AICP Exam Practice Questions With 100% Correct Answers | Latest Update (Graded A+)

Clean Water Act - Answer 1972 - the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that surface waters would meet standards necessary for human sports and recreation by 1983. The principal body of law currently in effect is based on the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972 and was significantly expanded from the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1984. Major amendments were enacted in the Clean Water Act of 1977 and the Water Quality Act of 1987. Clean Air Act - Answer 1963 - requires the EPA to develop and enforce regulations to protect the general public from exposure to airborne contaminants that are known to be hazardous to human health. The Act was passed in 1963 and significantly amended in 1970, 1977 and 1990. 1963: created a regulatory program in the U.S. Public Health Service 1970: required comprehensive federal and state regulations for both industrial and mobile sources. 4 new regulatory programs: -National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)[7] -State Implementation Plans (SIPs) -New Source Performance Standards (NSPS); and -National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs). 1977: required Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) of air quality for areas attaining the NAAQS, and added requirements for non-attainment areas. 1990: added regulatory programs for control of acid deposition (acid rain) and stationary source operating permits. The NESHAPs program was expanded to control additional toxic air pollutants, and the NAAQS program was also expanded. Other new provisions covered stratospheric ozone protection, increased enforcement authority, and expanded research programs Also: 1st major environmental law in the United States to include a provision for citizen suits. Endangered Species Act - Answer 1973 - protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation." Administered by Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Prior law in 1966 - authorized the Secretary of the Interior to list endangered domestic fish and wildlife and allowed the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to spend up to $15 million per year to buy habitat for listed species AICP exam prep(Preparing for the AICP exam - history, theory, law, planning process, subject area terms)2023 Flood Control Act - Answer multiple years starting in 1917 - granted authority to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the designing and building of flood control projects. Impacted emergency management. Initial laws responded to several major floods between 1849 and 1936; 1917 law was the first aimed exclusively at controlling floods Safe Drinking Water Act - Answer 1974 - EPA is required to set standards for drinking water quality and oversee all states, localities, and water suppliers who implement these standards. EPA establishes National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs) for contaminants that may cause adverse public health effects - includes both mandatory levels (Maximum Contaminant Levels, or MCLs) and nonenforceable health goals (Maximum Contaminant Level Goals, or MCLGs) for each included contaminant. Note that MCLs make a site eligible for Superfund Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) - Answer 1980 - "Superfund," clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances. Authorized the EPA to identify parties responsible for contamination of sites and compel the parties to clean up the sites. Where responsible parties cannot be found, the Agency is authorized to clean up sites itself, using a special trust fund. Eligible sites for Superfund-financed cleanup are listed on the National Priorities List Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), made several important changes and additions to CERCLA including increasing the funding of Superfund to $8.5 billion and providing for studies and the use of new technologies National Priorities List - Answer The list of hazardous waste sites in the United States eligible for long-term remedial action (cleanup) financed under the federal Superfund program; intended primarily to guide EPA in determining which sites warrant further investigation Hazard Ranking System - Answer Scoring system used to evaluate potential relative risks to public health and the environment from releases or threatened releases of hazardous wastes at uncontrolled waste sites. Under the Superfund program, the EPA and state agencies use the HRS to calculate a site score (ranging from 0 to 100) based on the actual or potential release of hazardous substances from a site through air, surface water or groundwater. A score of 28.5 places the site on the National Priorities List, making the site eligible for long-term remedial action (i.e., cleanup) under the Superfund program. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) - Answer 1970 - Created the Council on Environmental Quality which oversaw the environmental impact of federal actions. Set up procedural requirements for all federal government agencies to prepare Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) of the environmental effects of proposed federal agency actions AICP exam prep(Preparing for the AICP exam - history, theory, law, planning process, subject area terms)2023 Categorical Exclusion - Answer a category of actions that the agency has determined does not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment Environmental Assessment - Answer a screening document used to determine if an agency will need to prepare either an EIS or construct a FONSI; determine the significance of the environmental effects and to look at alternative means to achieve the agency's objectives Finding of No Significant Impact - Answer If after investigation and drafting of the environmental assessment no substantial effects on the environment are found the agency may produce a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). A FONSI presents the reasons why an action will not have a significant effect on the human environment. Environmental Impact Statement - Answer A more detailed evaluation of the environmental impacts when compared to the content of the environmental assessment. An EIS is required to describe: • The environmental impacts of the proposed action; • Any adverse environmental impacts that cannot be avoided should the proposal be implemented; • The reasonable alternatives to the proposed action; • The relationship between local short-term uses of man's environment and the maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity; and • Any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources that would be involved in the proposed action should it be implemented. HOPE VI - Answer 1992, 1998 (begun in 1992, formal law in 1998) Eliminate distressed public housing - New Urbanist and Defensible Space ideas influence Standard Zoning Enabling Act - Answer 1926, US Dept of Commerce - issued in draft from in 1922, adopted by 43 states by 1926. -Tied zoning to the health, safety, morals or general welfare of the community -Regulations uniformly applied within a district -Not effective until there is a public hearing -Calls for a zoning commission to develop the zoning, hold a public hearing, then recommend to the legislative body -Board of Adjustment makes special exceptions to the zoning and grants variances (hardship relief) Standard City Planning Enabling Act - Answer 1928, US Dept of Commerce Defines a master plan and directs its development Planning commission has 9 members typically Plan will discuss general location and extent of public facilities, improvements, and utilities Plan addresses future needs AICP exam prep(Preparing for the AICP exam - history, theory, law, planning process, subject area terms)2023 Public hearing before adoption Approves subdivision plans, which have street plans and create new plat Sprawl (define) - Answer 1. Widely dispersed population in low-density residential development 2. Rigid separation of uses 3. Lack of distinct, thriving centers 4. Road network with large block sizes and poor access Typical block size in older cities - Answer 600x300 ft 180,000 sq ft or 4 acres Size of a typical "super" big box (Target, Walmart, etc.) - Answer 200,000 sq ft or more! Major GHG sectors and percents (US) - Answer Electric Power Industry: 33% Transportation: 28% Industry: 20% Commercial and Residential: 12% Agriculture: 7% (With electricity allocated - Transportation: 27% Industry: 29% Commercial and Residential: 35% Agriculture: 8%) Elements of the planning process - Answer Data gathering Data analysis Policy making Implementation Monitoring Goal-driven planning - Answer Establish long-range goals that guide the rest of the planning process Trend-driven planning - Answer Project current population and land use trends into the future and use as basis of planning (technical, not good as core of the process) Opportunity-driven planning - Answer Assess future opportunities and constraints to guide planning process Issue-driven planning - Answer Focus on critical issues facing the community (typically very results oriented) Vision-driven planning - Answer Overarching goal drives the entire process (differs from visioning), usually driven by a leader AICP exam prep(Preparing for the AICP exam - history, theory, law, planning process, subject area terms)2023 Basic concepts of system theory - Answer Everything is a system Every system is part of one or more larger systems Most systems are open systems that exchange energy with their environments (which are larger systems) National plane coordinate system - Answer Range lines (north and south) Township lines (east and west) Define townships - 36 square miles, broken into 36 sections (1 sq mile, 640 acres), which can then be divided into geometric parts Square feet in an acre - Answer 43,560 sq ft = 1 acre Feet in a mile - Answer 5,280 ft = 1 mile Acres in a square mile - Answer 640 acres = 1 sq mile Size of a section (surveying) - Answer 1 square mile / 640 acres