What is the basis of environmental policy in the USA and which agencies/bodies administer and enforce environmental law?
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 requires federal agencies to evaluate environmental impacts in their significant actions. Agencies are generally encouraged to assure their actions enhance environmental quality and minimise adverse environmental impacts. NEPA sets no specific rules or regulatory requirements, but parties have often forced significant changes to federal agencies’ projects (in fact, even stopped them) through NEPA challenges in federal courts. Environmental policy with specific mandates is embodied in a series of statutes enacted in the decade following NEPA. The most pervasive pollution control laws are the Clean Air Act (CAA) 42 U.S.C. §§7401 et seq.; the Clean Water Act (CWA) 33 U.S.C. §§1251 et seq.; and the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) 42 U.S.C. §§6901 et seq. The “Superfund” law provides the authority for contaminated site clean-ups. 42 U.S.C. §§9601 et seq. Most significant environmental statutes are administered by the Environme
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