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Oil Pollution Act of 1990

Description: The Oil Pollution Act (OPA) of 1990 streamlined and strengthened EPA's ability to prevent and respond to catastrophic oil spills. A trust fund financed by a tax on oil is available to clean up spills when the responsible party is incapable or unwilling to do so. The OPA requires oil storage facilities and vessels to submit to the Federal government plans detailing how they will respond to large discharges. EPA has published regulations for above ground storage facilities; the Coast Guard h… more
Date: 1990
Creator: United States. Congress.
open access

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

Description: The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was one of the first laws ever written that establishes the broad national framework for protecting our environment. NEPA's basic policy is to assure that all branches of government give proper consideration to the environment prior to undertaking any major federal action that significantly affects the environment. NEPA requirements are invoked when airports, buildings, military complexes, highways, parkland purchases, and other federal activities a… more
Date: January 1, 1970
Creator: United States. Congress.
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Nuclear Waste Policy Act

Description: The Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) supports the use of deep geologic repositories for the safe storage and/or disposal of radioactive waste. The Act establishes procedures to evaluate and select sites for geologic repositories and for the interaction of state and federal governments. It also provides a timetable of key milestones the federal agencies must meet in carrying out the program. The NWPA assigns the Department of Energy (DOE) the responsibility to site, build, and operate a deep geo… more
Date: January 7, 1983
Creator: United States. Congress.
open access

Solid Waste Disposal Act

Description: 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. The 1986 amendments to RCRA enabled EPA to address environmental problems that could result from underground tanks storing petroleum and other hazardous substances. HSWA - the Federal Haza… more
Date: 1976
Creator: United States. Congress.
open access

Public Health Service Act

Description: The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was established to protect the quality of drinking water in the U.S. This law focuses on all waters actually or potentially designed for drinking use, whether from above ground or underground sources. The Act authorizes EPA to establish minimum standards to protect tap water and requires all owners or operators of public water systems to comply with these primary (health-related) standards. The 1996 amendments to SDWA require that EPA consider a detailed risk… more
Date: 1974
Creator: United States. Congress.
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Toxic Substances Control Act

Description: The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 provides EPA with authority to require reporting, record-keeping and testing requirements, and restrictions relating to chemical substances and/or mixtures. Certain substances are generally excluded from TSCA, including, among others, food, drugs, cosmetics and pesticides. TSCA addresses the production, importation, use, and disposal of specific chemicals including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos, radon and lead-based paint.
Date: unknown
Creator: United States. Congress.
open access

Federal Water Pollution Control Act

Description: The Clean Water Act (CWA) 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 1977. Under the CWA, EPA has implemented pollution control programs such as setting… more
Date: November 27, 2002
Creator: United States. Congress. House.
open access

Policy Statements on Data Management for Global Change Research

Description: This document is the final version of the "Data Management for Global Change Research Policy Statements." The overall purpose of these policy statements is to facilitate full open access to quality data for global change research. They were prepared in consonance with the goal of the U.S. Global Change Research Program and represent the U.S. Government's position on the access to global change research data.
Date: July 2, 1991
Creator: Bromley, Allan
open access

Signals of Human-induced Climate Warning, USGCRP Seminar, 10 October 1995.

Description: There is increasing evidence that the global climate is changing: global temperatures have risen about 1 F over the past century, mountain glaciers are melting back, sea level is rising. But how is the climate of the United States changing? Are these changes like others being experienced around the world? Is the US climate becoming more or less variable? Are we having more or fewer climatic extremes? This USGCRP seminar addresses these questions in the context of the anthropogenic influences on… more
Date: October 10, 1995
Creator: Karl, Thomas
open access

Carbon Monoxide from California Fires

Description: Large fires can be blamed for some polluted air. In addition to ash and smoke, fires release carbon monoxide into the atmosphere as they burn. This false-color image shows the atmospheric column of carbon monoxide, with yellow and red indicating high levels of pollution. (The gray areas show where no data were taken, likely due to cloud cover.) The data were taken by the Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite for the period October 26-31, … more
Date: November 4, 2003
Creator: NASA Earth Observatory
open access

Dust from Africa Leads to Large Toxic Algae Blooms in Gulf of Mexico, Study Finds. [Press release].

Description: This press release summarizes the findings of a new study. Saharan dust clouds travel thousands of miles and fertilize the water off the West Florida coast with iron, which kicks off blooms of toxic algae. The research was partially funded by a NASA grant as part of ECOHAB: Florida (Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms), a multi-disciplinary research project designed to study harmful algae.
Date: August 28, 2001
Creator: NASA News
open access

Energy Policy Act

Description: The Energy Policy Act (EPA) addresses energy production in the United States, including: (1) energy efficiency; (2) renewable energy; (3) oil and gas; (4) coal; (5) Tribal energy; (6) nuclear matters and security; (7) vehicles and motor fuels, including ethanol; (8) hydrogen; (9) electricity; (10) energy tax incentives; (11) hydropower and geothermal energy; and (12) climate change technology. For example, the Act provides loan guarantees for entities that develop or use innovative technologies… more
Date: January 4, 2005
Creator: United States. Congress.
open access

Endangered Species Act of 1973

Description: The Endangered Species Act (ESA) provides a program for the conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animals and the habitats in which they are found. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) of the Department of the Interior maintains a worldwide list which, as of Feb. 20, 2008, included 1574 endangered species (599 are plants) and 351 threatened species (148 are plants). Species include birds, insects, fish, reptiles, mammals, crustaceans, flowers, grasses, and trees. Anyone can … more
Date: January 24, 2002
Creator: United States. Congress. House.
open access

Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972

Description: The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA), also referred to as the Ocean Dumping Act, generally prohibits transportation of material from the United States for the purpose of ocean dumping; transportation of material from anywhere for the purpose of ocean dumping by U.S. agencies or U.S.-flagged vessels; dumping of material transported from outside the United States into the U.S. territorial sea. A permit is required to deviate from these prohibitions. Under MPRSA, the stan… more
Date: unknown
Creator: United States. Congress.
open access

Present And Near-Term Potential In Applying Weather Information To Improve The Highway System: Position Papers

Description: This document contains positions papers of a policy forum for weather and highways developed by the Atmospheric Policy Program American Meteorological Society in coordination with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) with additional support from the National Science Foundation (NSF). In this document (Panel 1), panelists describe proposals to improve the U.S. Highway System with weather information.
Date: November 4, 2004
Creator: Atmospheric Policy Program American Meteorological Society
open access

Public (Federal, State, Local) And Industrial Development Of Strategies And Plans To Effectively Respond To Weather Information: Position Papers

Description: This document contains positions papers of a policy forum for weather and highways developed by the Atmospheric Policy Program American Meteorological Society in coordination with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) with additional support from the National Science Foundation (NSF). In this document (Panel 2), panelists discuss strategies to respond to weather and climate information. There are many opportunities to improve the highway system through an inclusive approach, taking into acc… more
Date: November 4, 2003
Creator: Atmospheric Policy Program American Meteorological Society
open access

Policy Issues In Implementing Effective Application Of Weather Services To The Management Of The Nation's Highway System: Position Papers

Description: This document contains positions papers of a policy forum for weather and highways developed by the Atmospheric Policy Program American Meteorological Society in coordination with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) with additional support from the National Science Foundation (NSF). In this document (Panel 3), panelists discuss policy issues affecting the use of weather information in managing the U.S. Highway System.
Date: November 4, 2003
Creator: Atmospheric Policy Program American Meteorological Society
open access

The U.S. Climate Change Science Program Vision for the Program and Highlights of the Scientific Strategic Plan

Description: The vision document provides an overview of the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) long-term strategic plan to enhance scientific understanding of global climate change.This document is a companion to the comprehensive Strategic Plan for the Climate Change Science Program.
Date: July 2003
Creator: Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research
open access

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980

Description: The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act -- otherwise known as CERCLA or Superfund -- 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 CERCLA, EPA was given power to seek out those parties responsible for any release and assure their cooperation in the cleanup.
Date: December 31, 2002
Creator: United States. Congress.
open access

The Clean Air Act

Description: The United States Clean Air Act is legislation authorizing the Environmental Protection Agency to control air pollutiants on a national level.
Date: February 24, 2004
Creator: United States. Congress. Senate.
open access

Our Changing Planet: The FY 2002 U.S. Global Change Research Program

Description: This document, which is produced annually, describes the activities and plans of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), which was established in 1989 and authorized by Congress in the Global Change Research Act of 1990. Strong bipartisan support for this inter-agency program has resulted in more than a decade's worth of scientific accomplishment. "Because there is considerable uncertainty in current understanding of how the climate system varies naturally and reacts to emissions of g… more
Date: September 2001
Creator: Subcommittee on Global Change Research, Committee on Environment and Natural Resources of the National Science and Technology Council
open access

Pollution Prevention Act of 1990

Description: 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. Source reduction is fundamentally different and more desirable than waste management or pollution control. Pollution prevent… more
Date: 1990
Creator: United States. Congress.
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