Environmental Health XIII. Environmental Law

1. Environmental Health XIII. Environmental Law Shu-Chi Chang, Ph.D., P.E., P.A. Assistant Professor1 and Division Chief2 1Department of Environmental Engineering 2Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Center for Environmental Protection and Occupational Safety and Health National Chung Hsing University Thursday, June 14, 2007

2. Outline • Introduction • The Clean Air Act and amendaments • The Clean Water Act • Safe Drinking Water Act • Pollution Prevent Act • Solid Waste Disposal Act • Radioactive Wastes • Toxic Substance Control Act • Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act • Federal Insectcide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act • Atomic Energy Act • Other environmental laws

3. Introduction • National Environmental Policy Act • Encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between people and their environment • Promote effort that will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man • enrich our understanding of ecological systems and natural resources important to the nation • Environmental Impact Statement • Federal • Major • Will have a significant effect on the environment • Council on Environmental Quality

4. Growth of environmental laws

5. The Clean Air Act and Amendments • Clean Air Act ->Air Quality Act, 1967 • National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) • Best available control technology (BACT) • Reasonable available control technology (RACT) • 1990 amendment • Harm-based standards • Technology-based standards • Technology-forcing standards • Permitting system • Trade of pollution allowance • Total amount • Fixed cost

6. The Clean Water Act • Also has harm- and technology-based standards • Water quality in the ambient environment • National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) • Discharge permit • 1987 amendment set stricter discharge limits

7. Safe Drinking Water Act • SDWA, 1974 • Also regulated underground injection of liquid wastes • Maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) • No safe levels for carcinogens • Control cost must be reasonable • 1977 amendment: to assess future supplies and demands • Chlorine concerns • 1986 and 1996 amendment added more contaminants to be regulated • 1996 amendment put emphasis on emerging contamiants, such as Cryptosporidium

8. Pollution Prevent Act • CAA and CWA emphasize treatment and remediation, not prevention • PPA passed in 1990: Release to the environment is the last resort • Encourage the sharing and transfer of source reduction technology • Worker’s exposure was significantly reduced

9. Solid Waste Disposal Act • SWDA, 1965 • Resource Recovery Act, 1970 was then replace by Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) • To protect human health and the environment • To reduce waste and conserve energy and natural resources • To reduce or eliminate the generation of hazardous waste as soon as possible • Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendment Act, 1984 • Hazardous waste treatment • Toxic waste cannot be burned in industrial or apartment furnace • Siting of hazardous waste treatment facility

10. CERCLA • Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 1980 (Superfund Law) • Love Canal • National Priority List (NPL) • Monies were derived through taxes on chemical feedstocks and crude oil supplies • Responsible parties • Innocent purchaser

11. Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act • Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 • Address concerns about the effects of chemical releases on communities • Local disaster preparedness program • Toxic substance registry and right to know • Toxic release inventory

12. Radioactive Wastes • High level and low level • Nuclear Waste Policy Act (for high level) • Geological repository • Monitored retrievable storage • Transportation system • Low-level radioactive waste policy amendment • Roles of Department of Energy and US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

13. Toxic Substance Control Act • TSCA, 1976 • Pre-manufacturing reporting • Gives EPA broad power to collect information • Gives EPA the authority to restrict manufacturing related activities • Export of toxic chemicals • Effects • Exposure to toxic substances can be reduced • Could discourage industrial research and development

14. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act • FFDCA, 1938 • Barring foods that present a serious risk • Foods containing naturally occurring toxic substance • Generally recognized as safe (GRAS) • Delaney clause: “no additive shall be deemed safe if it is found to induce cancer when ingested by man or animal”

15. Federal Insectcide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act • FIFRA, 1947 • No pesticide may be marketed unless it has been registered by the EPA • Controversy on DDT, aldrin, and dieldrin • 1975 amendment requires EPA to proposal to for a scientific panel for review

16. Occupational Safety and Health Act • Establishment of OSHA and NIOSH • OSHA is in charge of working with the states to develop and implement improved occupational health programs • NIOSH were to conduct research on safety and health problems • Standards and inspection system

17. Atomic Energy Act • AEA, 1974 • USNRC is responsible for licensing the transfer, acquisition, possession, or use of any nuclear facility, and for regulating radioactive materials, and by-products • Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Act • DOE is required to designate and assign properties for the remediation of wastes at former uranium mill tailings processing sites.

18. Other environmental laws • Energy policy and Conservation Act, 1975 • Energy Policy Act, 1992 • Endangered Species Act, 1973 • Marine Protection Act, • Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act