LIVING WITH THE EARTHObjectives for this C.docx

LIVING WITH THE EARTH
Objectives for this Chapter
A student reading this chapter will be able to:
1. Discuss how a law is made and describe the system of
environmental laws.
2. List and describe the major components of the major federal
environmental laws including: RCRA, CERCLA, EPCRA,SARA
Title III, Pollution Prevention Act, CAA, CWA, SDWA,
stormwater regulations, pesticide regulations, and underground
storage tank regulations.
Objectives for this Chapter
A student reading this chapter will be able to:
3. Describe and discuss the major components of environmental
compliance.
The Making of a LawBill is first introduced into house and
senate;Referred to subcommittee for review and support;90%
fail at this levelRecommended bills are brought forward for

hearings and comment;Committee meets to mark up (discuss)
bill and vote on it;If still found favorable, bill is sent to full
chamber;
The Making of a Law (cont.)The bill is then sent to the Rules
committee of House where a time limit is set for debate and
other rules are set.The bill is also sent to the Senate where
unrelated riders may be attached to a popular bill.House and
Senate usually make changes in the bill before passing, and the
different versions are sent to a conference committee for
resolution.
SENATE
HOUSE
Rules committee
Senate version
House version
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
BILL
BILL

BILL
The Making of a Law (cont.)If a resolution is accepted and the
same version is approved by both House and Senate, the bill
moves forward to the President who may sign or veto
it.Congress can override a veto by 2/3rds majority, but this is
difficult to do.
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
SENATE
HOUSE
If both Chambers approve final version, the bill is sent forward
to the president
Veto?
Sign?
PRESIDENT
BILL
Common Themes Among Environmental LawsEIGHT GENERIC

COMPLIANCE OBLIGATIONS1. Notification requirements2.
Discharge or waste controls3. Process controls and pollution
prevention4. Product controls5. Regulation of activities6. Safe
transportation requirements7. Response and remediation
requirements8. Compensation requirements
Environmental Laws are Part of a SystemENVIRONMENTAL
LAW ENCOMPASSES ALL THE ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION THAT COMES FROM:U.S. CONSTITUTION
AND STATE CONSTITUTIONSFEDERAL AND STATE
STATUTES AND LOCAL ORDINANCESREGULATIONS
PUBLISHED BY FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL
AGENCIESPRESIDENTIAL EXECUTIVE ORDERSCOURT
DECISIONS INTERPRETING THESE LAWSTHE COMMON
LAW
Executive OrdersThese are orders issued by the president and
require federal facilities to comply and provide leadership in
protecting the environment. More than 18 executive orders have
been issued since 1970.
Common LawA body of rules and principles that pertain to the
government and the security of persons and property.Basic rules
originally developed in England and then brought to American
Colonies.
Under Common LawTortA private wrong or wrongful act for
which the injured party can bring forth a a civil

action.NuisanceTrespassNegligence
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) The Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was passed as an
amendment in 1976 to the SWDA originally promulgated in
1965.There are three subchapters. Subchapter C establishes a
system for controlling hazardous waste from the point of
generation to the ultimate disposal.

RCRA: Two main
concepts are addressed (1) the dangers posed to human health
and the environment by improper waste disposal and (2) the
conservation of valuable energy and resources. (Title 40 Part
260 et seq. of the Code of Federal Regulations contains the
RCRA regulations)
Defining Waste Under RCRAHazardous wasteLISTED: Listed
in the CFR,Title 40, Part 261CHARACTERISTIC: Not listed
but meeting certain criteria for ignitability, corrosivity,
reactivity, or toxicity.
Hazardous Waste
Generator Criteria
More than 100 kg
Less than 100 kg

Large Quantity Generator
Small Quantity Generator
Conditionally Exempt Generator
More than 1000 kg
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)Tracking
Hazardous Waste (Fig 13.1) Tracking is accomplished by using
a paper trail created by shipping manifests called the Uniform
Hazardous Waste Manifest.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)Other
Requirements Under RCRAAccurate record keepingProper
labeling, shipping

Comprehensive Environmental Responsibility, Compensation
and Liability Act (CERCLA) or (Superfund) Steps in Superfund:
Find, Prioritize, and CleanIdentification of sites contaminated
with hazardous substances.Setting priorities for cleanup is
based on the National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution
Contingency Plan (National Contingency Plan; 40 Code of
Federal Regulations part 300).

Steps in Superfund: Find, Prioritize, and CleanIdentification of
those parties responsible for site contamination. “Potentially
responsible parties” and “responsible parties” identified by EPA
and state agencies can be required to finance cleanup activities,
either directly or through reimbursement of federal Superfund
expenditures.
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know (SARA
Title III) In response to the Bhopal, India disaster, US federal,
state, and local governments created a variety of laws to
improve accident prevention and emergency response planning
activities by chemical-handling facilities and local
governments.
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know (SARA
Title III)"Right-to-Know" laws increased public access to
information about the storage and use of hazardous chemicals.

MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) on hazardous chemicals in
the workplace must be made available to employees in the
workplace.
Transportation of Hazardous MaterialsDOT regulates the
transportation of hazardous wastes and materials. Packaging,
labeling and construction requirements are defined under HTMA
and must now meet United Nations UN) recommendations.
Pollution Prevention and Improved Waste Management
ProgramsThe Pollution Prevention
Act of 1990Source reduction" is the deliberate decrease in the
amounts of hazardous substances which enter the environment
via recycling, treatment or disposal.”
Pollution Prevention and Improved Waste Management
ProgramsSource reduction must be reported by facilities
generating over a certain amount of toxic emissions during the
previous calendar year.
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) TSCA mandates that
manufacturers of chemicals develop safety and health data on
chemicals and mixtures. Requires the USEPA to regulate
chemical substances and mixtures that present an unreasonable
risk of injury to health and the environment.

PCBs, Asbestos, CFCs, Dioxins
Regulation of Underground Storage TanksThe federal UST law
is a component of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments
of 1984 (HSWA) under the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA). A UST is any tank or underground
piping connected to the tank that has a minimum of 10% of its
volume located underground (Fig 13-4).
Regulation of Underground Storage Tanks
must have spill and overfill protection;new USTs and associated
piping must have leak detection provisions;new petroleum USTs
may continue to be single-lined (primary containment only),
whereas USTs containing other hazardous substances must be
double-lined .
Pesticide RegulationThe basic national framework for pesticide
control is provided by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) The USEPA uses the authority under
FIFRA to collect information necessary to register and control
the "active ingredients" in pesticides, while state and local
agencies control the registration and actual use of the pesticides
themselves.
Air Quality ControlNational framework for protecting air

quality was created by the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA), and
amendments.
1990 Amendments to
Clean Air ActTitle I—Provisions for Attainment and
Maintenance of the NAAQS. Emissions standards for new and
modified sources of air contaminants are set by the USEPA.
Other Related Programs Established Under Recent Air Quality
Regulations:Ozone, Particulates
1990 Amendments to
Clean Air ActTitle II—Provisions Relating to Mobile Sources.
Vehicle Emissions RequirementsInspection/Maintenance
RequirementsReformulated Gasoline Requirement
1990 Amendments to
Clean Air ActTitle III—Hazardous Air PollutantsA list of 189
toxic air pollutants for which emissions must be reduced is
included in this law. Area-wide control strategies must be
formulated by the USEPA by the year 2000
1990 Amendments to

Clean Air ActTitle IV regulates the sources of acid deposition.
Emissions of SO2 and NOx from fossil fuel-fired electric utility
plants are the leading cause of acid deposition.
1990 Amendments to
Clean Air ActTitle V—Permits. For the first time, a nationwide
program of air emissions permits had been established by the
1990 amendments.
1990 Amendments to
Clean Air ActTitle VI—Stratospheric Ozone Protection. A
complete production phaseout of ozone-depleting chemicals
(especially CFCs and halons) is required by Title VI.

1990 Amendments to
Clean Air ActTitle VII—Provisions Relating to Enforcement.
The Amendments contain a broad array of provisions which
brings the law up to date to with the other major environmental
statutes and thus makes the law more readily enforceable.
Water Quality ControlGoals of the Clean Water Act are to
eliminate the discharge of pollutants into surface waters and to
achieve water quality which "provides for the protection and
propagation of fish, shellfish and wildlife," and "for recreation
in and on the water.”
Water Quality ControlThe second major focus is that of water
quality-based controls. The discharger applies the required
technology-based standards to the facility through application
of a comprehensive permitting scheme known as the National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).
StormwaterThe runoff and pollutants enter storm drains and are
then discharged into receiving waters. November 16, 1990, the
USEPA published a final rule in the Federal Register (55 CFR
47990) that contains permit requirements for stormwater
discharges.

StormwaterOil and Hazardous Substance Spill and Reporting
Requirements.
CWA contains specific provisions regulating the handling of oil
and hazardous substances.
Compliance Strategies There are criminal penalties for non-
compliance with environmental health and safety programs. The
most effective protection against aggressive enforcement and
other efforts to assess liability is aggressive compliance.
Compliance StrategiesEnvironmental law compliance is a
responsibility of everyone. Demonstrate a concern for
compliance by providing appropriate education and training.
Compliance StrategiesPrevention of violations and minimization
of liability through aggressive implementations of
environmental objectives.Periodic "audits" to verify compliance
and identify areas that can be improved upon.
Trends in Regulatory ComplianceThe USEPA has developed
target strategies, based on the quantity and severity of toxic
materials discharged, emitted or disposed of by a facility as
reported under the Community-Right-to-Know Act. The USEPA
will likely focus on repeated violations and evidence of
suspicious self-reporting.

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ASSESSING HUMAN RISK - Moore
*
LIVING WITH THE EARTH
*
Objectives for this ChapterA student reading this chapter will
be able to:1. Define risk and discuss the uncertainties associated
with environmental risk.2. Discuss the characteristics of risk.
*
be able to:3. Define risk analysis and describe the tools used to
perform risk analysis. 4. Explain the concepts of dose,
extrapolation, and acceptable daily intakes (ADI).

*
be able to:5. List and discuss the process of risk analysis
including hazard identification, dose-response assessment,
exposure assessment, and risk characterization.6. Outline and
discuss the major components of risk management and risk
communication.
*
ASSESSING HUMAN RISKINTRODUCTIONRisk can be of a
financial, personal, social, health, and environmental nature.The
word “Risk” describes a range of activities, situations and
concepts, from drinking a glass of red wine daily to skydiving
and extreme skiing, to chemical exposure.
*
ASSESSING HUMAN RISKINTRODUCTIONRisk is commonly
used to describe types of people or situations.Risk-takerRisk-
freeA comparison of some of life’s risks are shown in Figure 1.
*
Fig.

12-1
*
ASSESSING HUMAN RISKINTRODUCTIONPeople accept
certain risks because they enjoy the benefit they receive from
the behavior or activity.Some people seek out extraordinarily
high levels of risk, engaging in skydiving, bungee jumping,
rock and ice climbing and other extreme sports (Fig. 12-2).
*
Fig. 12-2
Some risks are voluntary
*
Environmental RiskA central factor of environmental risk is
that it is usually involuntary. People do not choose to ingest
chemical pollutants such as pesticides or industrial solvents in
their food and water or undergo workplace exposures to
dangerous chemicals.

*
Risk CharacteristicsRisk can be defined as the likelihood of an
unwanted occurrence coupled with an element of uncertainty
about when the risk might occur.
*
Risk CharacteristicsMany environmental risks have the
characteristics of unknown and dread, they cause people anxiety
and concern about the consequences of exposure to the risk.
*
Development of Risk AnalysisRisk analysis is the process of
reviewing information on a hazard to characterize that hazard’s
impact on human health.Risk analysis allows public groups to
make informed decisions and weigh the risks and benefits in
their community.
*
The Process of Risk AnalysisA review of scientific studiesAn
understanding of the properties of a risk, An assessment of
levels of human exposure and doseA conclusion about the
likelihood, impact and extent of a risk.

*
Tools of Risk AnalysisRisk analysis employs several scientific
disciplines in its goal to characterize a risk (Fig. 12.3).
*
Fig.
12-3
*
Tools of Risk AnalysisToxicologyToxicologists study chemicals
to determine their physiological and health impacts on
humans.Regulatory toxicology aims at guarding the public from
dangerous chemical exposures.
*
ToxicologyStudies can delineate both the lower and upper limits
of a chemicals potencyEndpointsNOEL,NOAEL, LOAEL

*
DoseToxicologists use different doses to elicit different animal
responses.Animals receiving doses above the threshold amount
will begin to show adverse effects and some animals will die
(Fig. 12.4).
*
Fig.
12-4
*
DoseLD50 ED50Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD)
*
Exposure StudiesAcute, two weeksSubchronic, 5-90 daysLong
term or Chronic, up to two years

*
ExtrapolationIn risk analysis, the term extrapolation refers to
the use of animal data to predict human response to chemical
exposure.
*
ExtrapolationThe results from high-dose, short duration studies
are used to extrapolate human response to the longer term,
lower level exposures we generally receive.
*
Acceptable Daily IntakesThe purpose of toxicology studies is
often to establish an acceptable level of exposure or dose of a
substance that is considered “safe”. This level, which poses
little risk, is termed the acceptable daily intake (ADI).
*
EpidemiologyEpidemiology is the study of the distribution and
determinants of disease frequency in the human population.

*
EpidemiologyStudy TypesCross-sectionalCohortCase Control
*
Clinical TrialsIn clinical drug trials, individuals volunteer to be
exposed to a substance or to ingest a drug, and are assessed for
their health response.
*
The Process of Risk AnalysisThe process of risk analysis has
four steps (Fig. 12-5):hazard identification;dose-response
evaluation;exposure assessment; andrisk characterization.
*
Fig. 12-5
*
Hazard IdentificationThe initial step in risk analysis, hazard
identification, involves identifying chemicals that present a risk

to human health. This step entails performing a qualitative
assessment of a chemical’s potential for negative health impacts
on humans.
*
Dose-Response AssessmentThe next step, dose-response
evaluation, provides a quantitative view of the risk. This step
also involves a review of scientific studies and data. In this
case, the magnitude of response is correlated with the dose (Fig,
12-6).
*
Fig.
12-6
*
Exposure AssessmentThe purpose of the exposure assessment is
to measure or estimate a person’s level of exposure.Exposure is
different from dose in that exposure refers to the amount of a
substance in the environment, while dose is the level of a
substance actually taken in by an organism.

*
Exposure AssessmentDose can be influenced by many factors,
such as how the substance enters the body, whether absorbed
through the skin, ingested with food, or inhaled (Fig 12-7).
*
Fig.12-7
*
Risk CharacterizationRisk characterization provides a picture of
the risk that addresses its severity, likelihood, and
consequences.The risk characterization includes an estimate of
the negative effects to exposed individuals, such as the number
of cases of cancer or deaths per 100,000 people (Fig. 12-8).
*
Fig. 12-8

*
Limitations of Risk AnalysisLimitations of risk analysis include
uncertainty, variability, and effect of multiple
exposures.Despite these limitations, risk assessment is still a
valuable tool for exploring and understanding the risks of the
modern world.
*
Risk Management Risk management involves merging the
results of risk analysis with various social factors, such as
socioeconomic conditions, political pressures, and economic
concerns (Fig. 12-9).
*
Fig. 12-9
*
Risk Management Three avenues of risk management
are:educational;economic; andregulatory

*
Risk Management Risk management generally involves
comparing the risk to some other factor such as the cost, or
reducing the risk or the benefit gained from the risk (Fig. 12-
10).
*
Fig.
12-10
*
Risk ManagementThe “best” course of action is not always the
one that reduces the most risk, but rather, is the most
economically feasible option, reducing the greatest amount of
risk per dollar spent.
*
Risk CommunicationThe goal of risk communication is to
effectively relay risk information developed through risk
analysis to various interested groups.

*
Risk CommunicationMethods of risk communication include
public hearings, emergency hotlines, information pamphlets.
*
Risk CommunicationRisk communication can be challenging, as
it requires addressing people’s different risk perceptions,
biases, scientific knowledge, educational backgrounds, even
race and gender.
*
Risk CommunicationTranslating technical terminology into
comprehensible terminology can increase risk communication
(Fig. 12-11).
*
Fig. 12-11

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