Climate Change Environmental Law & Regulations 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which federal agency is primarily responsible for enforcing the Clean Air Act in the United States?
- Department of Energy
- Environmental Protection Agency (Correct answer)
- Department of the Interior
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Correct answer: Environmental Protection Agency
The EPA is the primary federal agency responsible for implementing and enforcing the Clean Air Act.
Question 2: The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for actions that would:
- Cost more than $1 million
- Significantly affect the quality of the human environment (Correct answer)
- Involve more than 50 acres of land
- Cross state boundaries
Correct answer: Significantly affect the quality of the human environment
NEPA mandates an EIS for any major federal action that may significantly affect the quality of the human environment.
Question 3: Which provision of the Clean Air Act specifically targets greenhouse gas emissions from mobile sources like vehicles?
- Title I — Air Pollution Prevention
- Title II — Emission Standards for Moving Sources (Correct answer)
- Title IV — Acid Deposition Control
- Title VI — Stratospheric Ozone Protection
Correct answer: Title II — Emission Standards for Moving Sources
Title II of the Clean Air Act sets emission standards for mobile sources, including motor vehicles that emit greenhouse gases.
Question 4: In Massachusetts v. EPA (2007), the Supreme Court held that:
- States cannot regulate greenhouse gas emissions independently
- The EPA has authority to regulate greenhouse gases as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act (Correct answer)
- Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant under federal law
- Congress must pass new legislation before the EPA can act on climate change
Correct answer: The EPA has authority to regulate greenhouse gases as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act
The Supreme Court ruled that greenhouse gases fit the Clean Air Act's definition of air pollutants and that the EPA has authority to regulate them.
Question 5: The Endangered Species Act (ESA) relates to climate change law primarily because:
- It sets carbon caps for industrial facilities
- It can be used to protect species threatened by climate-related habitat loss (Correct answer)
- It requires federal agencies to offset their emissions
- It mandates renewable energy use on federal lands
Correct answer: It can be used to protect species threatened by climate-related habitat loss
The ESA has been invoked to protect species like polar bears whose habitats are threatened by climate change-driven environmental shifts.
Question 6: What is a 'social cost of carbon' as used in US environmental rulemaking?
- A tax levied on consumers for purchasing fossil fuels
- A monetary estimate of the long-term economic damage caused by one ton of CO2 emissions (Correct answer)
- The cost of installing carbon capture equipment at power plants
- A penalty paid by companies that exceed their emission permits
Correct answer: A monetary estimate of the long-term economic damage caused by one ton of CO2 emissions
The social cost of carbon is an economic metric used to estimate the monetary damages associated with each additional ton of CO2 emitted.
Question 7: The 'endangerment finding' issued by the EPA in 2009 determined that:
- Fossil fuel companies posed a financial danger to investors
- Greenhouse gas concentrations threaten public health and welfare (Correct answer)
- Rising sea levels endanger coastal federal properties
- Nuclear power plants endanger nearby communities
Correct answer: Greenhouse gas concentrations threaten public health and welfare
The 2009 EPA endangerment finding concluded that six greenhouse gases threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations.
Climate Change Environmental Law & Regulations 2
Which federal agency is primarily responsible for enforcing the Clean Air Act in the United States?