Laws and Acts

By burgesswa

  • Forest Reserve Act of 1891

    Law that allowed the President of the United States to set aside forest reserves from the land in the public domain.
    Conservation

  • Lacey Act

    One of the earliest laws in the U.S. that prohibits the transport of illegally harvested game animals across state lines.

  • Lacey Act

    Bans trafficking in illegal wildlife. In 2008, the Act was amended to include plants and plant products such as timber and paper.
    Other

  • Antiquities Act

    Established the first general legal protection of cultural and natural resources in the United States.
    Conservation

  • Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act

    Set up the basic U.S. system of pesticide regulation to protect applicators, consumers, and the environment. Received a significant revision in 1972.
    Pollution

  • National Park Service Act

    Established the National Park Service (NPS), an agency of the United States Department of the Interior.
    Conservation/Wildlife

  • Migratory Bird Act

    Implemented the convention for the protection of migratory birds between the United States and Great Britain (acting on behalf of Canada).
    Wildlife

  • Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act

    Requires each waterfowl hunter 16 years of age or older to possess a valid Federal hunting stamp.
    Wildlife

  • Taylor Grazing Act

    Provides for the regulation of grazing on the public lands (excluding Alaska) to improve rangeland conditions and regulate their use.
    Conservation

  • Soil Conservation Act of 1935

    Allowed the government to pay farmers to reduce production so as to conserve soil and prevent erosion.
    Conservation

  • International Union for the Conservation of Nature

    IUCN’s vision is a just world that values and conserves nature.
    The IUCN keeps a list of threatened species, known as the red list.

  • Price-Anderson Act

    Governs liability-related issues for all non-military nuclear facilities constructed in the United States before 2026.
    Other

  • Clean Air Act

    Designed to control air pollution on a national level.
    Air

  • Wilderness Act

    Created the National Wilderness Preservation System and recognized wilderness as “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”
    Conservation

  • Land and Water Conservation Act

    Provides funds and matching grants to federal, state and local governments for the acquisition of land and water, and easements on land and water, for the benefit of all Americans.
    Conservation

  • Clean Water Act

    Established the basic structure for regulating pollutant discharges into the waters of the United States
    Water

  • Water Pollution Control Act

    Established the basic structure for regulating pollutant discharges into the waters of the United States.
    Water

  • Marine Mammal Protection Act

    Prohibits the killing of all marine mammals in the U.S. and prohibits the import or export of any marine mammal body parts.

  • CITES

    Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora controls the international trade of threatened plants and animals.
    International agreement between 175 countries

  • Endangered Species Act of 1973

    Provides for the conservation of species that are endangered or threatened throughout all or a significant portion of their range, and the conservation of the ecosystems on which they depend.
    Wildlife

  • Endangered Species Acts

    Authorizes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine which species can be listed as threatened or endangered and prohibits the harming/trading of these species.

  • Safe Drinking Water Act

    Federal law that protects public drinking water supplies throughout the nation.
    Water

  • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

    Principal federal law in the United States governing the disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste.
    Disposal

  • Comprehensive Environment Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980

    Designed to respond to situations involving the past disposal of hazardous substances.
    Disposal

  • Convention on Biological Diversity

    Established a treaty to protect biodiversity.
    Conservation
    Sustainable use
    Equitably share the benefits that emerge from the commercial use of resources (i.e. pharmaceutical drugs).