Question 1

One way to reduce materials intensity in the production of goods is

Accepted Answer

All the options listed contribute to reducing materials intensity: shifting to services reduces reliance on physical goods, reducing packaging cuts down on material use, and online billing decreases paper consumption.

Question 2

The US Constitutional does not allow for

Accepted Answer

According to the Supremacy Clause in the US Constitution, federal law takes precedence over state law in cases where there is a conflict. This means that state environmental policy cannot preempt federal environmental policy.

Question 3

Federal water-pollution law, incorporating technology based effluent standards, works through

Accepted Answer

Federal water-pollution law, incorporating technology-based effluent standards, works through a permitting system where industries must obtain permits specifying the amount and type of pollutants they can legally discharge into waterways.

Question 4

In the most recent past, most of the urban municipal solid waste in the U.S. was disposed ___________.

Accepted Answer

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2018, 52.1% of the municipal solid waste generated in the U.S. was disposed in landfills, while 25.8% was recycled and 12.8% was incinerated. The remaining 9.3% was composted or managed in other ways.

Question 5

Many states have enacted their own Superfund laws to supplement the federal actions included in the

Accepted Answer

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, is the federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances. States enacting their own Superfund laws do so to supplement the federal efforts under CERCLA.

Question 6

Voluntary recycling programs began in the______ and the first one was in _________.

Accepted Answer

Voluntary recycling programs began in the 1970s, with the first one being established in Oregon. This was part of a broader environmental movement during that time, which sought to address issues of pollution and waste.

Question 7

California has been a lead state in the area of policy innovation, exemplified by

Accepted Answer

Tradable emissions permits to control airborne emissions is an example of policy innovation that was first implemented in California. This policy approach has since been adopted around the world as a tool to reduce pollution and meet environmental conservation goals. While the other options listed are important policy initiatives, they were not first introduced in California.

Question 8

In order to achieve socially efficient levels of recycling in firms, the goal would be to equate _____________ across industries and materials.

Accepted Answer

When marginal recycling costs are equated across industries and materials, firms will be incentivized to recycle the materials that are most cost-effective to recycle, ultimately leading to socially efficient levels of recycling. This is because firms will not be over-recycling materials that are too expensive to recycle, nor under-recycling materials that are less costly to recycle. Equating marginal tax rates or marginal emissions would not directly incentivize firms to recycle, and equating the marginal cost of virgin materials may not take into account the environmental benefits of recycling.

Question 9

Over the past last 50 years, the amount of MSW that is recycled has

Accepted Answer

Over the last 50 years, recycling has become more popularized and accessible to the general public. There have been more efforts to increase recycling and reduce waste through policies and initiatives. Therefore, the amount of MSW recycled has increased dramatically over the past 50 years.

Question 10

Because states compete to attract businesses, some believe that there will be a 'race to the bottom' resulting in lax state policies regarding environmental regulation. Most empirical evidence to date suggests that

Accepted Answer

Most empirical evidence suggests that the "race to the bottom" has not taken place, meaning that states have not significantly weakened their environmental regulations in order to attract businesses. While some state policies may be more lax than federal policies, there is no overall trend toward weaker policies. Additionally, states do produce their own environmental policies and businesses do take these policies into consideration when deciding where to locate.

Question 11

The ability of a municipality to send solid waste to a landfill is affected by

Accepted Answer

The ability of a municipality to send solid waste to a landfill is primarily affected by the scarcity of sites willing to accept these wastes. Many landfills are reaching capacity, and regulations and public opposition make it difficult to open new ones. This can result in higher transport costs and longer distances to send waste, which can lead to higher disposal costs for the municipality and potentially decreased recycling efforts. Weather, taxation, and recycling programs may also have an impact, but not to the same extent as the availability of landfill sites.

Question 12

Regulations to control mercury emissions from power plants have been in contention for well over a decade at the _______ level

Accepted Answer

Regulations to control emissions from power plants fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government in the US.

Question 13

Which of the following affect a firm's incentive and ability to replace virgin material in the production with recycled materials?

Accepted Answer

All of the factors listed affect a firm's incentive and ability to replace virgin material in production with recycled materials. Technology for sorting and reprocessing recycled materials can affect the cost and quality of recycled materials, while transportation costs can affect the viability of using recycled materials from distant sources.

Question 14

'Takings' problems refer to the use of eminent domain which allows the US government to take property from private citizens for a public purpose while providing just compensation. In contrast, a regulatory taking does not involve a physical taking of the property but may

Accepted Answer

A regulatory taking involves government regulations that restrict the use of a property, which can result in a decrease in property value. The government is not physically taking the property, but the regulation is still considered a type of taking. The other options listed (B, C, and D) do not accurately describe the concept of regulatory takings.

Question 15

The largest impairment to water quality is now nonpoint source pollution and ________ programs are paramount for controlling these emissions.

Accepted Answer

While all levels of government can have regulations in place to control nonpoint source pollution, it is typically the state government that has the primary responsibility for implementing and enforcing these regulations. This is because nonpoint source pollution can come from a variety of sources, including agriculture, forestry, urban runoff, and construction, all of which are regulated by different state agencies. Therefore, state-level programs are often best suited to address these diverse sources of pollution.

Question 16

The materials balance equation can be written in all of the following forms except

Accepted Answer

The materials balance equation is generally used to calculate the total material (TM), valuable material (VM), and reject material (RM) in a process. The correct forms of the equation are B) VM = TM - RM, C) VM = TM (1 - r), and D) TM = VM + RM, which all correctly relate these quantities. Option A) TM = VM - RM is incorrect because it does not correctly represent the relationship between total material, valuable material, and reject material.

Question 17

The use of virgin materials can be reduced by

Accepted Answer

Increasing the rate of reuse is the best option to reduce the use of virgin materials. This allows the same materials to be used multiple times before they need to be discarded and replaced with new virgin materials. Increasing the overall rate of materials use or decreasing the overall rate of recycled materials use may not be viable options or may not have as significant an impact on reducing the use of virgin materials.

Question 18

________ content standards require that all materials-using products manufactured or sold contain some specified percentage of ________.

Accepted Answer

The question is asking about content standards that require a specified percentage of recycled material in products. Therefore, the correct answer would be B, which states that there is a minimum percentage of recycled material required. Option A and C are incorrect because they refer to maximum percentages, and option D is incorrect because it suggests a minimum percentage of virgin material, which goes against the idea of using recycled materials.

Question 19

The European Commission adopted a mandatory directive for electronic and electrical equipment requiring producers to assume responsibility for their e-waste throughout the lifecycle of the product. This is an example of a

Accepted Answer

The directive mentioned in the question is for electronic and electrical equipment requiring producers to take back their e-waste, which is an example of a producer take-back program.

Question 20

Environmental federalism refers to

Accepted Answer

The answer of Environmental federalism refers to
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Quiz 17: State and Local Environmental Issues