Question

What two laws pertaining to the disposal of hazardous wastes were passed in the early 1970s? Describe how the passage of the laws shifted pollution from one part of the environment to another.

Short answer

The Clean Air Act (1970) and the Clean Water Act (1972) were the two major laws aimed at controlling hazardous waste disposal passed in the early 1970s. However, they led to a shift in pollution from air and water to land, as industries started dumping waste on land to comply with the new regulations.

Step-by-step solution

Identify the Laws

The two major American laws passed in the early 1970s pertaining to the disposal of hazardous waste were the Clean Air Act (1970) and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or the Clean Water Act (1972).

Clean Air Act

The Clean Air Act (1970) was designed to control air pollution on a national level. It requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish standards to protect public health from hazardous air pollutants. The Act led to restrictions on emissions from industries as well as vehicles.

Clean Water Act

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act or the Clean Water Act (1972) aimed at regulating the discharge of pollutants into the nation's surface waters, like rivers, streams, and lakes. It effectively made it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters unless a permit was obtained from the EPA.

Analyze the impact

While these laws significantly reduced air and water pollution, they inadvertently led to an increase in solid waste pollution because companies had to find alternative ways to dispose of their waste. This often meant dumping waste on land, leading to an increase in land pollution. Consequently, pollutants that were once emitted into the air or discharged into waters were now introduced into soils. Some of this buried waste later leached into groundwater supplies, thus shifting the problem from one environmental medium to another.