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Period: to
1900-2014
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Pure Food and Drug Act
Later renamed the FDA, this act was designed to enforce labeling on ingredients. The act was passed as part of the uproar afther the release of the Jungle by Upton Sinclair. This was not directly environmental legislation, but the act's outlawing of transporting poisonous substances can be seen as supporting the desire for a clean, safe environment. -
Canadan clean water legislation
"No garbage, excreta, manure, vegetable or animal matter or filth shall be discharged into or deposited in any of the lakes, rivers, streams or other waters in Ontario, or on the shores or banks thereof." http://www.cba.org/cba/cle/PDF/ENV11_Benidickson_Paper.pdf -
Jersey City, NJ is first city to chlorinate water
New Jersey city begins chlorinating public water supply for safety. -
Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909
Treaty outlining method of dealing with disputes over shared waters between Canada and the US. The major incident that lead to this was when the city of Chicago reversed the direction of the Chicago River away from Lake Michigan. -
The Federal Insecticide Act
First federal legislation around pesticide quality. -
Parks Canada Created
World's First National Parks Agency, it is now the governing body managing all of the National Parks. Canada already had five national parks when the agency was created. -
Public Health Service Act of 1912
Public Health Service Act of 1912. Expanded the mission of the United States Public Health Service to study problems of sanitation, sewage and pollution. -
Mexico establishes ejido
Ejido was a communal land ownership to allow peasants access to land for farming that had been owned by wealthy landlords. Was constitutionally eliminated in 1991 as part of the lead up to NAFTA. -
World War 1
By the time of war's end, an estimated 1.3 million casualties, including 100,000-260,000 civilians, and unknown numbers of soil erosion, deforestation, and water contamination in areas were caused by chemical weapons. -
Oil Pollution Act of 1924
Oil Pollution Act of 1924. Prohibited the intentional discharge of fuel oil into tidal waters, authorizing USACE to apprehend violators. -
Canada National Parks Act passed
This act granted Parks Canada the ability to designate and maintain national areas including parks and wilderness areas. -
FArm Bill passed
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Soil Erosion Service Created
This agency was created in response to the dust bowl in an effort to stop farming on unsuitable land. It also advocated for better farming methods.
65% reduction in blowing soil by 1938.
Later renamed the Natural Resource Conservation Service -
The Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act
After drought and loss of soil from bad farming practices in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta this law was passed to pretect the land and water supply through better farming practices. -
World War 2
Sr-90 found its way into humans through the ecological food chain as fallout in the soil, was picked up by plants, further concentrated in herbivorous animals, and eventually consumed by humans -
Deparment of Health and human services founded
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United Nations Foundation
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Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN
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The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 was the first major U.S. law to address water pollution. -
Air Pollution Control Act
First Federal Law regarding air pollution was mostly about information and recommendations rather than forcing states to actually do something. -
Vietnam War
During the Vietnam war, Agent Orange was used and caused major soil erosion in Malaya. -
The Poultry Products Inspection Act
legislated interstate shipping of polutry to ensure accurate labeling -
Silent Spring Published
Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring was published leading to the rise of the environmental movement in the 60's and 70s. The book is credited with the outlaw of DDT and the creation of the EPA. -
Clean Air Act
This piggybacked on the earlier Air Pollution Control Act and gave the federal government the ability to limit pollution levels. -
Solid Waste Disposal Act
First federal law to oversee and minimize solid waste. -
National Environmental Policy Act
Introduced and set requirements for environmental assessments and environmental impact statements. -
Santa Barbara Oil Spill
4.2 million gallons of oil was spilled; Oil leaked for 12 days, creating thick black film along the shoreline; this led to Senator Gaylord A. Nelson creating Earth Day and influenced the passage of the Clean Water Act of 1972 -
Cuyahoga River catches fire
For decades, factories, cities, and towns got rid of their sewage and industrial waste, by dumping them into the river. The river caught on fire due to floating pieces of oil debris. -
National Environment Protection Act
The legislature passed the National Environment Protection Act, signed into law on January 1, 1970. This act helped establish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which would be given the duties to manage environmental risks and regulate various sanitary-specific policies.One of the first legislations that the EPA put-forth was the Clean Water Act (1972), which mandated that all rivers throughout the US be hygienic enough to safely allow mass amounts of swimmers and fish by 1983 -
Canada Water Act
Covered conservation, development, and utilization of Canada's water as well as a plan for how provinces and territories could work together in implementation. Was replaced in 1999 by the Environmental Protection Act. -
Occupational Safety and Health Act
Legislated workplace safety including regulations around exposure to toxic chemicals and other environmental hazards. -
Environment Canada Formed
Created to cover the following:
Atmospheric Environment Service
Environmental Protection Service
Fisheries Service
Land, Forest and Wildlife Service
Water Management Service -
Clean Water Act
"The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. The basis of the CWA was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, but the Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. "Clean Water Act" became the Act's common name with amendments in 1972." -
UNEP Founded
The basis for international environmental policy was laid in 1972 at the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, where the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was founded. -
Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
Agreement between US and Canada set quality objectives and committed both nations to monitor pollution and implement pollution control programs. Regularly renegotiated and still in existence. -
Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act
The most major of all of the updates to the insecide act of 1910 this shifted the focus from regulating insecticide purity to protecting the environment and people's health. -
Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
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Endangered Species Act
Conservation act put in place to protect animals from extinction. -
Canada Wildlife Act
Gave the ability to designate and preserve habitat vital to at risk wildlife including migratory birds. Prior to the 1960s the biggest threat to wildlife was hunting, by this point the threat was habitat destruction. -
Safe Drinking Water Act
Regulates the quality of water in every public water system in the country. -
Hazardous Materials Transportation Act
Puts standards and regulations in place for transporting hazardous materials. -
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Replaced the Solid Waste Disposal Act. This act aimed to reduce the amount of waste. It also set regulations for hazardous waste handling and disposal. -
Superfund-Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
The Superfund act places blame and provides funds for cleaning up severe hazardous waste sites. -
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
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Emergency Wetlands Resources Act
Act to provide protections for wetland conservation. -
Mexico passes pro-community forestry law
Law gaveownership and management of forested lands to the local communities. Today communities collectively own over 800,000 hectares of forest that is certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council. -
Mexico's General Law on Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection (LGEEPA)
Mexico's primary environmental law which sets environmental policy. -
Beginning of The Gulf War
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Oil Pollution Act of 1990
Forced oil companies to have plans to prevent spills and funds set aside to clean up any oil spills. Was enacted after the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989. -
Gulf War Oil Spill
The Gulf War oil spill was one of the largest oil spills in history, resulting from the Gulf War in 1991. -
Habitats Directive
The Habitats Directive is a European Union directive adopted in 1992 as an EU response to the Berne Convention. It is one of the EU's two directives in relation to wildlife and nature conservation, the other being the Birds Directive.[ It aims to protect some 220 habitats and approximately 1,000 species listed in the directive's Annexes. These are species and habitats which are considered to be of European interest, following criteria given in the directive. (Wikipedia) -
Earth Summit in Rio
The then record large gathering of world leaders representing 116 out of 172 countries brought a breakthrough for the concept of sustainable development, a development model that integrates ecological, social and economic aspects. -
Mexico's National Water Law
Gives the National Water Commission the task of regulating and preserving the water while striving to reach sustainable use.
Updated in April 2004 -
Accelerated Reduction/Elimination of Toxics
Supported by Environment Canada in 1991 but not finalized until 1994, this was a voluntary agreement between several industry representatives and environmental NGOs to elimiate 30 and reduce to safe levels another 87 toxic chemicals by the year 2000. -
Kyoto Protocol adopted
UN protocol for signatory nations to voluntarily reduce green house gas emissions over several years. -
Canadian Envirnomnetal Protection Act
Comprehensive legislation regulating several environmenal areas from management to vehicle and fuel regulations to emergencies to disposal at sea. http://www.ec.gc.ca/lcpe-cepa/default.asp?lang=En&n=E00B5BD8-1 -
Water Framework Directive
A directive to achieve both qualitative and quantitative water improvement in all EU states by 2015. -
Noise Pollution
Noise above a certain volume threshold (from 60 Ldn dB(A) according to the European Environment Agency) affects not only wellbeing, but also the health of citizens. On top of the corrective measures applicable to some sources of noise, in 2002 the European Union adopted a Directive setting out a Community approach to the management and evaluation of ambient noise in order to protect public health. -
World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg
he Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development, a politically binding document adopted by heads of state and government.the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation contains concrete target dates for achieving progress (halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation; achieve, by 2010, a reduction in the current rate of loss of biodiversity; achieve, by 2020, that chemicals are used and produced in ways that lead to the minimization of adverse effects on human heal -
European Evironment and health strategy
designed to integrate the info on the state of the environment, the ecosystem and environmental health -
Mexico's General Law for the Prevention and Integral Management of Waste
Requires the producers and importers to develop management plans for products that become hazardous at the end of the life cycle. This includes electronic waste and requires some industries to take back their waste. -
Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases
The European Union (EU) is establishing regulations for the containment, use, recovery and destruction of certain fluorinated greenhouse gases. These rules accompany the provisions relating to the labelling of products and equipment containing these gases, to the notification of information, to prohibitions on commercialisation, as well as to the training and certification of personnel and enterprises. -
Directive on the assessment and management of flood risks.
The purpose of this Directive is to manage and reduce the risk of floods, particularly along rivers and in coastal areas. It provides for assessment of the risk of flooding in river basins, the mapping of flood risks in all regions where there is a serious risk of flooding and the drawing up of flood risk management plans based on close cooperation between and the broad participation of Member States. -
Mexico's National Development Plan
Includes environmental legislation covering the following issues:
Climate Change - commitment to voluntarily diminish its carbon emissions 51 million tonnes of CO2 by 2012, through its Special Climate Change Programme (PRCC)
The Human Rights Program of the Environmental Sector
The Youth Programme to Environmental Sustainability
Indigenous Peoples Programme and the Environment
Gender Equality and Environmental Sustainability
Prevention and Management of Waste -
Act- Combat Deforestation
Deforestation contributes considerably to climate change and biodiversity loss. In order to tackle these harmful effects on the environment, the Commission proposes to halt global forest cover loss by 2030 at the latest and to reduce gross tropical deforestation by at least 50 % by 2020. -
Directive on Waste
legal framework for treatment of waste -
Sustainable Consumption, Production, and Industry Act
implemented a series of measures to imporve the energy and environmental proformance of products throughout their lifecycle -
The Birds Directive
The Birds Directive is a European Union directive adopted in 2009. It replaces Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds which was modified several times and had become very unclear. It aims to protect all European wild birds and the habitats of listed species, in particular through the designation of Special Protection Areas. (Wikipedia) -
Reducing emissions by 20 % or more by 2020
The European Union (EU) is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 % by 2020. However, it estimates that the goal of a 30 % reduction is also viable, providing the international situation allows. This Communication analyses the implementing means and the possible consequences associated with the target of a 20 % and a 30 % reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. -
Mexico's General Law on Climate Change
Calls for a:
30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020
50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and
35% of electricity must come from renewable sources by 2024
