Exam 21: Environmental Law

Lost Tree began development of a large piece of land on the Florida coast in 1968. In 2004 it received permission from the state to develop some of its property but the Army Corps could not give a wetlands permit. Lost Tree sued, contending the value of its property fell from $4.8 million to nearly nothing. The district court agreed and awarded damages. The court of appeals:

Applied to pollution cases, private nuisance is:

In an effort to control the depletion of the ozone layer, which of the following treaties was signed in 1987?

In Whalen v. Union Bag & Paper Co., where a paper mill polluted a farmer's creek so he sued to stop the pollution, the appeals court held that:

Under Superfund, responsible parties may be strictly, jointly and severally liable for cleanup costs.

The EPA is authorized by Congress to regulate air pollution to "achieve optimal public health."

Fact Pattern 18-1 Jean LeFleur, owner of Happy Feet, a company that makes environmentally-sensitive foot wear, decided to move operations from Los Angeles to Bozeman, Montana. LeFleur wanted to be in an area noted for environmental quality. He built a new plant that produced oil-based sludge from its production process. The sludge could have been treated at the plant. But LeFleur decided that treatment was too costly, so the company dumped sludge into the Gallatin River, which runs through Happy Feet property. Other sludge was buried in drums in a field at night. -Refer to Fact Pattern 18-1. Assume that Bozeman is clean air area. Once Happy Feet builds its plant, what level of pollution control technology will it have to install?

The Supreme Court has held that the Clean Air Act was designed to give states great freedom, with minimal federal interference, to design air pollution controls.

The Kyoto treaty on greenhouse gas reduction concerning global warming:

Which of the following pollutants have NOT decreased dramatically since the Clean Air Act was passed:

The easiest water pollution to identify is:

In Massachusetts v. EPA, where Massachusetts and other states sued to force regulation of greenhouse gases from vehicles, the Supreme Court held that:

Under the common law, if a court found that a polluter provided a community with economic benefits, it would be likely to rule that the polluter should:

Applied to pollution cases, public nuisance is:

Because of potential liability for dumped toxic chemicals, potential buyers of property may wish to have an environmental audit done before making the purchase.

To build a plant in an attainment or PSD area, the owner must obtain an air pollution offset that will insure a net air quality improvement.

The 1990 Clean Air Act imposes rigid controls on nuclear power plants for the purpose of reducing acid rain.

Hazardous wastes are placed into water or land at:

The EPA and Congress are moving to mandate carpooling in all large cities to reduce auto emissions.

The Montreal Protocol required wealthy nations to pay poor nations to phase out CFCs that harm the upper-atmosphere ozone.