Exam 1 & 2 Questions
This legal doctrine says courts should defer to an agency’s interpretation when Congress wrote an ambiguous statute.
The Chevron Doctrine
RCRA uses this phrase to describe tracking hazardous waste from the moment it's created until its final disposal.
Cradle-To-Grave
What is the difference between calling something invasive vs. aggressive?
Invasive - must be non-native species.
Aggressive - can be either non-native or native.
Similar characteristics can be across both.
This was created in 1992 to coordinate Environmental Justice efforts at a federal level.
EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice
List the three types of liability under CERCLA and tell me the difference between all three.
Strict, Joint & Several, and Retroactive
Strict - One party is held responsible.
Joint & Several - Multiple parties are responsible, but one typically takes the brunt of it and has to sue the others later to recoup costs.
Retroactive - Applies to contamination that occurred before the law was enacted in 1980.
This acronym means the total amount of a pollutant a waterbody can safely receive.
TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load)
RCRA’s Subtitle _______ Program regulates non-hazardous solid waste.
Hint: It's a letter.
C
This 1973 statute is designed to protect species at risk of disappearing and restore them to healthy populations.
Endangered Species Act
New Jersey’s program that buys out homes in repeatedly flooded areas is known by this colorful name.
Blue Acres Program
This case questioned whether New York needed a Clean Water Act permit to move water from one basin to another through a tunnel.
Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited v. City of New York
Under the Clean Air Act, states are required to submit ___________ to the EPA, outlining how they will achieve and maintain compliance with air quality standards.
SIPS (State Implementation Plan)
Name that hazardous waste characteristic:
Wastes capable of detonation or explosive reaction.
Reactivity
This was created by law in 1986 as an advisory
statewide planning framework, identifying major planning areas, such as Urban, Suburban, Rural, and Agricultural.
NJ State Plan (1986)
True or False: NJ created the first comprehensive EJ permitting rules.
True! Drafted in 2020, adopted in 2023.
This Supreme Court case evaluated which wetlands fall within the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction.
Sackett v EPA
For hazardous air pollutants, the Clean Air Act requires facilities to install these top-tier pollution controls.
Maximum Achievable Control Technologies (MACTs)
What is a key goal of CERCLA?
Cleaning up major hazardous waste sites and holding polluters responsible
This piece of legislation was created to protect and reclaim wasteland of swamps, toxic sites and landfills in the Meadowlands.
Hackensack Meadowlands Reclamation & Development Act
Municipalities create these utilities to fund and manage precipitation that drains off of people's properties.
Stormwater Utility
Name the six criteria pollutants under NAAQs.
Ozone, Particulate Matter, Carbon Monoxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, and Lead
_________________________ is a failure to act with reasonable care, leading to harm to others in an environmental dispute.
Negligence
PFOS/PFAS
List three elements of good planning.
-Right Thing in the Right Place
-Balance Human Needs with Resources that support them
-Appropriate Infrastructure Investments (Water, sewer, roads, transit)
-Drive Modern Construction Techniques
-Protect Health of Environment
-Protect Public Health
-Sustainability
What is the warming limit that was initially set by the Paris Agreement in 2016?
1.5°C
What are three Statewide Basic Requirements (SBRs) for MS4 Permits in New Jersey?
Public Education & Outreach
Public Involvement & Participation
Construction Site Runoff Control
Post-Construction Stormwater Management
Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping
Illicit Discharge Detection & Elimination (IDDE)