Environmental Regulations & Policy Flashcards
7 cards from real EMP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Environmental Regulations & Policy flashcards as text
Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which category of waste is subject to the most stringent management standards?
Answer: Listed hazardous waste
Listed hazardous wastes (F, K, P, and U lists) are subject to the most stringent RCRA requirements, including detailed tracking, storage, treatment, and disposal standards.
A utility-scale solar project triggers consultation under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act because federal permits are required. This consultation is conducted between the project proponent and:
Answer: The action agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or NOAA Fisheries
Section 7 consultation occurs between the federal action agency (one with discretionary authority over the project) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or NOAA Fisheries.
Which policy tool creates a market signal that most directly internalizes the external costs of greenhouse gas emissions?
Answer: Carbon pricing (carbon tax or cap-and-trade)
Carbon pricing directly attaches a monetary cost to GHG emissions, internalizing the external cost of climate damages into the price of carbon-intensive products and services.
The EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) under 40 CFR Part 98 requires facilities emitting above what threshold to report annually?
Answer: 25,000 metric tons CO2e per year
Facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of CO2 equivalent per year must report their GHG emissions to EPA annually under the GHGRP.
An energy manager learns that a state has adopted California's Advanced Clean Cars standards rather than the federal EPA standards. This is permitted under which Clean Air Act provision?
Answer: Section 177 adoption-of-California-standards provision
Clean Air Act Section 177 allows other states to adopt California's motor vehicle emission standards (once California receives a federal waiver) as an alternative to federal standards.
The concept of 'additionality' in carbon offset projects means the emission reductions must be:
Answer: Reductions that would not have occurred in the absence of the carbon finance incentive
Additionality requires that offset emission reductions are beyond what would have happened under a business-as-usual scenario without the carbon market incentive.
Under the Clean Water Act's Section 404 program, the Army Corps of Engineers regulates:
Answer: Discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the US
Section 404 authorizes the Army Corps of Engineers to issue permits for the discharge of dredged or fill material into navigable waters and adjacent wetlands.