Environmental Laws and Regulations
Below is a list of common United States federal environmental statutes:
- Antiquities Act - restricts the use of particular public land owned by the federal government
- Atomic Energy Act of 1946 - determined how the United States federal government would control and manage the nuclear technology
- Atomic Energy Act of 1954 - It covers the laws for the development, regulation, and disposal of nuclear materials and facilities in the United States
- Clean Air Act - one of a number of pieces of legislation relating to the reduction of airborne contaminants, smog and air pollution in general
- Clean Water Act - primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution
- Coastal Zone Management Act - established as national policy to preserve, protect, develop, and restore the resources of the Nation's coastal zone
- CERCLA (Superfund) - designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances
- Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act - emergency response preparedness
- Endangered Species Act - designed to protect critically imperiled species
- Energy Policy Act of 1992 - addressed energy efficiency, energy conservation and energy management
- Energy Policy Act of 2005 - described by proponents as an attempt to combat growing energy problems, changed US energy policy by providing tax incentives and loan guarantees for energy production of various types.
- Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act - gives authority to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee the safety of food, drugs, and cosmetics
- Federal Land Policy and Management Act - governs the way in which the public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management are managed
- Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act - basic U.S. system of pesticide regulation to protect applicators, consumers and the environment
- Federal Power Act - effectively coordinate the development of hydroelectric projects in the United States
- Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act - protect fish and wildlife when federal actions result in the control or modification of a natural stream or body of water
- Food Quality Protection Act - standardized the way the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would manage the use of pesticides and amended the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act
- Fisheries Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens) - primary law governing marine fisheries management
- Lacey Act - Protecting both plants and wildlife by creating civil and criminal penalties for a wide array of violations, the Act most notably prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, transported or sold
- Marine Mammal Protection Act - to call specifically for an ecosystem approach to natural resource management and conservation
- Migratory Bird Treaty Act - in order implement the convention for the protection of migratory birds between the United States and Great Britain
- Mineral Leasing Act - authorizes and governs leasing of public lands for developing deposits of coal, petroleum, natural gas and other hydrocarbons, in addition to phosphates, sodium, sulphur, and potassium
- National Environmental Policy Act - established a U.S. national policy promoting the enhancement of the environment and also established the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
- National Forest Management Act - management of renewable resources on national forest lands
- National Historic Preservation Act - legislation intended to preserve historical and archaeological sites in the United States of America
- National Park Service Organic Act
- Nuclear Waste Policy Act - during the first 40 years that nuclear waste was being created in the United States, no legislation was enacted to manage its disposal
- Ocean Dumping Act - authorized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate ocean dumping of industrial waste, sewage sludge, biological agents, NBC, radioactive waste and other wastes into the territorial waters of the United States through a permit program
- Oil Pollution Act - mitigate and prevent civil liability for future oil spills off the coast
- Resource Conservation and Recovery Act - enacted in 1976, is the principal Federal law in the United States governing the disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste
- Rivers and Harbors Act - The Act makes it a misdemeanor to discharge refuse matter of any kind into the navigable waters, or tributaries thereof, of the United States without a permit
- Safe Drinking Water Act - principal federal law in the United States intended to ensure safe drinking water for the public
- Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act - primary federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining
- Toxic Substances Control Act - regulates the introduction of new or already existing chemicals
- Wild and Scenic Rivers Act - designation for certain protected areas
Information above derived from Environmental Statutes.