...The Clean Water Acts was created to regulate and prevent pollutant discharges into the water of the United States. The Clean Water Act made against the law for industries to discharge pollutants into the water without a permit by the EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Although the CWA is meant to prevent pollutant discharges in the water, it seems to have some loopholes in some of their regulations. Mines industries had been taken advantage of two loopholes in the Clean Water Act, according to Targeting News Service: Under the new rule, wetlands, ponds and other small water bodies can only be protected if they are within 4,000 feet of a stream or river. However, if a wetland is just one foot over the arbitrary 4,000-foot...
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...in 1972, the Clean Water Act was passed as a response to unhealthy water due to pollution. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of the Clean Water Act has been debated for the past thirty years. The issue of clean, safe water has been plaguing our nation ever since the Clean Water Act’s passing and has been exacerbated by the surge of plastic in our consumer-driven society. There is no doubt that plastic pollution has become a huge nuisance namely in our waterways, but what has been done about it and moreover, what can be done about it? In 1983 the...
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...For our environmental ethics paper, we decided on the Clean Water Act (CWA). The history behind the CWA goes back longer than one might imagine. Most people think the CWA was originally started in 1972 when Congress passed the Federal Water Pollution Contract Act Amendments, which would commonly be referred to as the Clean Water Act. The CWA was originally passed under President Harry S. Truman in 1948 as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act designed to control water pollution. The original 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...
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...” When you finish, turn in your test and remain quiet until others are finished. 1. Which of the following lists contain only the EPA’s important beneficial uses for watersheds? A. Agriculture, Urban Development, Drinking water B. Urban Development, Recreation, Fish and Shellfish consumption C. Fish and Shellfish consumption, Aquatic Life habitats, Drinking water D. Swimming, Boating, Canoeing, Rope swinging, Cleaning stuff. What Federal agency is responsible for assessing and monitoring the bodies of water in the U.S.? A. Environmental Precipitation Association B. Environmental Principle Agency C. Environmental Protection Association D. Environmental Protection Agency What Act of Legislation gave them the power to monitor and assess our nation’s watersheds? A. Clean Air Act of 1972 B. Clean Water Act of 1972 C. Clean Air Act of 1792 D. Clean Water Act of 1792 If a body of water receives a level 1 assessment by the EPA, it means that the water is: A. Clean B. Dirty C. Not too clean and not too dirty If a body of water receives a level 3 assessment by the EPA, it means that the water is: A. Clean B. Dirty C. Not too clean and not too dirty If a body of water receives a level 5 assessment by the EPA, it means that the water is: A. Clean B. Dirty C. Not too clean and not too dirty 7. Which of the following is NOT an example of a watershed? A. Trinity River Basin B. Cooper Creek River Basin C. Lake Ray Roberts Watershed D. The Pacific Ocean Which of the following has the Highest Albedo...
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...years especially 1980s - 90’s decade. Development was further speeded up in 2000s with the nation vision of achieving an industrialized status by year 2020. However, the rapid development process sometimes was carried out without really taking into consideration, that the possibility of such development will impacts on the environment, in this case, impacts towards the rivers. Table 1 below shows the number of polluted river (suspended solids) from year 1998 – 2008. Table [ 1 ]: Number of clean, slighly polluted and polluted basin in Malaysia (Suspended Solids) A) Economic Growth and Water Pollution As the country which moves towards the realization of its vision 2020 to becoming a developed nation through the implementation of its policy agenda for heavy industrialization, infrastructures, and urban-expansions, the water demands increase steeply. There is greater pressure to preserve the current water resources as well as to find alternative course of actions to improve the water quality. In other words, the consistent and rapid growth of urban-industries in Malaysia has undoubtedly resulted in an increase in economic well being of the citizens on the one hand. After all, for the first time in years, the external value of Malaysia’s currency, the ringgit, shrank by nearly 50 per cent while the stock market contracted by even more at about 60 per cent. The ringgit fell from an average of 2.42 to the U.S. dollar in April 1997 to an all-time low of 4.88 to the U.S. dollar...
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...Assignment 2: Using Your Manager Skills Due Week 10 and worth 240 points Note: The companies mentioned herein are merely hypothetical organizations with characteristics developed to enable students to respond to the assignment. You may create and / or make all necessary assumptions needed for the completion of this assignment. In this assignment, you, in the role of a risk manager at Simply Green Products, will draft a document that is commonly used in the business world—a memorandum to your boss. Simply Green Products is a $10 million company that produces biodegradable packing materials that orchards use in the Shenandoah Valley to transport their apples, peaches, and pears nationwide. Biodegradable materials are more eco-friendly because they break down into the environment. Such packing materials are marketed under the name “SafePack,” which is heavily advertised in trade journals. Simply Green Products have had the name “SafePack” imprinted on all of their packing material since 2008; however, they never filed for either state or federal trademark protection. With the movement toward more eco-friendly agricultural production, the fact that such packing materials are biodegradable provides a primary marketing advantage over non-biodegradable competitors. The company president, Shep Howard, has recently become aware of several issues that may require referral to the company’s outside counsel. Because you serve as the company’s risk manager, Howard has asked you...
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...being carless and uneducated about the things I do and don’t do that have a direct impact on the environment. Such as eating out almost every night, constantly purchasing new gadgets every time they come out, never buying used clothing etc. Before this class I never gave a second thought to these things. Learning about the clean water act as well as the clean air act was really interesting. I take clean water and air for granted all the time. I am used to going outside and just expecting to breathe clean air as if it’s a right and not a privilege. When I want to brush my teeth or take a shower I don’t think about how my water got clean or where it comes from I just expect it to be there and to be healthy for consumption and use. It amazes me how we take so many of our resources for granted and we just assume that they will always be here for us to use. I couldn’t believe how much resources and energy we use in the United States alone and how much waste we generate. Seeing video of water being so dirty that it catches fire and witnessing the death of a sea because of pollution and waste was uncanny. To know that one day we will be at war over clean water bothers me. In my opinion we have advanced firsthand knowledge of a lot of our issues. It’s not like we wake up one day and these things just appear we are forewarned and we take too long to take action which results in disaster. Lately I have noticed that more people...
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...greenhouse gas emissions. Unit 5 Individual Project – Environmental Policies Introduction This paper will discuss the Clean Water Act. This law was passed initially in 1948 and was known as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. It was reorganized and expanded upon in 1972 when it became known as the Clean Water Act (EPA, 2014). This paper will summarize the major provisions of this law as well as the economic impact. It will also describe what, if anything, the law has improved. Finally, global warming will be discussed and whether additional policies should be adopted to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Provisions and economic impact of the law The Clean Water Act was the first major law to address water pollution. One of the major provisions of this act are that it prohibits the discharge of any pollutant except those in compliance with the Act. The Act imposes limitations on existing sources and how the pollutant is discharged (whether the pollutant goes directly into an open body of water or to publicly owned treatment plant). This law requires the EPA to maintain water quality criteria, pretreatment programs and administration of the NPDES (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permit program. It also requires states to identify waters that cannot meet water quality criteria due to non-point sources polluting the water, identify what is causing the pollution and create ways to identify the controls and programs for individual non-point sources...
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...critical to America’s energy needs and economic renewal. The process of hydraulic fracturing is using water pressure under tight controls to create fractures in rock that allow oil and natural gas to escape and flow up out of the ground. While in this process “fracturing fluids” are mixed in using high pressure. This creates fissures that allow resources to move freely from rock pores where they are trapped. (Chesapeake Energy) First, the way hydraulic fracturing works is a production drill is drilled through the rock layers to intersect the coal seem that contains coal bed methane, CBN. Second, fractures are created or existing fractures are enlarged in the coal seem so that the CBM can be drawn from the well and pumped to the surface. These fractures are created or enlarged by using a thick water-based fluid which is gradually increased by rate and pressure. Third, over time the coal seam is unable to keep up with the fracturing fluid which results in high pressure causing the coal to fracture along the weaknesses within. Sand is pumped into these fractures to keep them ‘propped’ open after the pressures are released. After a period of fluid recovery or groundwater extraction is when the extraction of CBM occurs. As pumping continues, the pressure eventually decreases so that the methane desorbs from the coal, flows and is extracted through the production well. The fracture created acts as a conduit in the rock or coal formation, allowing the CBM to flow more freely from the coal...
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...Clean Water The Controversy Up until the mid-20th century it was practice for cities to use bays, harbors, and rivers as dumping grounds and sewage run off. In fact major industrial parks built their waste pipes to spill directly into some of the rivers and lakes we use today as recreation (Congressional Digest, 1985). These are some of the Point Sources of water pollution. These are places that can be directly identified as points of pollution like city storm and sewer drains, sewage treatment plants ("Clean water act," 1972). Then there is a non-point source which is a combination of smaller sources that collect into lakes, rivers, and streams. These can come from agriculture farms or even contaminated wash from our freeways and roads. There are almost an infinite amount of water pollutants that run off into our waterways each day. Pathogens such has salmonella, novo virus, and parasitic worms grow and thrive within our waters. Chemicals such as insecticides, herbicides run off from farms and other agriculture areas. Storm water runoff can introduce many types of fuels and oils, and heavy metals. Then there is immense amount of industrial waste like ammonia, sulfur dioxide from power plants, trash from illegal dumping (Pitt, 2001). It’s it important to ensure our fresh water resources are protected and ensured. Although in most industrialized countries access to clean water is at 100 percent; in places such as Uganda and Mozambique where only 52% of the...
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...effects on air, water, and land, will have an impact on the final decision where Big Rapids will be located. Regardless of the chosen site, the laws instituted by the EPA must be followed. The following states environmental regulations will be discussed: Arizona, Texas, and Tennessee. Environmental regulations for the state of Arizona are enforced by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Arizona’s environmental regulations primarily focus on air, water, and waste. The Grand Canyon National Park is protected by the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts – these provide for monitoring of hazardous air and water pollutants because of its historical significance. According to the Glen Canyon Institute (2010, para. 6), Congress passed the Grand Canyon Protection Act to protect the Canyon and mitigate damages associated with building new structures within it. Big Ben National Park, located on the Rio Grande River in Texas, is another potential site for Big Rapids. The Texas Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for the regulation of air and water pollution as well as waste reduction. The Rio Grande River is primarily used for irrigation and serves as the habitat for many species of wildlife. The E ... Merced River – California --- Yosemite Environmental regulations for the state of California are enforced by the California Environmental Protection Agency. The Cal/EPA enforces the state’s environmental protection laws that ensure clean air, clean water, clean soil, safe...
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...REMEDIATING AGRICULTURAL WATER CONTAMINATION 1 Remediating Agricultural Water Contamination: Problem, Solution, and Barriers Paper Student Name COMM 2367 MWF 9:10 Instructor Name September 29, 2012 REMIEDIATING AGRICULTURAL WATER CONTAMINATION Remediating Agricultural Water Contamination: Problem, Solution, and Barriers Paper Problem Concerns about water pollution are generally focused towards sources that are highly visible and chemically oriented. However, the greatest causes of water contamination and quantity abuse in the United States come from agricultural production (United States Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], 2012a), which is defined as a nonpoint source that pollutes with nutrients. In 2011, nine of the top ten corn and soybean producing states were located in the 2 Midwest (United States Census Bureau, 2012), making this region the largest agricultural region by volume produced in the U.S., and thus prone to environmental problems with alarming consequences. In order to meet production demands while bound by constrained budgets, farmers often turn to unsustainable practices to ensure a yield. These include irrigating their fields with groundwater (the water from natural basins underneath the ground), applying excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus as fertilizer, and plowing the land in a way that reduces quality of soil structure (United States EPA, 2012b). All of these factors directly result in the rapid depletion of water resources in the Midwest...
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...landfill into a nearby stream. The group has also launched an internet campaign geared toward compelling fruit producers to stop purchasing our packing materials. The situation raises environmental issues that relate directly to the Clean Water Act and the Solid Waste Disposal Act. The overall goal of the Clean Water Act is to eliminate the discharge of pollutants in the navigable waters of the United States (Bagley, p.487). To be in violation of the Clean Water Act, the SafePack Materials Pollute group must have several elements present to prove a valid claim towards our company. First, the group must be able to prove that our product is truly the cause of the seepage from the landfill into the nearby stream. Other evidence that may be used as proof may include testimony from witnesses, photographs or video tapes. The group must also be able to prove if our company does or does not have a NPDES permit. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, a NPDES permit program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into water of the United States (NPDES Overview). The SafePack Materials Pollute also have a claim under the Solid Waste Disposal Act directed towards our company. The Solid Waste Disposal Act governs the management of hazardous wastes (Bagley, p.488). In order for this group to have a valid claim under...
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...1. Examine how Congress writes environmental laws and EPA provides the technical, operational, and legal details needed to carry them out. At least 1/2 page summary A number of laws serve as EPA's foundation for protecting the environment and public health. However, most laws do not have enough detail to be put into practice right away. EPA is called a regulatory agency because Congress authorizes us to write regulations that explain the critical details necessary to implement environmental laws. In addition, a number of Presidential Executive Orders (EOs) play a central role in our activities http://www3.epa.gov/region9/enforcement/intro.html Under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a rule generally cannot take effect until EPA submits a rule report to each House of Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States (head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office). Rules that are not considered "major" under the CRA, may take effect as they otherwise would under other applicable law once a rule report is submitted. A rule that is "major" may take effect no earlier than 60 calendar days after Congress receives the rule report or the rule is published in the Federal Register (FR), whichever is later. The CRA also provides procedures by which Congress can rescind a rule within a specified period of time using expedited procedures. 2. Go to http://www.epa.gov/. Read the Community right-to-know regulation CFR 40 Section 370 and summarize subpart A-B-C and D. Subpart...
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... more pollution, and fewer resources. Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division is geared towards protecting human health, sustaining healthy ecosystems, ensuring resources to support a growing economy ("Environmental Protection Division Georgia Department Of Natural Resources", 2010-2011). These are the new issues that have emerged in Georgia. Not too long ago, the American public became concerned about environment and the effects on humans. The federal policymakers implemented statutes as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act, which the legislation passed in the 1960s and 1970s designed to limit pollution and other abuses. The Georgia General Assembly passed the state’s first major environmental legislation, the Water Quality Control Act of 1964 and in 1968 the Georgia Surface Mining Act requiring the reclamation of the lands after mining (Kundell, 2004-2013). There were several other acts that were...
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