Student

18
Student: ___________________________________________________________________________
1. Because the burden of proof is on ________, CEPA regulations tend to be ________ in nature.
A. firms to prove a substance is not toxic; proactive
B. firms to prove a substance is not toxic; reactive
C. the government to prove a substance is toxic; proactive
D. the government to prove a substance is toxic; reactive
2. In Canada, the key federal legislation dealing with toxic substances is the ________.
A. Clean Air Act
B. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
C. Canadian Environmental Protection Act of 1999
D. Fisheries Act of 1868
3. Because dioxans and furans ________ the impact of banning these substances on environmental quality is
________.
A. biodegrade; uncertain
B. biodegrade; a success story
C. bioaccumulate; uncertain
D. bioaccumulate; a success story
4. Trying to reduce the amounts of hazardous material that are in need of disposal by either recycling
residuals back into the production process, or by shifting technologies and operations so that the amount
of residuals generated by firms is reduced is known as ________.
A. waste reduction
B. recycling
C. chemical treatment
D. CERCLA
5. Revenues from B.C.'s hazardous waste permit fee system are placed in ________ which is used to
address environmental problems and develop ________.
A. general revenues; a Superfund for the cleanup of orphan sites
B. general revenues; environmental protection projects
C. the Sustainable Environment Fund; environmental protection projects
D. the Sustainable Environment Fund; a Superfund for the cleanup of orphan sites
6. CERCLA stands for ________.
A. Canadian Environmental Resources, Compensation, and Liability Act
B. Canadian Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
C. Comprehensive Environmental Resources, Compensation, and Liability Act
D. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
7. The ________ facilitates coordination among all of the involved governments, the public, and industry to
accomplish ________ for 43 contaminated sites around the Great Lakes that require decontamination and
ongoing efforts to reduce further discharges.
A. CERCLA; site remediation
B. International Joint Commission; Remedial Action Plans
C. CEPA; orphan site cleanup
D. Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan; site-specific remediation plans
8. The National Pollution Release Inventory uses moral suasion to try to get polluters to voluntarily reduce
emissions of potentially harmful substances.
True False
9. Historically, the federal government has taken an antagonistic approach towards dealing with firms in the
pulp and paper industry when developing environmental regulations.
True False
10. A lesson learned from the case of dioxans and furans is that because toxics decompose or dissipate very
slowly, government policy should include ways of both intercepting toxics before they enter the waste
stream and cleaning up existing toxic sites.
True False
11. Marginal abatement cost curves tend to fall over time if polluters are regulated by a technology-based
standard.
True False
12. Levying a tax on the inputs used to manufacture chemicals could be a cost-effective approach to reducing
emissions of hazardous wastes since the inputs are fewer in number and easier to measure than the
various chemicals themselves.
True False
13. Prior to 1992, the fees charged to firms under the B.C. hazardous waste permit fee system were low and
unconnected to actual discharges so they provided firms with the incentive to reduce wastes.
True False
14. The Canadian Environmental Protection Act authorizes the federal government to collect data and
research into potentially toxic compounds released into the environment as well as giving it the right to
ban discharges of substances that pose a significant danger to human health or the environment. List the
key features of CEPA concerning toxic substances.
15. Provide a brief critical assessment of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
16. List four potential policies that could be adopted to provide firms with the incentive to reduce their
production of hazardous wastes.
17. List two problems with making hazardous waste disposal more difficult and costly as an option for
reducing hazardous waste.
18. List two problems with using incentive-based policies to deal with hazardous wastes in Canada.
19. Discuss one problem with the current structure of the B.C. waste permit fee system that could lead to
unintended increases in environmental damages and suggest a possible solution.
20. Briefly describe the two-part fee structure of the B.C. waste permit fee system for hazardous waste.
21. What is CERCLA and what are the main features of this program?
22. No federal legislation specifically covers toxic waste sites. Instead, the federal approach is based on
policy outlined by the Treasury Board, rather than in legislation. List the four principles established by
the Treasury Board for dealing with this issue.
A. Clean Air Act
25. Because dioxans and furans ________ the impact of banning these substances on environmental quality is
________.
residuals back into the production process, or by shifting technologies and operations so that the amount
of residuals generated by firms is reduced is known as ________.
A. waste reduction
B. recycling
D. CERCLA
29. The ________ facilitates coordination among all of the involved governments, the public, and industry to
accomplish ________ for 43 contaminated sites around the Great Lakes that require decontamination and
ongoing efforts to reduce further discharges.
30. The National Pollution Release Inventory uses moral suasion to try to get polluters to voluntarily reduce
emissions of potentially harmful substances.
True False
31. Historically, the federal government has taken an antagonistic approach towards dealing with firms in the
pulp and paper industry when developing environmental regulations.
True False
32. A lesson learned from the case of dioxans and furans is that because toxics decompose or dissipate very
slowly, government policy should include ways of both intercepting toxics before they enter the waste
stream and cleaning up existing toxic sites.
True False
standard.
True False
34. Levying a tax on the inputs used to manufacture chemicals could be a cost-effective approach to reducing
emissions of hazardous wastes since the inputs are fewer in number and easier to measure than the
various chemicals themselves.
True False
35. Prior to 1992, the fees charged to firms under the B.C. hazardous waste permit fee system were low and
unconnected to actual discharges so they provided firms with the incentive to reduce wastes.
True False
research into potentially toxic compounds released into the environment as well as giving it the right to
ban discharges of substances that pose a significant danger to human health or the environment. List the
key features of CEPA concerning toxic substances.
42. Briefly describe the two-part fee structure of the B.C. waste permit fee system for hazardous waste.
18 Key
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Difficulty: Easy
Field - Chapter 18 #1
Learning Objective: 18-01 Describe the role of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act in regulating and reducing the emissions intensity of toxic
compounds.
A. Clean Air Act
Difficulty: Easy
compounds.
3. Because dioxans and furans ________ the impact of banning these substances on environmental
quality is ________.
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 18-02 Explain the lessons learned about the cost effectiveness of regulating dioxins and furans in Canadas pulp and paper industry.
residuals back into the production process, or by shifting technologies and operations so that the
amount of residuals generated by firms is reduced is known as ________.
A. waste reduction
B. recycling
D. CERCLA
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 18-03 Describe the potential for cost effective policies to mitigate hazardous waste.
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 18-04 Explain how B.C.s waste permit fee system works.
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: 18-05 Assess Canadas policy framework to address clean up of toxic waste sites.
7. The ________ facilitates coordination among all of the involved governments, the public, and
industry to accomplish ________ for 43 contaminated sites around the Great Lakes that require
decontamination and ongoing efforts to reduce further discharges.
Difficulty: Easy
8. The National Pollution Release Inventory uses moral suasion to try to get polluters to voluntarily
reduce emissions of potentially harmful substances.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
compounds.
9. Historically, the federal government has taken an antagonistic approach towards dealing with firms in
the pulp and paper industry when developing environmental regulations.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
10. A lesson learned from the case of dioxans and furans is that because toxics decompose or dissipate
very slowly, government policy should include ways of both intercepting toxics before they enter the
waste stream and cleaning up existing toxic sites.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
standard.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
12. Levying a tax on the inputs used to manufacture chemicals could be a cost-effective approach to
reducing emissions of hazardous wastes since the inputs are fewer in number and easier to measure
than the various chemicals themselves.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
13. Prior to 1992, the fees charged to firms under the B.C. hazardous waste permit fee system were low
and unconnected to actual discharges so they provided firms with the incentive to reduce wastes.
FALSE
Because the fees were unconnected to actual discharges, they provided no incentive to firms to reduce
emissions.

Difficulty: Easy
research into potentially toxic compounds released into the environment as well as giving it the right
to ban discharges of substances that pose a significant danger to human health or the environment. List
the key features of CEPA concerning toxic substances.
The key features of CEPA include: 1) establishing a definition of what is toxic; 2) the domestic
substances list (DSL) which includes all substances used in Canada whether toxic or not; 3) the
priority substances list (PSL) which are suspected toxic chemicals that need further assessment and
regulation; 4) enforcement activities including monitoring and enforcing regulations; and 5) the
National Pollution Release Inventory (NPRI) which requires all facilities releasing or transferring a
pollutant on the NPRI list (of 268 substances) to report this information so it can be made public.
Difficulty: Moderate
compounds.
The strengths and weaknesses of CEPA are summarized in the following points.
a. CEPA's federal authority will minimize duplication and overlap, provide for public access to data,
and ensure that polluters will face the same level of regulation across the country.
b. The burden of proof is on the government to prove something is toxic rather than on polluting
companies to prove it is not dangerous so government policy tends to be reactive rather than proactive.
c. There has been slow progress to date regulating toxics due to the daunting task of testing so many
compounds.
d. The use of command-and-control style policies is not effective at providing firms with an incentive
to reduce emissions of substances that are not so harmful that they need to be banned, but are still
hazardous.
e. Although the NPRI is touted as a way to get firms to voluntarily cut back on their emissions, studies
indicate that command-and-control regulation appears to provide a greater stimulus to reductions in
toxic emissions than fear of public disclosure.
compounds.
Four potential policies that could be adopted to provide firms with the incentive to reduce their
production of hazardous wastes include: 1) making hazardous waste disposal more difficult and
costly; 2) use of liability and compensation laws; 3) incentive-based policies like emission taxes; and
4) use of moral suasion by making NPRI data public.
The thinking behind this approach is that if waste disposal is made more difficult and costly, firms
will be motivated to search for better ways of reducing the quantities of waste requiring disposal. A
major flaw with this approach is that the vast majority of hazardous waste is not subject to disposal
regulations because it never leaves the premises of the firms where it is generated. A second problem
is that this policy may lead to firms illegally disposing of hazardous wastes.
Two problems that arise with using an incentive-based policy such as a tax to regulate hazardous
wastes are: 1) Because the NPRI data are self-reported by each source of emissions there is an
incentive for firms to underreport emissions; and 2) the costs of monitoring are expensive, but if
monitoring occurs, emission taxes increase the incentive for firms to illegally dump toxic wastes.
One problem with the fee structure is that permits are based on the volume of discharges, not loadings
(concentration, time, volume) to the environment. Under a volume-based system, dischargers have an
incentive to increase the concentration of the waste material per unit of volume discharged. This is a
problem since higher concentrations of wastes generally lead to more environmental problems. One
possible solution would be to base permits on loadings. In this case, monitoring of discharges would
become essential to ensure compliance which could raise the costs of the program substantially.
20. Briefly describe the two-part fee structure of the B.C. waste permit fee system for hazardous
waste.
The first part of the fee is a flat rate annual fee that is a licensing charge of $100 per medium for
authorized discharges into air, water, for refuse, and storage. The second part of the fee is a variable
fee based on authorized discharges times a unit fee per tonne discharged. These fees are set for each
waste product and are based on the government's assessment of the risks of the contaminant to the
environment, as well as the administrative costs of the program.
CERCLA stands for Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. It
is a U.S. policy measure to deal with the issue of toxic waste sites. The main features of CERCLA
include: 1) a financial fund known as the Superfund that is used to carry out site investigations and
cleanups of orphan sites; 2) a method for selecting sites for cleanup and deciding who would pay; 3)
authority for the EPA to clean up sites or identify private parties to do so; and 4) a liability provision
for cleanup costs and environmental damages arising from spilled or released toxic materials.
The four guiding principles include: 1) known and suspected sites should be assessed and have
the most appropriate and cost-effective cleanup methods applied; 2) the costs of contamination
management should be recovered where possible from responsible parties; 3) priority for cleanup
should be given to sites which pose the highest ecological and human health risks; and 4) management
and remediation efforts should be guided by standards endorsed by the CCME.
Difficulty: Easy
compounds.
A. Clean Air Act
Difficulty: Easy
compounds.
25. Because dioxans and furans ________ the impact of banning these substances on environmental
quality is ________.
Difficulty: Easy
residuals back into the production process, or by shifting technologies and operations so that the
amount of residuals generated by firms is reduced is known as ________.
A. waste reduction
B. recycling
D. CERCLA
Difficulty: Easy
Difficulty: Easy
Difficulty: Easy
29. The ________ facilitates coordination among all of the involved governments, the public, and
industry to accomplish ________ for 43 contaminated sites around the Great Lakes that require
decontamination and ongoing efforts to reduce further discharges.
Difficulty: Easy
30. The National Pollution Release Inventory uses moral suasion to try to get polluters to voluntarily
reduce emissions of potentially harmful substances.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
compounds.
31. Historically, the federal government has taken an antagonistic approach towards dealing with firms in
the pulp and paper industry when developing environmental regulations.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
32. A lesson learned from the case of dioxans and furans is that because toxics decompose or dissipate
very slowly, government policy should include ways of both intercepting toxics before they enter the
waste stream and cleaning up existing toxic sites.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
standard.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
34. Levying a tax on the inputs used to manufacture chemicals could be a cost-effective approach to
reducing emissions of hazardous wastes since the inputs are fewer in number and easier to measure
than the various chemicals themselves.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
35. Prior to 1992, the fees charged to firms under the B.C. hazardous waste permit fee system were low
and unconnected to actual discharges so they provided firms with the incentive to reduce wastes.
FALSE
Because the fees were unconnected to actual discharges, they provided no incentive to firms to reduce
emissions.

Difficulty: Easy
research into potentially toxic compounds released into the environment as well as giving it the right
to ban discharges of substances that pose a significant danger to human health or the environment. List
the key features of CEPA concerning toxic substances.
The key features of CEPA include: 1) establishing a definition of what is toxic; 2) the domestic
substances list (DSL) which includes all substances used in Canada whether toxic or not; 3) the
priority substances list (PSL) which are suspected toxic chemicals that need further assessment and
regulation; 4) enforcement activities including monitoring and enforcing regulations; and 5) the
National Pollution Release Inventory (NPRI) which requires all facilities releasing or transferring a
pollutant on the NPRI list (of 268 substances) to report this information so it can be made public.
compounds.
The strengths and weaknesses of CEPA are summarized in the following points.
a. CEPA's federal authority will minimize duplication and overlap, provide for public access to data,
and ensure that polluters will face the same level of regulation across the country.
b. The burden of proof is on the government to prove something is toxic rather than on polluting
companies to prove it is not dangerous so government policy tends to be reactive rather than proactive.
c. There has been slow progress to date regulating toxics due to the daunting task of testing so many
compounds.
d. The use of command-and-control style policies is not effective at providing firms with an incentive
to reduce emissions of substances that are not so harmful that they need to be banned, but are still
hazardous.
e. Although the NPRI is touted as a way to get firms to voluntarily cut back on their emissions, studies
indicate that command-and-control regulation appears to provide a greater stimulus to reductions in
toxic emissions than fear of public disclosure.
compounds.
Four potential policies that could be adopted to provide firms with the incentive to reduce their
production of hazardous wastes include: 1) making hazardous waste disposal more difficult and
costly; 2) use of liability and compensation laws; 3) incentive-based policies like emission taxes; and
4) use of moral suasion by making NPRI data public.
The thinking behind this approach is that if waste disposal is made more difficult and costly, firms
will be motivated to search for better ways of reducing the quantities of waste requiring disposal. A
major flaw with this approach is that the vast majority of hazardous waste is not subject to disposal
regulations because it never leaves the premises of the firms where it is generated. A second problem
is that this policy may lead to firms illegally disposing of hazardous wastes.
Two problems that arise with using an incentive-based policy such as a tax to regulate hazardous
wastes are: 1) Because the NPRI data are self-reported by each source of emissions there is an
incentive for firms to underreport emissions; and 2) the costs of monitoring are expensive, but if
monitoring occurs, emission taxes increase the incentive for firms to illegally dump toxic wastes.
One problem with the fee structure is that permits are based on the volume of discharges, not loadings
(concentration, time, volume) to the environment. Under a volume-based system, dischargers have an
incentive to increase the concentration of the waste material per unit of volume discharged. This is a
problem since higher concentrations of wastes generally lead to more environmental problems. One
possible solution would be to base permits on loadings. In this case, monitoring of discharges would
become essential to ensure compliance which could raise the costs of the program substantially.
42. Briefly describe the two-part fee structure of the B.C. waste permit fee system for hazardous
waste.
The first part of the fee is a flat rate annual fee that is a licensing charge of $100 per medium for
authorized discharges into air, water, for refuse, and storage. The second part of the fee is a variable
fee based on authorized discharges times a unit fee per tonne discharged. These fees are set for each
waste product and are based on the government's assessment of the risks of the contaminant to the
environment, as well as the administrative costs of the program.
CERCLA stands for Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. It
is a U.S. policy measure to deal with the issue of toxic waste sites. The main features of CERCLA
include: 1) a financial fund known as the Superfund that is used to carry out site investigations and
cleanups of orphan sites; 2) a method for selecting sites for cleanup and deciding who would pay; 3)
authority for the EPA to clean up sites or identify private parties to do so; and 4) a liability provision
for cleanup costs and environmental damages arising from spilled or released toxic materials.
The four guiding principles include: 1) known and suspected sites should be assessed and have
the most appropriate and cost-effective cleanup methods applied; 2) the costs of contamination
management should be recovered where possible from responsible parties; 3) priority for cleanup
should be given to sites which pose the highest ecological and human health risks; and 4) management
and remediation efforts should be guided by standards endorsed by the CCME.
18 Summary
Category # of Questions
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation 26
Difficulty: Easy 26
Difficulty: Moderate 18
Field - Chapter 18 44
Learning Objective: 18- 10
01 Describe the role of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act in regulating and reducing the emissions intensity of toxic com
pounds.
02 Explain the lessons learned about the cost effectiveness of regulating dioxins and furans in Canadas pulp and paper industry.
02 Explain the lessons learned about the cost effectiveness of regulating dioxins and furans in Canadas pulp and paper industry.
Learning Objective: 18-03 Describe the potential for cost effective policies to mitigate hazardous waste. 10
Learning Objective: 18-04 Explain how B.C.s waste permit fee system works. 4
Learning Objective: 18-04 Explain how B.C.s waste permit fee system works. 4
Learning Objective: 18-05 Assess Canadas policy framework to address clean up of toxic waste sites. 4
Learning Objective: 18-05 Assess Canadas policy framework to address clean up of toxic waste sites. 4

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18

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