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56 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back

First Earth Day

April 22, 1970

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

created in 1927 in order to create the Colorado River Aqueduct. It was built between 1933 and 1941 and is owned and operated by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. It ran a water pipeline to Los Angeles.

Rachel Carson

the author of Silent Spring, which was published in 1962. In the book, Carson examined the dangers of chemical pesticides, such as DDT, on plants, animals, and humans. This book greatly influenced the way people think about the environment.

Effluent Standards

set restrictions on the discharge of pollutants into the environment. Effluent guidelines reduce the discharge of pollutants that have serious environmental impacts. The EPA has effluent guidelines for more than 50 categories.

Point Source Pollution

pollution discharged directly from a specific site, such as a sewage treatment plant or an industrial pipe.

Non-point Source Pollution

contaminated runoff from many sources.

Potable Water

water that is safe to drink.

Aquifer

one or more strata of rock or sediment that is saturated and sufficiently permeable to yield economically significant quantities of water to wells or springs. An aquifer includes any geologic material that is currently used or could be used as a source of water within the target distance limit.

Estuary

an area where fresh water meets salt water.

Lagoon

a shallow body of water that is located alongside a coast.


Marsh

a type of freshwater, brackish water or saltwater wetland found along rivers, ponds, lakes, and coasts. It does not accumulate appreciable peat deposits and is dominated by herbaceous vegetation.

Reservoir

a pond, lake, tank, or basin that can be used for the storage and control of water, and can be either natural or man-made.

Surface Water

includes rivers, lakes, oceans, ocean-like water bodies, and coastal tidal waters.


Swamp

a freshwater wetland that has spongy, muddy land and a lot of water.

Watershed

a region drained by, or contributing water to, a surface water body.


Wetlands

include swamps, marshes, bogs, and other similar areas. They are areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands can be natural or constructed.

America's primary energy sources

fossil, nuclear, renewable

Fossil energy sources

include oil, coal and natural gas,


are non-renewable resources that formed when prehistoric plants and animals died and were gradually buried by layers of rock.

Nuclear power

the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6 percent of the world's energy and 13–14 percent of the world's electricity.

types of renewable energy

solar, wind, geothermal, bioenergy and water

The Clean Water Act

passed in 1977, as an amendment to the Federal Water Pollutant Control Act of 1972. This Act requires anyone wanting to discharge pollutants into a body of water to obtain a permit to do so. It also regulates the amount of water that may be discharged and the types of pollutants that may be released.

Point Source Discharge Permit

In order to discharge pollutants into the water, this permit must be obtained from the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).

NPDES

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System

The Clean Air Act

was passed in 1970 with major amendments in 1977 and 1990.



The federal government sets ambient standards and the states must devise methods that enables these standards to be met. Air cannot be contained in one location, so Air Quality Control Regions (AQCR) were created to measure air quality in air sheds. Like the Clean Water Act, the law requires a permit to release pollutants into the air.



has provisions that cut off federal funding for metropolitan areas that are not in attainment.

The Clear Air Act monitors which six pollutants?


* Ozone
* Particulate Matter
* Carbon Monoxide
* Nitrogen Dioxide
* Sulfur Dioxide
* Lead

PSD

Prevention of Significant Deterioration



relates to air quality and requires that a project will not increase emissions above a specified PSD increment.

Ambient Air Quality Standards

the maximum air contaminant concentrations allowed in the ambient air.

How many non-attainment areas are there?

As of September 2002, there were 124 non-attainment areas

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)

resulted in the creation of the Council on Environmental Quality.



The Act requires that the environmental impacts of a project be considered. An Environmental Assessment is required to determine whether there is a significant environmental impact.



One of the major requirements of the act was to require the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). An EIS is required for federal projects significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. If the environmental assessment determines that there is a significant impact then an Environmental Impact Statement is required.

The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899

prohibited the construction of any bridge, dam, dike, or causeway over any navigable waterway in the U.S. without Congressional approval. The Act also required Congressional approval for all wharfs, piers, or jetties, and the excavation or fill of navigable waters.

The Water Pollutant Control Act of 1948

allowed the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, in cooperation with other governmental entities, to prepare a comprehensive program for eliminating or reducing the pollution of interstate waters and tributaries and improving the sanitary condition of surface and underground waters. The Act allowed the Federal Works Administrator to assist government agencies in constructing treatment plants that could help to prevent discharges of inadequately treated sewage and other wastes into interstate waters or tributaries.

The Water Quality Act of 1965

established the Water Pollution Control Administration within the Department of the Interior. This was the first time water quality was treated as an environmental concern rather than a public health concern.

The Clean Water Act of 1966

provided construction grants for wastewater treatment facilities.

The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972

later amended in 1990, focused efforts to reduce polluted runoff in 29 coastal states.

The Federal Water Pollutant Control Act of 1972

amended the Water Pollutant Act of 1948. The amendments broadened the government's authority over water pollution and restructured the authority for water pollution under the Environmental Protection Agency.



changed the enforcement from water quality standards to regulating the amount of pollutants being discharged from particular point sources.

The Endangered Species Act of 1973

provided protection of animal and plant species that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designate as threatened or endangered. This act was later amended in 1988.

The Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA) of 1978

promoted alternative energy sources, energy efficiency, and reduced dependence on foreign oil. It also created a market for non-utility power producers and requires competition in the utility industry.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980

created a $1.6 billion Superfund to clean up abandoned hazardous waste sites and requires major industries to report annual releases of toxic wastes into the air, water, or ground.

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976

provided EPA with the ability to control hazardous waste from the "cradle-to-grave." This includes the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste, as well as the management of non-hazardous solid wastes.



The 1986 amendment covered environmental issues associated with underground storage tanks for fuel and other hazardous substances.

The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976

provided EPA with responsibility for reporting, record-keeping and testing requirements, and restrictions relating to chemical substances and/or mixtures. Certain substances are generally excluded, including food, drugs, cosmetics and pesticides.

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)

originally passed in 1947 and established procedures for registering pesticides with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and established labeling provisions.



was rewritten in 1972 when it was amended by the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act (FEPCA). The law has been amended numerous times since 1972, including some significant amendments in the form of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996.



FIFRA currently mandates that EPA regulate the use and sale of pesticides to protect human health and the environment.

Safe Drinking Water Act

ensures that drinking water is safe. This law was passed in 1974 and has been amended several times since. This law not only protects the end product, but also protects the sources of drinking water.

Brownfield

sometimes called superfund sites



real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment.

Superfund

the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).



There are more than 1,200 superfund sites across the U.S. A tax on the petroleum and chemical industries provide funding to help pay for the cleanup of superfund sites. The federal government provides cleanup funds through the Superfund. Additionally, many states have created funds to help cleanup property.

Environmental Justice

Executive Order 12898



issued by President Clinton in 1994 and requires that federal agencies strive to make achieving environmental justice part of their mission by addressing the disproportionate adverse environmental and human health impacts of its policies, programs and activities on minority and low-income populations.

EPA's Environmental Indicators Initiative

provides information on the best indicators and data on environmental issues.

Conventional heating sources

Natural gas, coal, and oil

Biomass energy

uses organic material which is burned to create energy

Methane

a naturally occurring byproduct of decaying plant and animal material.



is burned to produce electricity.

Hydroelectric power

typically associated with large dams. It uses falling water to produce power, which is moved through a turbine, causing it to spin. The spinning turbine is coupled with a generator, which produces energy.

Solar Energy

can be used to heat homes through solar panels.



uses photovoltaic panels to convert sunlight directly into electricity. The panels can be added together to create large systems.

Wind power

growing in popularity in many parts of the U.S. Wind turbines are tall (100 feet plus) in order to catch the wind more efficiently. Wind farms made up of wind turbines built close together. They can be found in coastal, mountain, or other regions with a constant wind supply.

r-value

indicates the resistance to heat flow.



The higher the R-value, the greater the insulation.



A minimum R-value of 20 is recommended for residential use.

Reducing a thermostat one degree will result in money savings of?

1-3%, according to ENERGYguide.com.

The two indoor air pollutants that are of most concern to the EPA?

tobacco smoke and radon

Energy Policy Conservation Act of 1975


Alternative Motor Fuels Act of 1988


Energy Policy Act of 2005


need to look these up