Encyclopedia of Global Resources part 43 pps

Global Resources Environment and Natural Resources Division Category: Organizations, agencies, and programs Date: Established 1909 as Public Lands Division The Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice represents the U.S. government in a wide variety of litigation, both civil and criminal, involving the environment, natural resources, and public lands. It litigates cases for the En- vironmental Protection Agency. Definition The Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice litigates cases rang- ing from the protection of endangered species to the cleaning up of hazardous waste sites. In other words, it serves as the nation’s environmental lawyer. It enforces civil and criminal environmental laws to protect human health and the environment. It also defends the government against legal challenges to its environmental programs and attempts to ensure that thelawsareapplied fairly. Thedivisionrepresents the U.S. government in matters concerning the protection, use, and development of natural resources and public lands, wildlife protection, Indian rights and claims, and the acquisition of property by the government. The division, formerly known as the Land and Natural Resources Division, and before that as the Public Lands Division, is organized into nine sections. Overview The Environmental Crimes Section prosecutes individuals and corporations who violate environmental protection laws; it works with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and with investigatorsfrom the Environ- mental Protection Agency (EPA). Among the statutes it enforces are the Clean Air Act, the Resource Con- servation and Recovery Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liabil- ity Act (CERCLA, or “Superfund”). The Environmen- tal Enforcement Section is responsible for bringing civil litigation on behalf of the EPA, for claims for natural resource damage filed by government agencies, for claims regarding contamination of public land, and for the recoupment of money spent to clean up oil spills on behalf of the U.S. Coast Guard. Its role is to provide a credible deterrent against violationof en - vironmental statutes. The Environmental Defense Section represents the government—primarily the EPA—in suits chal- lenging its administration of federal environmental laws. These suits include claims by industries that regulations are toostrict and, conversely, by environmental groups claiming they are too lax. Suits are also sometimes brought by states or individuals alleging that federal agencies themselves are not complying with environmental regulations. The Wildlife and Marines Resources Section tries civil and criminal cases involving federal wildlife laws and laws protect- ing marine life. Smugglers and black-market dealers in protectedwildlifeare prosecuted.Civillitigationin- volving the Endangered Species Act may pit the requirements of species protection against the interests of either private concerns or government agencies. The Policy, Legislation, and Special Litigation Sec- tion advises and assists the U.S. assistant attorney general regarding policy issues. It also directs the division’slegislativeprogram—testimonybeforecongres- sional committees and representation of the division in congressional and interagency policy meetings. The division undertakes specially assigned projects and serves as the division’s ethics office. The Appel- late Section handles appeals of cases tried in lower courts by any of the division’s other sections. It drafts briefs for any division cases that reach the U.S. Su- preme Court. The Executive Office is the administra- tor of the division, providing financial management, personnel, planning, and litigation support services. The division’sGeneralLitigationSectionisrespon- sible for litigation involving federally owned public lands and natural resources. Cases may arise regarding more than eighty laws covering land management and natural resources. Issues include water rights, land-use plans, timber and mineral production, land- owner compensation, and trust obligations to Indian tribes. The Indian Resources Section represents the United States in its trust capacity regarding Indian tribes. Suits include such issues as water rights, hunting and fishing rights, damages for trespassing on American Indian lands, and reservation boundaries and land rights. The Land Acquisition Section ac- quires land for the government through purchase or condemnation proceedings. Land is acquired for a variety ofpurposes,rangingfrom parks to missile sites. A number of issues may be raised in such cases, includ - ing balancing the rights of individual propertyowners Global Resources Environment and Natural Resources Division • 371 against the needs ofthe government, ascertaining the fair market value of property, and determining the ap- plicability of local zoning regulations. Vincent M. D. Lopez Web Site U.S. Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/ See also: Clean Air Act; Clean Water Act; Endan- gered Species Act; Environmental law in the United States; Environmental Protection Agency; Public lands; Superfund legislation and cleanup activities. Environmental biotechnology Categories: Plant and animal resources; scientific disciplines; social, economic, and political issues Environmental, or “white,” biotechnology, seeks to ac- complish three major goals: bioremediation, pollution abatement, and the generation of renewable resources. These goals are typically achieved using either naturally occurring or genetically engineered plants and microorganisms aswell as specific chemical substances that have been obtained from these organisms. Background Biotechnology has been defined as the use of living organisms to achieve human goals. Because these goals cover such a broad range of possibilities, biotechnology is often subdivided into three major categories, namely those with medical, agricultural, and environmental applications. Some have even gone as far as to color-code these categories, referring to them as red, green, and white biotechnology, respectively. Historically, the former category has received the most attention. Measured in terms of capital in- vestments, it has overshadowed the other two by a factor of nearly 20 to 1 since the use of modern biotechnology began in earnest in the 1980’s. The latter categories, however, have seen steady growth in the twenty-first century and may someday be able to close this gap. Each of these categories of biotechnology can, in turn, be further subdivided according to its specific goals. Environmental biotechnology, for in - stance, can be thought of as encompassing bioreme - diation (cleaning up contaminated environments), pollution abatement (preventing the discharge of pollutants from currently existing industries), and the production of renewable chemicals and biofuels. Bioremediation has garnered the most interest over time, while the latter two categories, although less developed, appear to be gaining in popularity over time. Bioremediation Environmental biotechnology has become increas- ingly popular in waste treatment and remediation because it has several desirable characteristics. It is a “green” technology: It uses natural systems and naturally occurring organisms to detoxify environmental pollutants. The final products (usually carbon dioxide and inorganic elements) are harmless. It is not a particularly new and, therefore, uncertain technology, so there are few unintended consequences of its use. Natural bioremediation of pollution is constantly occurring in the environment; otherwise, past pollution would never have gone away. Bioremediation is inexpensive compared with other treatment technologies. If one can provide the proper environment and nutrients for the remediating organisms, relatively lit- tle other infrastructure is involved. It can be done on- site without having to move hundreds of cubic meters of contaminated material. It can even be done in contaminated aquifers and soils that cannot be moved. Environmental biotechnology typically involves using either plants or microorganisms to achieve its stated aims. Using plants to bioremediate an environment is referred to as “phytoremediation.” Phytore- mediation is typically used when the environment is contaminated by heavy metals such as lead, mercury, or selenium. Certain plants (astragalus, for example) are able to accumulate high concentrations of metals such as selenium in their tissue. The plants can be harvested, the tissue can be burned, and the metal- contaminated ash can be stored in a hazardous-waste facility. Bioremediation most commonly refers to the use of soil microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) to degrade or immobilize pollutants.Itcanbeusedwitha wide variety of wastes, including some nuclear wastes such as uranium. In bioremediation one generally has two options. First, the environmental engineer can simply make the contaminatedsite as favorable for microbial growth as possible by adding nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus, for example), keeping the area moist, 372 • Environmental biotechnology Global Resources and mixing the contaminated site periodically (if it is soil) to make sure it has sufficient air (or pumping air into the system if it is an aquifer). Then, the engineer waits for microbes already present on the site to start growing and use the waste as a food source. Frequently there are wastes that cannot be used as a food source by microorganisms. However, they can still be biodegraded by a process called cometabolism. In cometabolism, wastes are biodegraded during the growth of the microbes on some other com- pound. For example, trichloroethyl- ene (TCE), oneofthemostcommon groundwater contaminants, is come- tabolized during the growth of bacteria that use methane for their food source. Many other wastes, such as dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), atrazine, and polychlori- nated biphenyls (PCBs), are come- tabolized by microbes in the environment. Waiting for organisms to grow can take a long time (especially in winter), so environmental engineers often try to speed the process by adding microorganisms they have grown in the laboratory. These microorganisms are special because they have already been grown on various pollutants. Therefore, when they are added to the environment in high num- bers, they start bioremediating the pollutants immediately. This process is called “seeding.” Sometimes a waste is so toxic or is present in such high concentration that neither plants nor microorganisms can survive in its presence. In this case, enzymes are sometimes used to try to degrade the waste. En- zymes are proteins with catalytic activity—that is, they make chemical reactions occur faster than they nor- mally would. Enzymes are not alive in a strict sense, but they come only from living organisms. They have an advantage over living organisms in that they can retain their catalytic ac - tivity in environments that are other - wise lethal. For example, horseradish peroxidase is a plant enzyme that has been used to treat chlorinated compounds. The peroxidase causes the chlorinated compounds to bind together. When they do that, they become less soluble, and if they become less soluble and precipitate, then they are much less likely to enter the food chain of an ecosystem. Bioremediation has been used on a large scale Global Resources Environmental biotechnology • 373 Scientists examine contaminated mud samples at a Superfund site in Texas. Bioremedia - tion is one aspect of environmental biotechnology. (Getty Images) mostly to treat oil spills. The best example of this was during the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989. Rather than try to remove oil from beaches physically (by steam spraying or absorbing it into other materials), engineers had several beaches sprayed with a nutrient solution that helped naturally occurring oil- degrading microbes in the environment to multiply and begin decomposing the pollutant. The experiment was so successful that the U.S. Environmental Protec- tion Agency recommended that Exxon expand its bioremediation efforts to more of the affected beaches. Environmental biotechnology is a growing industry, and numerous venture capital firms have started to supply remediation technology for various types of wastes. One application of this technology is “designer microbes” for sewage treatment facilities receiving industrial pollutants. Another activity involves creating unique microorganisms, using genetic engineering techniques, that have the ability to degrade new types of pollutants completely. The first living thing to be patented in theUnitedStates,abacteriumthatwas genetically engineered at General Electric, was created specifically to degrade petroleum from oil spills. Pollution Abatement Preventing pollution from occurring in the first place is much more desirable than allowing it to happen with the hopes of using biotechnology to clean it up afterward. Microorganisms, for instance, have been used to remove a portionofthe carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) found in the emissions resulting from the burning of fossil fuels. One example of an organism being used for pollution control is the microscopic aquatic algae called phytoplankton. In nature, the phytoplankton make up a large portion of the carbon fixation cycle by converting CO 2 to sugars during photosynthesis, then sinking to the bottom of the ocean upon their death, effectively removing this carbon from global circulation. Scientists have passed effluents from power plants that burn fossil fuels through columns filled with algae in order to reduce their CO 2 emissions. While the subsequent deposition of these algae to the bottom of the ocean is not entirely practical, burning the dried algal pellets for fuel effectively re- sults in more energy being obtained while ultimately releasing the same amount of CO 2 emissions as the untreated effluent. These same abatement principles apply to the treat - ment of water effluents as well. Some factories have in - stalled anaerobic bioreactors, vessels where microbial digestion of wastes is allowed to take place in the ab - sence of O 2 . Under these conditions, particular microbes thatarepresent in the bioreactorreleasemeth- ane, which can then be captured and used to run the boilers in the factory and/or provide electricity for the plant. Inthis case, the treated water is usually pure enough to release directly into a nearby water source. Both aerobic and anaerobic bioreactors have been used totreatsewage,agricultural, and industrial waste. Production of Renewable Resources It is not always the organisms themselves which are of interest to biotechnologists, but certain metabolic by- products that aregivenoff by, oratleasteasilypurified from, the organism in question. The specific enzymes in bioremediation as well as other enzymes can often be purified from the organism that produced them and used in industrial processes involving green chemistry, the practice of chemistry with the aim of reducing the use and generation of hazardous substances. In addition to enzymes, certainorganisms are also known to produce small organic compounds known as secondary metabolites, so named because they do not play central roles in the growth or development of the organism in question. These compounds, which often possess pharmaceutical proper- ties, are instead hypothesized to play signaling or defensive roles in the cells that produce them. The production of secondary metabolites and their deriv- atives form much of the foundation for medical biotechnology based on natural products. Compounds that can be used as a renewable source of fuel repre- sent another class of materials that is produced by living organisms that holds great promise for environmental biotechnology. The direct use of biomass for fuel in the case of dried algal pellets is not practical for use in machinery such as automobiles. Therefore, organisms are typically treated to produce alcohols, oils, or gases that can more easily be used for such pur- poses. The widespread use of nonfossil fuels to power automobiles dates from the 1970’s, when fuel-grade ethanol was first mass-produced in the United States and Brazil. The former purified the ethanol from the fermentation ofcorn by microbes and used it as an ad- ditive to petroleum-based fuels, while the latter used sugarcane in the fermentation process and used the ethanol as a complete replacement for fossil fuels. Re- search is ongoing into the use of plant waste for etha - nol production so that fuel production does not di - rectly compete with the use of crops for food. 374 • Environmental biotechnology Global Resources An alternative to the production of ethanol via fer - mentation of a particular biomass is the direct use of plant oils, sometimes called biodiesel, in specifically designed engines. While the adoption of biodiesel as fuel has been relatively slow, the use of soybean oil and rapeseed oil in conjunction with certain public transportation fleets in the United States andEurope, respectively, has steadily increased. Another alternative biofuel that could be adapted for use in automobiles is hydrogen. This biofuel has the added advantage of producing no carbon emissions whatsoever, but it is in the early stages of development, in terms of both its efficient production by microorganisms and the development of engines designed to burn this fuel. Mark S. Coyne, updated by James S. Godde Further Reading Alexander, Martin. Biodegradation and Bioremediation. San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press, 1994. Bhattacharyya, Bimal C., and Rintu Banerjee. Environ- mental Biotechnology. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Clark, David P., and Nanette J. Pazdernik. “Environ- mental Biotechnology.” In Biotechnology: Applying the Genetic Revolution. Burlington, Mass.: Academic Press/Elsevier, 2009. Jordening, Hans-Joachim, and Josef Winter, eds. Envi- ronmental Biotechnology: Concepts and Applications. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH, 2005. Scragg, Alan. Environmental Biotechnology. 2d ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Singh, Ajay,and Owen P. Ward,eds. Biodegradation and Bioremediation. New York: Springer, 2004. Singh, Shree N., and Rudra D. Tripathi, eds. Envi- ronmental Bioremediation Technologies. New York: Springer, 2007. Skipper, H.D., and R. F.Turco, eds. Bioremediation: Sci- ence and Applications. Madison, Wis.: Soil Science Society of America, 1995. Wainwright, Milton. An Introduction to Environmental Biotechnology. Boston: Kluwer Academic, 1999. Web Sites U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Treatment/Control: Treatment Technologies, Bioremediation http://www.epa.gov/ebtpages/ treatreatmenttechnbioremediation.html U.S. Geological Survey Bioremediation: Nature’s Way to a Cleaner Environment http://water.usgs.gov/wid/html/bioremed.html See also: Biofuels; Biotechnology; Environmental Protection Agency; Hazardous waste disposal; Oil spills; Superfund legislation and cleanup activities. Environmental degradation, resource exploitation and Categories: Environment, conservation, and resource management; pollution and waste disposal The needs of human beings for food, shelter, clothing, and other material goods are most often met by extract- ing raw materials from the natural physical environment. In the process of undertaking this extraction, the quality of the environment is often degraded. Through gaining an understanding of the nature of this degradation and the ability of theenvironmenttoregenerate, laws and regulations may be developed to satisfy the human needs in environmentally compatible ways. Background The satisfaction of human resource needs and desires often involves intense interaction with the natural physical environment. Such interaction may involve resource extraction, transportation, and processing. Each of these events has the potential to degrade the environment while meeting human resource needs. Yet instances ofenvironmental degradation also carry with them the potential for solving the problems in ways that may provide long-term satisfaction of resource needs in an environmentally compatible man- ner. Four examples—damage to wildlife, forests, and soil, and the degradation caused by surface mining— illustrate the circumstances under which such problems have developed and the methods by which environmental restoration has been undertaken. Surface Mining Surface mining for resource extraction has a long history. The primary modern procedure is to use large-scale machinery to remove the overlying earth material to expose the economically valuable mineral Global Resources Environmental degradation, resource exploitation and • 375 resource beneath. Once the mineralis exposed, it can be removed, transported, and refined for use. The most widespread application of surface mining has been in the mining of bituminous coal. During the mining process, numerous undesirable disruptions in land use, water quality, and a community’s social fabric can occur. Generally, surface mining is seen as aesthetically undesirable, as large areas of exposed earth material degrade the landscape. The premining land uses are also disrupted, and once-productive lands (farms, forests) are taken out of production. The exposed earth material, if left unprotected, is subject to erosion by both water and wind. If the land is left in an unreclaimed state, the mined land is slow to revegetate and remains an unproductive source of eroded materials and an eyesore. Water pollution problems may also result from such mining. Most commonly, the removal of coal may expose iron pyrites, which, when exposed to air and water, contribute acid mine drainage to the re- gional water supply. This acid drainage, along with silt washed from the eroding surface, clogs stream chan- nels, kills aquatic life, and lowers the overall water quality. In cases in which streams are large enough for dams and navigation, the silt fills in reservoirs and clogs the machinery to operate navigation locks. Structural features such as bridge piers, dams, and locks may be damaged from extreme stream acidity. In the areas where mining occurs, the social organization may also be disrupted. Roads are relocated, farms and houses removed, and, in some cases, entire villages may be removed for mining to take place. The surface mining of coal, therefore, may contribute to many social and environmental problems in the areas where it takes place. Because of these many disruptive qualities, states 376 • Environmental degradation, resource exploitation and Global Resources Two State Natural Resources employees stand atop a pile of waste coal in Ohio in 2006. Landscapes in coal districts have been severely degraded through mining. (AP/Wide World Photos) where mining occurs and the federal government have taken steps to remedy the problems and provide a framework for mining the coal needed to meet U.S. energy needs in a more environmentally compatible way. During the 1940’s, 1950’s, and 1960’s, such states as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Illinois began to pass legislation to curtail surface-mining-related problems by requiring mined land reclamation. The success of these efforts coupled with the need for a national ef- fort to establish a consistent reclamation program led to the passage of the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement in the Depart- ment of the Interior is responsible for administering the programs of the act, reviewing state programs for reclamation, and enforcing the act’s provisions. Current mining operations are subject to the provisions of the act, and money is provided to reclaim those lands left unreclaimed and abandoned in the past. Through a series of standards, requirements, and enforcement policies, this act, in conjunction with state laws, has directed the once environmentally destructiveprocessofsurfaceminingintoapattern of energy resource acquisition, mined land reclamation, productive land creation, and post-mining environmental restoration. Wildlife A second example in which resource exploitation has led to environmental degradation is wildlife. Wildlife populations depend on a complex set of interacting factors such as food, water, protective habitat, migra- tion routes, and breeding areas. As human populations have grownandexpandedonthe land surface of the Earth, wildlife populations have been displaced. This displacement has been the result of habitat removal, water pollution, air pollution, the introduction of alien species, hunting, and changing land uses. All these activities have led to declining wildlife populations while meeting human needs for food, shelter, and living space. The declines have led to the extinction of some species and declinesinthe popula- tion of others to the point at which they are consid- ered endangered. At the same time that these declines have occurred, recognition of the problems confronting wildlife populations has led to human re- sponses in areas of habitat preservation and restoration, wildlife management, and the development of a legal framework for wildlife protection. Perhaps best known of the organizations con - cerned with wildlife is the National Audubon Society, but it is only one of a large number of national, state, and local wildlife organizations. Such groups under- take a variety of wildlife-related projects such as main- taining preserves and refuges, stocking streams and habitat areas, cleaning waterways, and educating the public. Such activities promote citizen participation and establish a grassroots base for wildlife preservation. As a complement to these activities there are those functions and programs that result from governmen- tal actions. Federal, state, and local governments are all involved in wildlife activities. While it would be im- possible to list all activities, the broad categories of habitat protection, species protection and restoration, and wildlife management are all part of govern- mental concern. Much of the early concernofthefed- eral government for wildlife was voiced as part of action on other issues such as forest protection, soil erosion, and water pollution control. A federal tax on sporting guns and ammunition passed in the 1930’s devoted resources to the purchase of land for wildlife conservation. In 1960, the Multiple Use-Sustained Yield Act specified that wildlife and fish be part of the overall administrative concern. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 gave the federal government direct involvement in dealing with the problems of endangered species through the Office of Endangered Species in theDepartment of theInterior. The expan- sion of habitat areas byvarious agencies of the government has also been a positive move toward preserving and restoring wildlife. At the international level, a variety of laws, treaties, and agreements to protect wildlife are in place. There are also numerous international wildlife organizations. The 1946 formation of the International Whaling Commission is a good example of such an international organization. It was formed to regulate whale harvesting so that overkilling did not result in species elimination. Such regulation, however, is not binding by law, and countries can withdraw from the commission. More specific regulations are found in the Mi- gratory Bird Treaty. This treaty involves the United States, Canada, and several other countries in habitat protection, wildlife hunting regulation, and international cooperation. Globally, there is a wide variety of laws, treaties, agencies, and organizations aimed at wildlife protection, habitat preservation, and achieve - ment of a balance between the human use of the world’s resources and wildlife needs. Global Resources Environmental degradation, resource exploitation and • 377 . dealing with the problems of endangered species through the Office of Endangered Species in theDepartment of theInterior. The expan- sion of habitat areas byvarious agencies of the government has. Agency. Definition The Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice litigates cases rang- ing from the protection of endangered species to the cleaning up of hazardous waste sites production of ethanol via fer - mentation of a particular biomass is the direct use of plant oils, sometimes called biodiesel, in specifically designed engines. While the adoption of biodiesel