Environmental Laws in the United States
December 6th, 2009
The earliest environmental law in the United States dates back to 1899. The Rivers and Harbors Act determined it was a misdemeanor to dump or unload an refuse into U.S. waters that were navigable without a permit. It further stated that it was also a misdemeanor to fill, excavate, or change the course of, or capacity of any harbor, channel, or port without a permit. An act, previously passed by congress in 1882, bore the same name but was vetoed by President Arthur. All of these laws and regulations are under the administration of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
It wasn’t until the 1960’s that the Federal Government started to actively enforce the Rivers and Harbors Act in any serious fashion, primarily due to the fact that both the public and government became increasingly concerned about our countries polluted waters. Huge oil refineries severely polluted many lakes, rivers, and streams by dumping their waste.
Soon other environmental laws came into being. In 1918 the Migratory bird and species act was enacted. This was due to an agreement made between the U.S. and Canada in 1916 regarding protection of migratory birds.
Environmental acts soon to follow included the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act or FIFRA, and the National Environmental Policy Act. The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, the first statutory environmental law, was mostly replaced by the later Clean Water Act. There are a lot more environmental laws enforced in the United States, some at the state level and others federally controlled.
Rachel Carson published a book called Silent Spring in 1962 and she has been credited with the launch of the environmental movement of the U.S. ever since. Her book laid out, in documentary form, what the effects of DDT and other pesticides had on our waters and birds.
A law suit decided in 1965 is recognized as most likely being the earliest of the environmental cases involved the Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference vs the Federal Power Commission. In this law suit the Second Circuit Court of Appeals determined damage was being done by a power plant. This caused the construction of a power plant to be halted on Storm King Mountain in the state of New York. Another example, the Scenic Hudson case, also gave inspiration to passage of a National Environmental Policy Act out of which grew the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The regulation of activities causing environmental impact is under the control of the environmental policy of the United States. Their goal is protecting the environment for future generations yet to come, all the while interfering as little as necessary. The policy is a result of the environmental movement in the U.S. back in the 1960’s and 1970’s. This is the time period in which many environmentally related laws passed. These policies were intended to regulate water and air pollution and resulted in the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency or the EPA as it is commonly referred to. There are two major tools used to protect the environment and those are inducements and rules. The U.S. makes use of rules through regulation and those regulations come as a result of performance standards. These performance standards spell out the emission levels allowable, then leave the decisions as to how they will be met up to the parties which are covered by these rules
Political conservatives and business interests have fought to limit the funds while slowing the efforts to protect the environment because it was costly to them. Big Business and Big Brother do not like to be regulated by the U.S. government.
Ever since the 1970’s, vast achievements have been reached in water and air quality, and also in controlling of hazardous waste materials.
The political “hot potato” for years now has been the global warming issue. Greenhouse gas emissions are thought to be the cause of a gradual global warming of the atmosphere around our planet. Modern concerns include fuel efficiency and regulatory emission standards.
