Deck 17: State and Local Environmental Issues

Question 1

One way to reduce materials intensity in the production of goods is

A) to a shift away from the consumption of tangible goods, but toward services
B) reducing the amount of packing in consumer products
C) increasing online billing and payments
D) all of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The US Constitutional does not allow for

A) state environmental policy to preempt federal environmental policy
B) states to develop specific policies where the federal authorities remain silent
C) decentralized actions to protect the environment
D) state enforcement of federal environmental policies

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Federal water-pollution law, incorporating technology based effluent standards, works through

A) a permitting system
B) CAFÉ standards
C) a single stream recycling system
D) a pay as you throw (PAYT) system

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In the most recent past, most of the urban municipal solid waste in the U.S. was disposed ___________.

A) through recycling
B) through incineration
C) in landfills
D) in other countries

Question 5

Many states have enacted their own Superfund laws to supplement the federal actions included in the

A) National Contingency Plan (NCP)
B) Clean Air Act (CAA)
C) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
D) Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)

Question 6

Voluntary recycling programs began in the______ and the first one was in _________.

A) 1970s; Oregon
B) 1950s; California
C) 1950s; Oregon
D) 1970s; California

Question 7

California has been a lead state in the area of policy innovation, exemplified by

A) the initial banning of the pesticide DDT
B) tradable emissions permits to control airborne emissions
C) principles included in the Strip Mining Reclamation Act
D) ideas included in the Toxics Release Inventory program

Question 8

In order to achieve socially efficient levels of recycling in firms, the goal would be to equate _____________ across industries and materials.

A) marginal recycling costs
B) marginal tax rates
C) marginal cost of virgin materials
D) marginal emissions

Question 9

Over the past last 50 years, the amount of MSW that is recycled has

A) decreased dramatically
B) remained relatively constant
C) increased slightly
D) increased dramatically

Question 10

Because states compete to attract businesses, some believe that there will be a 'race to the bottom' resulting in lax state policies regarding environmental regulation. Most empirical evidence to date suggests that

A) state policies are indeed more lax than federal policies
B) the 'race to the bottom' has not taken place
C) states have not produced their own environmental policies
D) businesses do not consider state policies when deciding where to locate

Question 11

The ability of a municipality to send solid waste to a landfill is affected by

A) weather
B) taxation
C) the scarcity of sites willing to accept these wastes
D) recycling programs

Question 12

Regulations to control mercury emissions from power plants have been in contention for well over a decade at the _______ level

A) federal
B) state
C) municipal
D) international

Question 13

Which of the following affect a firm's incentive and ability to replace virgin material in the production with recycled materials?

A) technology available to sort materials for recycling
B) the transportation of materials to be recycled
C) the reprocessing recycled materials
D) all of the above

Question 14

'Takings' problems refer to the use of eminent domain which allows the US government to take property from private citizens for a public purpose while providing just compensation. In contrast, a regulatory taking does not involve a physical taking of the property but may

A) reduce the value of the property due to restrictions on its use
B) transfer ownership temporarily to the EPA
C) distribute ownership shares to government agencies
D) eliminate the ability to sell the property

Question 15

The largest impairment to water quality is now nonpoint source pollution and ________ programs are paramount for controlling these emissions.

A) federal
B) state
C) municipal
D) international cooperative

Question 16

The materials balance equation can be written in all of the following forms except

A) TM = VM - RM
B) VM = TM - RM
C) VM = TM ( 1- r)
D) TM = VM + RM

Question 17

The use of virgin materials can be reduced by

A) increasing the overall rate of materials use (TM)
B) increasing the rate of reuse (r)
C) decreasing the overall rate of recycled materials use (RM)
D) all of the above

Question 18

________ content standards require that all materials-using products manufactured or sold contain some specified percentage of ________.

A) Maximum; recycled material
B) Minimum; recycled material
C) Maximum; virgin material
D) Minimum; virgin material

Question 19

The European Commission adopted a mandatory directive for electronic and electrical equipment requiring producers to assume responsibility for their e-waste throughout the lifecycle of the product. This is an example of a

A) producer fee system
B) producer take-back program
C) producer deposit refund program
D) consumer deposit refund program

Question 20

Environmental federalism refers to

A) whether environmental regulations should be established at a national level
B) whether environmental regulation enforcement should be decentralized
C) the establishment of the EPA in the 1970s
D) whether all states and municipalities should be subject to the same effluent standards

Question 21

A tax on virgin materials charged to all manufacturing firms would

A) lead to decreased recycling
B) lead to increased recycling in a way that would not satisfy the equimarginal principle
C) lead to increased recycling in a way that satisfies the equimarginal principle
D) lead to uncertain results with no guarantee of satisfying the equimarginal principle

Question 22

During the 1950s and the 1960s there was no strong ______ environmental policy. During the 1970s control began with initiation of __________ environmental policy.

A) federal; federal
B) federal; state
C) state; state
D) state; federal

Question 23

If the change to single-stream recycling causes an increase of recycling loads being contaminated with trash, the amount of residuals discharged

A) increases
B) decreases
C) does not change
D) cannot be determined

Question 24

With PAYT programs, the incentive to recycle or reuse

A) increases
B) decreases
C) does not change
D) cannot be determined

Question 25

Single stream recycling shifts the cost of recycling to

A) the consumer.
B) the industry as a whole.
C) the waste management facility.
D) all parties equally.

Question 26

Take-back programs lead to goods or parts of goods being

A) returned to where a consumer purchased the good
B) returned to the original manufacturer of the good
C) exchanged among manufacturers of the good or inputs
D) all the above

Question 27

In the United States, municipal solid waste policy is governed

A) at the federal level only
B) at the state level only
C) at the federal and local level
D) at the state and local level

Question 28

The change to single-stream recycling causes the consumer cost of recycling to

A) increase
B) decrease
C) not change
D) cannot be determined

Question 29

Single stream recycling refers to

A) water pollution control programs that focus on single bodies of water
B) recycling of contaminated water with release into a single stream
C) a system of recycling that returns all recycled material to a single user
D) a system where recyclable items are collected from consumers in a single container and sorted at the recycling facility