Question

You are the development manager for a developer of commercial distribution centers. While surveying a new development site in Butler County near Gregory Creek, you step into a swampy field and get your boots muddied. You also find ten rusted barrels of an unknown liquid substance in the corner of the site - two of which appear to have a leak. Based on these facts, what specific federal environmental laws will you have to comply with in order to develop the site?

Answer 1

To develop the site with rusted barrels of unknown substances, compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) is necessary.

Step-by-step explanation:

As the development manager for a commercial distribution center who has discovered rusted barrels of an unknown liquid substance while surveying a site, you would need to comply with specific federal environmental laws. Firstly, you would need to adhere to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which governs the disposal of solid and hazardous waste. In addition, you would need to comply with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, which provides a federal "Superfund" to clean up uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites as well as accidents, spills, and other emergency releases of pollutants and contaminants into the environment. These laws are part of the command-and-control regulation approach that requires firms and property developers to account for the social costs of pollution and take steps to prevent, mitigate, or clean up pollution.