Deck 14: Defining Water Quality: the Standard-Setting Process

Question 1

Groundwater and surface waters are about equal in volume.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Because the Chesapeake Bay's quality had not improved sufficiently, a Presidential Executive Order established a committee to develop a strategy to restore the bay.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

There are three classifications of water pollutants: toxic, conventional and nonconventional.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The Clean Water Act's no toxics in toxic amounts goal can be justified on economic grounds.

Question 5

State-established receiving water quality standards have two components: use designation and water quality criteria.

Question 6

In the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama signed the Oil Pollution Control Act.

Question 7

The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill is the largest tanker spill in U.S. history.

Question 8

The Water Quality Act of 1987 embodies revisions to the Clean Water Act of 1977.

Question 9

Water quality policy recognizes two major categories of water resources -- surface water and groundwater.

Question 10

Environmental threats to surface water have no connection to groundwater contamination.

Question 11

The interdependence of all water resources is explained by the hydrologic cycle.

Question 12

The Clean Water Act's zero discharge goal was met in 1985.

Question 13

According to the textbook application, point source pollution has been eliminated from the Chesapeake Bay.

Question 14

The leading source of river and stream pollution is urban runoff.

Question 15

An aquifer refers to any water body exposed to the atmosphere.

Question 16

Water runoff from a major highway is an example of a point source.

Question 17

A cruise ship is an example of a nonpoint source.

Question 18

The Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments (CZARA) address the development of coastal nonpoint pollution control programs.

Question 19

The two major sources of water contamination are typically classified as mobile and stationary sources.

Question 20

Use designation of water quality standards is evaluated using a use-support status framework.

Question 21

Technology-based effluent limitations are defined by a states' receiving water quality standard.

Question 22

A conventional pollutant

A) is one that, upon exposure, will cause death, disease, abnormalities, or physiological malfunctions
B) is a default category for all pollutants that are not categorized as toxic
C) is an identified pollutant that is well understood by scientists
D) none of the above

Question 23

Use designation for a water body

A) gives the biological and chemical water attributes to meet water quality standards
B) is one of two components of receiving water quality standards
C) identifies the intended purposes of a water body
D) all of the above
E) (b) and (c) only

Question 24

Receiving water quality standards and total maximum daily loads are equivalent.

Question 25

U.S. policymakers classify highly diverse surface waters into groups, which include:

A) bays and estuaries
B) wetlands
C) aquifers
D) all of the above
E) (a) and (b) only

Question 26

According to the textbook application, the largest oil tanker spill in history

A) occurred when two tankers collided in 1979 off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago
B) involved the Exxon Valdez in 1989
C) was associated with the Hebei Spirit in 2007
D) occurred as the result of an explosion of a deepwater oil rig

Question 27

Sources of water runoff include

A) farms
B) highways
C) publicly owned treatment works
D) all of the above
E) (a) and (b) only

Question 28

An identified pollutant that is well understood by scientists is called

A) a toxic pollutant
B) a conventional pollutant
C) a nonconventional pollutant
D) none of the above

Question 29

In the U.S., the two components of the receiving water quality standards are

A) the BAT and the BCT
B) use-support status and effluent limitations
C) the use designation and water quality criteria
D) the zero discharge goal and the NPDES

Question 30

The phenomenon that explains the interdependence of water resources and the natural movement of water from the atmosphere to the surface, to beneath the ground, and back to the atmosphere is the

A) estuarial cycle
B) runoff process
C) hydrologic cycle
D) watershed progression

Question 31

According to the benefit-cost analysis of the Clean Water Act presented in the text, water quality standards set by the Clean Water Act are too stringent.

Question 32

The hydrologic cycle illustrates the

A) natural process that links all water resources together
B) natural movement of water from the ocean to wetlands
C) link between point and nonpoint sources
D) none of the above

Question 33

Among the three major goals defined in the Clean Water Act are the

A) fishable-boatable goal
B) use designation goal
C) no toxics in toxic amounts goal
D) no ocean dumping goal

Question 34

According to the textbook application, the Chesapeake Bay

A) has been deteriorating for decades
B) is the largest estuary in North America
C) has been addressed by a recent presidential executive order
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 35

Mercury is the leading pollutant for U.S. bays and estuaries.

Question 36

Based on the benefit-cost analysis of the Clean Water Act presented in the text, Total Social Benefits (TSB) exceed Total Social Costs (TSC) and hence U.S. water quality standards are set at the allocatively efficient level.

Question 37

Which of the following are important components of the hydrologic cycle?

A) evaporation
B) transpiration
C) precipitation
D) all of the above

Question 38

All of the following are point sources, EXCEPT

A) publicly-owned treatment works (POTW)
B) factory smokestack
B) recreational motor boat
D) urban runoff

Question 39

Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

A) The Oil Pollution Act (OPA) was enacted in response to the BP Deepwater Horizon spill.
B) The Ocean Dumping Act ends dumping of sewage sludge and industrial waste.
C) The Great Lakes Legacy Act provides federal funding to address contamination of the Great Lakes
D) Included in the Water Quality Act of 1987 were requirements for states to establish nonpoint source pollution program

Question 40

When states set receiving water quality standards

A) they must set the same standards for all water bodies within their boundaries
B) benefit-cost analysis must be used
C) the use designation need not be consistent with national goals
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 41

According to the benefit-cost analysis of the Clean Water Act presented in the text,

A) TSB outweigh TSC
B) MSB is equivalent to MSC, suggesting an efficient level of abatement
C) TSC are greater than TSB
D) MSC is larger than the MSB, implying controls are too stringent

Question 42

Suppose that the benefits and costs of water quality policy have been estimated as follows:
MSB = 40 - 0.8A MSC = 10 + 0.2A
TSB = 40A - 0.4A² TSC = 10A + 0.1A²,
where A is the percentage of pollution abatement and the benefits and costs are measured in thousands of dollars.
a. Determine the range of abatement within which policy achieves positive net benefits.
b. Find the efficient level of abatement.

Question 43

The technology-based effluent limitations

A) are not aligned with the nation's water quality objectives
B) are motivated by what is feasible instead of by benefit-cost analysis
C) are applied uniformly within designated industry groups
D) all of the above
E) (b) and (c) only