Exam 45: Environmental Law

The EPA administrator established air quality standards for seven major classes of pollutants (carbon monoxide, particulates, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, hydrocarbons, ozone, and lead) but the hydrocarbon standard was subsequently withdrawn as no longer being necessary.

In May of 1994, Jones went to C & C Bank to apply for a loan on a home he wanted to purchase. C & C Bank loaned the money to Jones because he had excellent credit. C & C never inspected the property Jones was purchasing. Two weeks later, five rusty and leaking 55-gallon drums of a toxic substance were found buried in a creekbed in Jones' backyard. Jones and the Bank's position with regard to liability for cleanup on the property would be:

Is strict liability a legal concept available for environmental lawsuits? If so, what are the elements that the plaintiff must prove?

A federal agency is required to consider only all reasonable alternatives in an EIS.

List and define the common law causes of action for environmental damage.

What is the purpose of the Montreal Protocol?

In suing to recover for environmental damage, under the common law, plaintiffs generally have had causes of action in:

Private tort actions may not be used to recover for environmental damage.

An approved SIP is treated as both state and federal law.

The EPA may impose criminal fines and seek incarceration or imprisonment for persons who are convicted of violations of some environmental laws.

The National Environmental Policy Act:

For an environmental effect to be treated as a public nuisance there must be some interference with the health, safety, or comfort of the public.

Because private causes of action have proved to be adequate to recompense and prevent environmental damage, the federal, state, and local governments have chosen to create few statutes designed to protect the environment.

NEPA does not apply to the urban environment.

Petrol Corp. owns several drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico, refineries, service stations, and tanker trucks for transporting their products. Petrol Corp. hires an environmental manager to keep the company in compliance with various environmental laws. What laws will the environmental manager need to study and why?

The Clean Water Act:

Which of the following statement(s) is/are true concerning the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer?

NEPA requires that the EIS contain:

What do the two major substantive sections of the National Environmental Policy Act address?

EPA's initial inventory of existing chemicals, completed in 1980, listed approximately how many chemicals? a. 5,000 b. 55,000 c. 189 d. 1,890,000