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This is a list of notable events relating to the environment in 1973. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.
Environmental law is a collective term encompassing aspects of the law that provide protection to the environment. A related but distinct set of regulatory regimes, now strongly influenced by environmental legal principles, focus on the management of specific natural resources, such as forests, minerals, or fisheries. Other areas, such as environmental impact assessment, may not fit neatly into either category, but are nonetheless important components of environmental law.
Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair damage and reverse trends.
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is the primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation", the ESA was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973. The Supreme Court of the United States described it as "the most comprehensive legislation for the preservation of endangered species enacted by any nation". The purposes of the ESA are two-fold: to prevent extinction and to recover species to the point where the law's protections are not needed. It therefore "protect[s] species and the ecosystems upon which they depend" through different mechanisms. For example, section 4 requires the agencies overseeing the Act to designate imperiled species as threatened or endangered. Section 9 prohibits unlawful ‘take,’ of such species, which means to "harass, harm, hunt..." Section 7 directs federal agencies to use their authorities to help conserve listed species. The Act also serves as the enacting legislation to carry out the provisions outlined in The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The Supreme Court found that "the plain intent of Congress in enacting" the ESA "was to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost." The Act is administered by two federal agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). FWS and NMFS have been delegated by the Act with the authority to promulgate any rules and guidelines within the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to implement its provisions.
The snail darter is a small species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is found in East Tennessee freshwater in the United States. First recorded in 1973, the snail darter was listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973 by 1975 and was involved in a legal controversy leading to a Supreme Court ruling to halt the completion of Tellico Dam, which posed a risk of extinction for the snail darter by blocking its migratory route — see Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill, snail darter controversy.
Tellico Dam is a dam built by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Loudon County, Tennessee on the Little Tennessee River, just above the main stem of the Tennessee River. Completed in 1979, it impounds the Tellico Reservoir.
Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), also called brominated biphenyls or polybromobiphenyls, are a group of manufactured chemicals that consist of polyhalogenated derivatives of a biphenyl core. Their chlorine analogs are the PCBs. While once widely used commercially, PBBs are now controlled substances under the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive, which limits their use in electrical and electronic products sold in the EU.
Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hiram Hill et al., or TVA v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153 (1978), was a United States Supreme Court case and the Court's first interpretation of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. After the discovery of the snail darter fish in the Little Tennessee River in August 1973, a lawsuit was filed alleging that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)'s Tellico Dam construction was in violation of the Endangered Species Act. Plaintiffs argued dam construction would destroy critical habitat and endanger the population of snail darters. It was decided by a 6-3 vote, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hill, et al. and granted an injunction stating that there would be conflict between Tellico Dam operation and the explicit provisions of Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.
The snail darter controversy related to the discovery in 1973 of an endangered species during the construction of the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River; the dam project had been authorized and begun before passage of protective environmental legislation. On August 12, 1973, University of Tennessee biologist and professor David Etnier discovered the snail darter in the Little Tennessee River while doing research related to a lawsuit under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The lawsuit said that the Tellico Reservoir, to be created by Tellico Dam, would alter the habitat of the river to the point of killing off the endangered snail darter.
Tellico Reservoir, also known as Tellico Lake, is a reservoir in Tennessee, created by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1979 upon the completion of Tellico Dam. The dam impounds the Little Tennessee River and the lower Tellico River. While TVA is careful to refer to its artificial lakes as reservoirs, common usage tends to refer to the reservoir as "Tellico Lake". The lake is approximately 16,000 acres in surface area and provides 357 miles of shoreline.
The United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) is one of seven litigating components of the U.S. Department of Justice. ENRD's mandate is to enforce civil and criminal environmental laws and programs protecting the health and environment of the United States, and to defend suits challenging those laws and programs.
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was first passed in 1973 and forms the basis of biodiversity and endangered species protection in the United States. The original purpose of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 was to prevent species endangerment and extinction due to the human impact on natural ecosystems. The three most powerful sections of the ESA are Sections 4,7 and 9. Section 4 allows the Secretaries of Interior and Commerce to list species as threatened or endangered based on best available data. Section 7 requires federal agencies to consult with Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) or National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) before taking any action that may threaten a listed species. Section 9 forbids the taking of an endangered species. The first amendment to the ESA was passed by the 95th United States Congress in 1978 to "introduce some flexibility into the Endangered Species Act".
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and invasive species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List lists the global conservation status of many species, and various other agencies assess the status of species within particular areas. Many nations have laws that protect conservation-reliant species which, for example, forbid hunting, restrict land development, or create protected areas. Some endangered species are the target of extensive conservation efforts such as captive breeding and habitat restoration.
The Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969 was an expansion of the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966 which authorized the United States Secretary of the Interior to develop a comprehensive list of species or subspecies of animals threatened with worldwide extinction. It also prohibited the importation from any foreign country any animal-whole or in part, any product, or any egg belonging to a species on that list. Limited exceptions for scientific, educational, zoological, or propagational purposes and for certain cases of commercial "economic hardship" were allowed under strict permitting procedures.
This is a list of notable events relating to the environment in 1976. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.
This is a list of notable events relating to the environment in 1978. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.
This is a list of notable events relating to the environment in 1972. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.
This is a list of notable events relating to the environment in 1983. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.
This is a list of notable events relating to the environment in 1975. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.
This is a list of notable events relating to the environment in 1969. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.
Sierra Club v. Babbitt, 15 F. Supp. 2d 1274, is a United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama case in which the Sierra Club and several other environmental organizations and private citizens challenged the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Plaintiffs filed action seeking declaratory injunctive relief regarding two incidental take permits (ITPs) issued by the FWS for the construction of two isolated high-density housing complexes in habitat of the endangered Alabama beach mouse. The District Court ruled that the FWS must reconsider its decision to allow high-density development on the Alabama coastline that might harm the endangered Alabama beach mouse. The District Court found that the FWS violated both the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by permitting construction on the dwindling beach mouse habitat.
