Environmental Resources
Federal:
State:
Legislation:
Environmental Review Process
Overview of United States Environmental Law
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s and into the 1990s, the United States Congress enacted a comprehensive set of environmental laws regulating virtually every potential impact on the environment resulting from manufacturing and other commercial activity. In addition, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the department of the federal government responsible for implementing and enforcing federal environmental laws, has promulgated over 10,000 pages of regulations. The provisions of these federal laws establish minimum national requirements and compliance standards for companies doing business in this country, as well as for state and local governments and federally owned and operated facilities.
At the same time, under independent state authority, many states have created equivalent, or in some cases more stringent, environmental regulatory programs. As with the federal programs, they regulate all manner of discharges and releases of pollutants to the environment, i.e., land, water and air, in addition to the recycling, treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous and other types of waste products.
The Five Areas of U.S. Environmental Law:
(2) Water Quality, Pollution Management
(4) Waste Management and Hazardous Releases
(5) Energy, Utilities, and Natural Resources
Source: Based on information provided by the Environmental Protection Agency
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