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National Park Service
The National Park Service was created in the Organic Act of 1916. The new agency's mission as managers of national parks and monuments was clearly stated.
"....to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." -
Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act
Group affected: Farmers
Problem Addressed: Paid farmers for cutting production of soil depleting crops and rewarded them for practicing good soil conservation methods. -
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act provides for federal regulation of pesticide distribution, sale, and use. All pesticides distributed or sold in the United States must be registered (licensed) by EPA. Before EPA may register a pesticide under FIFRA, the applicant must show, among other things, that using the pesticide according to specifications "will not generally cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.'' -
Fish and Wildlife Act
The Fish and Wildlife Act was enacted to protect fish and wildlife when federal actions result in the control or modification of a natural stream or body of water. The statute requires federal agencies to take into consideration the effect that water-related projects would have on fish and wildlife resources; take action to prevent loss or damage to these resources; and provide for the development and improvement of these resources. -
Price-Anderson Act
The Price-Anderson Act, originally enacted by Congress in 1957, limits the liability of the nuclear industry in the event of a nuclear accident in the United States. At the dawn of the nuclear industry in the USA, no private insurance company willingly underwrote a nuclear power plant fully. The lack of financial security would have hindered the development of the nuclear industry. The federal government intervened with this amendment to the 1946 Atomic Energy Act (AEA). -
Water Resources Planning
The Council was empowered to maintain a continuing assessment of the adequacy of water supplies in each region of the U.S. In addition, the Council was mandated to establish principles and standards for Federal participants in the preparation of river basin plans and in evaluating Federal water projects. Upon receipt of a river basin plan, the Council was required to review the plan with respect to agricultural, urban, energy, industrial, recreational and fish and wildlife needs. -
Water Resources Planning
Water resource management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. -
Land and Water Conservation Fund
The LWCF Program provides matching grants to States and local governments for the acquisition and development of public outdoor recreation areas and facilities (as well as funding for shared federal land acquisition and conservation strategies). The program is intended to create and maintain a nationwide legacy of high quality recreation areas and facilities and to stimulate non-federal investments in the protection and maintenance of recreation resources across the United States -
Freedom of Information Act
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, is a federal freedom of information law that allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government. -
Species Conservation Act
he Multinational Species Conservation Acts play a significant role in the Division of International Conservation’s Wildlife Without Borders program. These Acts, enacted by the U.S. Congress, grant the Division the authority to establish the Multinational Species Conservation Funds and provide grants to projects benefiting elephants, rhinos, great apes and marine turtles in their natural habitats. The passage of the African Elephant Conservation Act of 1988 marks the first of these Multinational -
National Trails System Act
l) National recreation trails, established as provided in section 4 of this Act, which will provide a variety of outdoor recreation uses in or reasonably accessible to urban areas. -
Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act is the comprehensive federal law that regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources. Among other things, this law authorizes EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards to protect public health and public welfare and to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants. -
National Environmental Policy Act
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law that promotes the enhancement of the environment and established the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The law was enacted on January 1, 1970. -
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. The basis of the CWA was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, but the Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. "Clean Water Act" became the Act's common name with amendments in 1972. -
Marine Mammal Protection Act
The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, Amended 1994. The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) protects all marine mammals, including cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), sirenians (manatees and dugongs), sea otters, and polar bears within the waters of the United States -
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides for the conservation of species that are endangered or threatened throughout all or a significant portion of their range, and the conservation of the ecosystems on which they depend. The ESA replaced the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969. Congress has amended the ESA several times. -
Renewable Resources Planning Act
The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) of 1974 requires the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct an assessment of the Nation's renewable resources every 10 years. The original Act had four requirements for the Assessment: -
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) gives EPA the authority to control hazardous waste from the "cradle-to-grave." This includes the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. RCRA also set forth a framework for the management of non-hazardous solid wastes -
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. -
Federal Land Policy and Management Act
The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended, is the Bureau of Land Management "organic act" that establishes the agency's multiple-use mandate to serve present and future generations. -
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act
The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (or RPA) (P.L. 93-378) is a United States federal law which authorizes long-range planning by the United States Forest Service to ensure the future supply of forest resources while maintaining a quality environment. RPA requires that a renewable resource assessment and a Forest Service plan be prepared every ten and five years, respectively, to plan and prepare for the future of natural resources.[1] It is found in the United Stat -
National Forest Management Act
The National Forest Management Act (NFMA) of 1976 (P.L. 94-588) is a United States federal law that is the primary statute governing the administration of national forests and was an amendment to the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, which called for the management of renewable resources on national forest lands. The law was a response to lawsuits involving various practices in the national forest, including timber harvesting. -
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) gives EPA the authority to control hazardous waste from the "cradle-to-grave." This includes the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. RCRA also set forth a framework for the management of non-hazardous solid wastes. -
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) is the primary federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the United States. SMCRA created two programs: one for regulating active coal mines and a second for reclaiming abandoned mine lands. -
Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act
The Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977, as amended (RCA) provides the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) broad strategic assessment and planning authority for the conservation, protection, and enhancement of soil, water, and related natural resources. Through RCA, USDA: -
Artic Conservation Act
This law protects native Antarctic mammals, birds, and plants and their ecosystems. The law applies to all U.S. citizens, whether or not they go to Antarctica with the U.S. Antarctic Program. It applies to all expeditions to Antarctica that originate from the United States. -
Energy Tax Act
The Energy Tax Act provides tax incentives for the production and conservation of energy, and for other purposes. -
Low-level radioactive waste policy act
Radioactive waste is generated from the nuclear weapons program, commercial nuclear power, medical applications, and corporate and university-based research programs.[1] Some of the materials LLW consists of are: "gloves and other protective clothing, glass and plastic laboratory supplies, machine parts and tools, and disposable medical items that have come in contact with radioactive materials".[2] Waste is generally categorized as high level waste (HLW) and low-level waste (LLW). LLW contains -
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, approved September 29, 1980, authorizes financial and technical assistance to the States for the development, revision, and implementation of conservation plans and programs for nongame fish and wildlife. The original Act authorized $5 million for each of Fiscal Years 1982 through 1985, for grants for development and implementation of comprehensive State nongame fish and wildlife plans and for administration of the Act. It also required the U.S. Fish and W -
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980 (FWCA) (P.L. 96-366, 94 Stat. 1322), or "Nongame Act," was designed to support state efforts to protect the 83 percent of fish and wildlife species that were neglected under prior American law. -
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act provides a Federal "Superfund" to clean up uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous-waste sites as well as accidents, spills, and other emergency releases of pollutants and contaminants into the environment. Through this act, the EPA was given power to seek out those parties responsible for any release and assure their cooperation in the cleanup. -
International Environment Protection Act
Authorized the president to assist countries in protecting and maintaining wildlife habitat and provides an active role in conservation by the Agency for International Development. -
Nuclear Waste Policy Act
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 is a United States federal law which established a comprehensive national program for the safe, permanent disposal of highly radioactive wastes. During the first 40 years that nuclear waste was being created in the United States, no legislation was enacted to manage its disposal. -
Food Security Act
The Food Security Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-198, also known as the 1985 U.S. Farm Bill), a 5-year omnibus farm bill, allowed lower commodity price and income supports and established a dairy herd buyout program. This 1985 farm bill made changes in a variety of other USDA programs. Several enduring conservation programs were created, including sodbuster, swampbuster, and the Conservation Reserve Program. -
Emergency Wetlands Resources Act
Emergency wetland Resources Act is an Act to promote the conservation of migratory waterfowl and to offset or prevent the serious loss of wetlands by the acquistion of wetlands and other essential habitat, and for other purposes. -
Montreal Protocol
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer) is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion. -
Madrid Protocol
The Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (Madrid Protocol) is an international treaty that allows a trademark owner to seek registration in any of the countries that have joined the Madrid Protocol by filing a single application, called an "international application." The International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization, in Geneva, Switzerland administers the international registration system. -
Environmental Education Act
The Environmental Education Act requires the EPA to provide national leadership to increase environmental literacy. The EPA established the Office of Environmental Education to implement this program. -
Lacey Act
The Lacey Act is a 1900 United States law that bans trafficking in illegal wildlife. In 2008, the Act was amended to include plants and plant products such as timber and paper. This landmark legislation is the world's first ban on trade in illegally sourced wood products. -
Pollution Prevention Act
The Pollution Prevention Act focused industry, government, and public attention on reducing the amount of pollution through cost-effective changes in production, operation, and raw materials use. Opportunities for source reduction are often not realized because of existing regulations, and the industrial resources required for compliance, focus on treatment and disposal. -
The Waste Reduction Policy Act
The Waste Reduction Policy Act was adopted by the Texas Legislature to reduce the volume, toxicity, adverse public health, and environmental effects of pollutants in Texas. This program requires facilities that exceed the threshold of TRI and hazardous waste generation to do pollution prevention (P2) planning. -
Ocean Dumping Ban Act
Makes it unlawful for any person to dump, or transport for the purpose of dumping, sewage sludge or industrial waste into ocean waters after December 31, 1991; -
California Desert Protection Act
The Act establishes the Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks and the Mojave National Preserve in the California desert. This act classifies the land as "a public wildland resource of extraordinary and inestimable value for current and future generations; these desert wildlands have unique scenic, historical, archeological, environmental, ecological, wildlife, cultural, scientific, educational and recreational values." -
Food Quality Protection Act
The Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) was passed unanimously by Congress and then signed into law by President Clinton on August 3, 1996. The FQPA amended the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) and thus fundamentally changed EPA’s regulation of pesticides. -
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty, which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits State Parties to reduce greenhouse gases emissions, based on the premise that (a) global warming exists and (b) man-made CO2 emissions have caused it.
