50ENVIRONMENTAL Chapter LAW AND LAND USE CONTROLS
TRUE/FALSE
1. Beginning in 1969, Congress adopted a series of laws designed to prevent the pollution of the air and
water and to reduce noise.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
2. Many federal statutes concerned with the environment authorize the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to adopt standards and regulations to carry out the provisions of the statutes.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
3. "Superfund" is another name for a hazardous waste fund.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
4. Effluent guidelines are ranges for allowable discharges into water and are grouped according to indus tries.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
5. Solid waste disposal regulations today deal almost entirely with recycling.
ANS: F
MSC: AACSB Analytic
6. Funds from the Superfund are used to pay the cost of eliminating or containing condemned waste sites.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
7. The federal government is not subject to any type of environmental quality regulation
ANS: F
MSC: AACSB Analytic
8. The Noise Control Act sets the standards for lawn mowers, automobiles, and other devices often found
in suburban neighborhoods.
ANS: F
MSC: AACSB Analytic
9. Both the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the Interior are given responsibilities under the
Endangered Species Act.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
10. Only government agencies can sue for violations of an environmental protection control.
ANS: F
MSC: AACSB Analytic
11. Administrative agencies do not control the area of environmental protection because such agencies ap parently are unable to deal with the complicated technical issues typically involved in such actions.
ANS: F
MSC: AACSB Analytic
12. Knowingly doing an act that is prohibited by an environmental protection statute is generally a crime.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
13. The EPA is the primary federal agency responsible for the enforcement of environmental laws.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
14. The EPA lacks the authority to have polluting activities halted through the use of injunctions.
ANS: F
MSC: AACSB Analytic
15. Private citizens have the right to sue for injunctions against companies that are in violation of federal
environmental quality statutes.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
16. The persons affected by a nuisance may obtain an injunction to stop the nuisance.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
17. Conduct that unreasonably interferes with the enjoyment of land is a nuisance.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
18. Nuisances may be classified as either private nuisances or public nuisances.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
19. A building that regularly conducts illegal gambling is an example of a criminal nuisance.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
20. The raising of pigs may be considered a nuisance solely based on the fact that residential neighbors
object..
ANS: F
MSC: AACSB Analytic
21. Computers and related wire transmissions may be subject to nuisance abatement actions if their elec trical currents cause an unreasonable level of interference with adjacent landowners' use of their prop erty.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
22. Due diligence is defined as to the process by which the buyer of property conducts a thorough invest igation of the property and its uses to determine whether environmental or nuisance problems exist.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
23. Due diligence usually consists of searching public records and inspecting land.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
24. If a restrictive covenant is valid, it binds only the original grantee in the deed that created the covenant.
ANS: F
MSC: AACSB Analytic
25. Community planning by private contract is based on restrictive covenants contained in the deeds by
which purchasers acquire their land within the community.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
26. The object of zoning is to ensure an orderly physical development of the geographic area that is regu lated.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
27. Public zoning and restrictive covenants in deeds have a similar purpose, but each has a different source
of authority.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
28. The zoning power permits any regulation that is conducive to advancing public health, welfare, and
safety.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
29. A right to a nonconforming use of land cannot be lost through abandonment.
ANS: F
MSC: AACSB Analytic
30. A variance that results in too much inequality may be condemned by the courts as spot zoning.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
31. A zoning variance will not be granted on the basis of a hardship created by the landowner.
ANS: T
MSC: AACSB Analytic
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which federal agency is most often authorized to adopt standards and regulations to carry out the pro visions of environmental statutes?
a. FTC
b. ICC
c. EPA
d. SEC
ANS: C
MSC: AACSB Analytic
2. "Superfund" is a creation of which of the following?
a. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
b. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
c. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
d. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
ANS: A
MSC: AACSB Analytic
3. What is a principal purpose of the Superfund?
a. to establish environment-friendly zoning plans
b. to establish appropriate eminent-domain compensation
c. to pay the cost of eliminating or containing condemned waste sites
d. to pay the cost of funding environmental impact statements for public projects
ANS: C
MSC: AACSB Analytic
4. What federal act regulates the federal government in terms of its operations and impact on the environ ment?
a. the Environmental Protection Act
b. the National Environmental Policy Act
c. the Clean Water Act
d. the Resource Recovery Act
ANS: B
MSC: AACSB Analytic
5. The Endangered Species Act gives which of the following cabinet-level officers the authority to pro tect various species?
a. the Secretary of the Interior only
b. the Secretary of Commerce only
c. both the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce
d. none of the above
ANS: C
MSC: AACSB Analytic
6. Which federal agency has primary responsibility for enforcing environmental laws?:
a. the Environmental Protection Agency
b. the Council of Environmental Quality
c. the Superfund Panel
d. none of the above
ANS: A
MSC: AACSB Analytic
7. ____ federal environmental laws carry criminal penalties for violations.
a. All
b. Most
c. A few
d. No
ANS: B
MSC: AACSB Analytic
8. The process by which the buyer conducts a thorough investigation of the property and its current and
former uses to determine whether there are any problems with respect to environmental law or nuis ance is called:
a. continuing the nuisance.
b. due diligence.
c. nuisance per se.
d. nuisance per fact.
ANS: B
MSC: AACSB Analytic
9. A nuisance:
a. is created by every interference that has an effect on others.
b. is established when the plaintiff shows harm as the result of the defendant's conduct.
c. arises only by an interference that is great enough to be condemned as unreasonable.
d. was held to have arisen when smoke, fumes, and noise from public utilities caused harm to
the plaintiffs.
ANS: C
MSC: AACSB Analytic
10. With regard to the law concerning nuisance:
a. activities of a lawfully conducted business cannot constitute a nuisance.
b. the courts do not balance the protection the of plaintiff against the social utility of the
activity.
c. the fact that the plaintiff suffered annoyance or inconvenience is sufficient to establish a
nuisance.
d. a finding that conduct is socially desirable may outweigh harm to a particular plaintiff.
ANS: D
MSC: AACSB Analytic
11. Which statement is incorrect concerning the law of nuisance?
a. Not every interference with the use or enjoyment of property is a nuisance.
b. Even if an activity is otherwise lawful, it is the effect on others that determines whether
there is a nuisance.
c. The proper use of land does not constitute a nuisance as to a neighbor, even though the
neighbor does not like the use.
d. A plaintiff may obtain damages from the party who has committed the nuisance, but the
plaintiff cannot have a nuisance enjoined.
ANS: D
MSC: AACSB Analytic
12. Which of the following is a possible remedy for a nuisance?
a. termination by police authority
b. injunction
c. money damages
d. all of the above
ANS: D
MSC: AACSB Analytic
13. An act that is a nuisance at all times and under any circumstances is a:
a. permanent nuisance.
b. nuisance in fact.
c. continuing nuisance.
d. nuisance per se.
ANS: D
MSC: AACSB Analytic
14. Which statement is incorrect concerning restrictive covenants?
a. Restrictive covenants generally are found in deeds.
b. Restrictive covenants take precedence over conflicting statutes.
c. Restrictive covenants generally impose some limitation on the use of the property.
d. A clearly worded restrictive covenant will be enforced by the courts unless there is an im portant reason to refuse enforcement.
ANS: C
MSC: AACSB Analytic
15. A valid restrictive covenant will bind future owners of the land if it is:
a.
b.
c.
d.
published in the Federal Register.
stated in a recorded deed.
published in a newspaper of general circulation.
filed with the attorney general of the state in which the land is located.
ANS: B
MSC: AACSB Analytic
16. A zoning restriction:
a. constitutes an eminent domain "taking."
b. entitles the landowner to compensation.
c. will not lower the value of the land it concerns.
d. can prevent the optimal profitable use of a property.
ANS: D
MSC: AACSB Analytic
17. Public zoning:
a. establishes uniformity of land use.
b. establishes uniformity of land use subject to the exception of preexisting nonconforming
uses.
c. establishes uniformity of land use subject to the exceptions of preexisting nonconforming
uses and subsequently granted variances.
d. allows each landowner to make the most profitable use of the land.
ANS: C
MSC: AACSB Analytic
18. When a zoning ordinance is adopted, any property used for a purpose that does not conform to the zon ing ordinance:
a. must be demolished.
b. must stop being used for a nonconforming use or purpose.
c. may be used for any use that does not conform to the zoning regulation.
d. may continue to be used for the same nonconforming use.
ANS: D
MSC: AACSB Analytic
19. A nonconforming use:
a. that is discontinued for a period of less than 30 days may be resumed.
b. has a right to continue for only five years.
c. has a constitutionally protected right to continue.
d. that continues for more than one year cannot be lost by abandonment.
ANS: C
MSC: AACSB Analytic
20. It is probable that a zoning variance would be granted:
a. even though many of the neighboring property owners object.
b. on the ground of hardship, whether or not the landowner created the hardship.
c. to an outside advertiser to build a billboard that would make the advertiser more money.
d. when the desired use of the land is in harmony with the general nature of the surrounding
areas.
ANS: D
CASE
MSC: AACSB Analytic
1. Megan owns a manufacturing business in a nonattainment area under federal air pollution law. She
wishes to triple the size of the manufacturing operation using land she just purchased next to her cur rent location. What must Megan be able to show in order to be able to secure a permit to operate in the
nonattainment area?
ANS:
Under the Emissions Offset Policy, Megan must show: (1) The new plant will have the greatest pos sible omissions controls; (2) all other operations are in compliance; and (3) the new plant's omissions
will be offset by reductions in emissions in other facilities.
COMMENTS:
Note that the effect of this view is to change the prior pattern of issuing building permits, when they
were issued as a routine matter so long as the zoning laws were satisfied and a fee was paid. Under this
new view, the permit-issuing body must give consideration to the environmental impact statement and
exercise discretion in determining whether to issue a building permit.
MSC: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Analytic
2. Peter has been subjected to an unreasonable amount of noise from his neighbor, who constantly plays
his stereo at full volume. Peter is angry about his neighbor, but he is
even angrier about the excessive pollution being emitted by a local factory that burns old tires in direct
violation of a state statute prohibiting such conduct. Do the acts of Peter's neighbor and the factory
constitute nuisances? If they do, classify the types of nuisances, and give Peter assistance on any pos sible courses of action to eliminate the problems.
ANS:
A nuisance is defined as an unreasonable interference with the enjoyment or use of land. Peter's neigh bor is definitely creating a conflict by his excessive stereo volume. However, the harm that Peter sus tains would have to be beyond a mere inconvenience or annoyance with his neighbor's actions to be
classified as a nuisance. If such actions constitute a nuisance, they would be private, continuing, and a
nuisance in fact. If Peter's neighbor's actions constitute a nuisance, Peter would be entitled to monetary
damages and possibly an injunction or court order.
The actions of the factory create a nuisance. The nuisance would be public, criminal, continuing, and a
nuisance in fact if not per se. Once again, monetary damages could be sought. In addition, a court in junction would serve to eliminate the problem.
MSC: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Analytic
3. The Jarvis family owned its land for more than 150 years. The Jarvis family traditionally farmed the
land and for that purpose maintained farm animals. As years passed, most of the surrounding farms
were sold by the owners and the area turned out to be a close-in suburb of a major city. A zoning or dinance was passed that prohibited maintaining a barn or farmyard animals on the land. The Jarvis
family was advised that they were unaffected by this ordinance because theirs would be considered a
nonconforming use. The members of the Jarvis family lost interest in farming and sold off all their an imals. Seven years later, a family member desired to raise a few pigs on the property. Angry neighbors
asserted that the family has lost the right to do so. What is your opinion?
ANS:
Although the Jarvis family originally had the right to maintain animals on the premises, it appears that
the nonconforming use was discontinued. This discontinuance for a period of seven years probably
constituted an abandonment. The likelihood is that the Jarvis family no longer has the right to raise
pigs on the property.
MSC: AACSB Reflective Thinking | AACSB Analytic