters and tributaries and improving the sanitary condition of surface and underground waters. During the development of such plans, due regard was to be given to improvements necessary to conserve waters for public water supplies, propagation of fish and aquatic life, recreational purposes, and agricultural and industrial uses.
1963 Land and Water Conservation Fund
..."present and future generations be assured adequate outdoor recreation resources" and that "all levels of government and private interests . . . take prompt and coordinated action . . . to conserve, develop, and utilize such [their] resources for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people."
1964 Wilderness Act
Established a review of road-free areas of 5000 acres or more and islands within National Wildlife Refuges or the National Park System for inclusion in the National Preservation System. This restricted activities in these areas.
1969 National Environmental Policy Act
Requires environmental impact statement prior to federal actions (development) that significantly affect the quality of the environment; included are dams and reservoirs, channelization, power plants, bridges, and so on
1973 Endangered Species Act
Protects any species (domestic or foreign) that is threatened or endangered. The ESA makes it illegal for an American to sell or buy any product made from an endangered or threatened species or to hunt, kill, collect or injure such species in US
1977 Clean Air Act
Authorized the establishment of federal and state regulations that limit emissions stationary and mobile sources of air pollutants.
1980 Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act
Declares that fish and wildlife are of ecological, educational, esthetic, cultural, recreational, economic and scientific value to the Nation. Encourage all Federal departments and agencies to utilize their statutory and administrative authority, to the maximum extent practicable and consistent with each agency's statutory responsibilities, to conserve and to promote conservation of non-game fish and wildlife and their habitats, in furtherance of the provisions of this chapter, and to provide financial and technical assistance to States to conduct inventories and conservation plans for conservation of non-game wildlife
1989 North American Wetlands Conservation Act
Partnerships between public agencies and other interests, including Mexico and Canada to try and protect wetlands
Clean Air Act of 1970
Established primary and secondary air quality standards. Required states to develop implementation plans. Sets limits and goals to reduce mobile source air pollution and ambient air quality standards.
Clean Water Act
Regulates and enforces all discharge into water sources and wetland destruction/construction.
Soil and Water Conservation Acts of 1977
soil and water conservation programs to aid landowners and users; also sets p conditions to continue evaluating the condition of US soil, water, and related resources
Food Security Act of 1985
Nicknamed the Swampbuster, this act discouraged the conversion of wetlands to nonwetlands. 1990 Federal legislation denied federal farm supplements to those who converted wetlands to agriculture, and provided a restoration of benefits to those who unknowingly converted lands to wetlands
Marine Mammals Protection Act of 1972
Marine mammals in United States water cannot by harassed, harmed, or captured. Marine mammals and products containing them cannot be shipped to the United States.
Endangered Species Act of 1973
This law requires the federal government to protect actively each of the hundreds of species listed as endangered-regardless of the economic effect on the surrounding towns or region.
CITES-Convention On International Trade In Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (1973)
Controls the exploitation of endangered species through international legislation. Bans hunting, capturing and selling of threatened species and bans the import of ivory.
Wilderness Act of 1964
Allowed congress to set aside federally owned land for preservation.
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968
Selected rivers in the United States are preserved for possessing outstandingly, remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural, or other similar values.
Anadromous Fish Conservation Act of 1965
Gave Secretary of the Interior authority to make agreements with non-federal groups to conserve, develop, and improve anadromous fish (freshwater to saltwater to freshwater) resources in the U.S.
Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976
To provide for the conservation and management of the fisheries, and for other purposes.
United Nations Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982)
Defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources.
Mining Act of 1872
United States federal law that authorizes and governs prospecting and mining for economic minerals, such as gold, platinum, and silver, on federal public lands.
Mineral Leasing Act of 1920
the government authorizes who can mine and where
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980
Established federal authority for emergency response and clean-up of hazardous substances that have been spilled, improperly disposed, or released into the environment.
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977
Requires restoration of abandoned mines.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Acts of 1976 (RCRA)
Management of non-hazardous and hazardous solid waste including landfills and storage tanks. Set minimal standards for all waste disposal facilities and for hazardous wastes.
Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 and 1996
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is allowed to set the standards for drinking water quality and oversees all of the states, localities, and water suppliers who implement these standards.
Ocean Dumping Act of 1972
Makes it unlawful for any person to dump or transport for the purpose of dumping sewage, sludge, or industrial waste into ocean waters.
Oil Spill Prevention and Liability Act of 1990
The OPA improved the nation's ability to prevent and respond to oil spills by establishing provisions that expand the federal government's ability, and provide the money and resources necessary, to respond to oil spills. The OPA also created the national Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, which is available to provide up to one billion dollars per spill incident.
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TOSCA) of 1976
EPA is given the ability to track the 75,000 industrial chemicals currently produced or imported into the United States. EPA repeatedly screens these chemicals and can require reporting or testing of those that may pose an environmental or human-health hazard. EPA can ban the manufacture and import of those chemicals that pose an unreasonable risk.
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982
Established a site to identify for, and construct, an underground repository for spent nuclear reactor fuel and high-level radioactive waste from federal defense programs.
National Environmental Policy Act of 1970
Authorized the president to assist countries in protecting and maintaining wildlife habitat and provides an active role in conservation by the Agency for International Development.
Pollution Prevention Act of 1990
Requires facilities to reduce pollution at its source. Reduction can be in volume or toxicity.
International Environmental Protection Act of 1983
Authorized the president to assist countries in protecting and maintaining wildlife habitat and provides an active role in conservation by the Agency for International Development.
Environmental Education Act of 1990
an act of Congress to promote environmental education
Montreal Accord/Protocol of 1978
Banned the production of aerosols and initiated the phase out of all CFC's.
Basel Convention on the Control of the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes in 1992
Designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries (LDCs). It does not, however, address the movement of radioactive waste. The Convention is also intended to minimize the amount and toxicity of wastes generated, to ensure their environmentally sound management as closely as possible to the source of generation, and to assist LDCs in environmentally sound management of the hazardous and other wastes they generate.
Kyoto Protocol of 1997
Agreement among 150 nations requiring greenhouse gas emission reduction.
Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act of 1986
Requires reporting of toxic releases: the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI); Encourages response for chemical releases.
Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965
To find better and more efficient ways to dispose of solid waste; promotes shredding and separation of waste and burning of remaining materials to produce stream or generate electricity; promotes recycling.
Madrid Protocol
Moratorium on mineral exploration for 50 years in Antarctica.
Stockholm Convention of Persistent Organic Pollutants
International environmental treaty, signed in 2001 and effective from May 2004, that aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918
Migratory bird in any species or family of birds that live, reproduce of migrate within or across international borders at some point during their annual life cycle. Include 836 bird species. Implemented in 1916 by US and Canada. Conventions continued between US and Mexico, Japan and USSR. Assure protection of a healthy environment for people, fish and wildlife
MTBA made it illegal for people to "take" migratory birds, their eggs, feathers or nests.
Sets with similar terms