It has been Suggested that Post-World War II Concepts of Environmental Liability

Reading passage question

Question: It has been suggested that post-World War II concepts of environmental liability, as they pertain to hazardous waste, grew out of issues regarding (5) municipal refuse collection and disposal and industrial waste disposal in the period 1880-1940. To a great degree, the remedies available to Americans for dealing with the burgeoning hazardous (10) waste problem were characteristic of the judicial, legislative, and regulatory tools used to confront a whole range of problems in the industrial age. At the same time, these remedies were (15) operating in an era in which the problem of hazardous waste had yet to be fully recognized.

It is understandable that an assessment of liability was narrowly drawn and most (20) often restricted to a clearly identified violator in a specific act of infringement of the property rights of someone else. Legislation, for the most part, focused narrowly on clear threats to the public (25) health and dealt with problems of industrial pollution meekly if at all. Nevertheless, it would be grossly inaccurate to assume that the actions of American politicians, technologists, (30) health officials, judges, and legislators in the period 1880 -1940 have had little impact on the attempts to define environmental liability and to confront the consequences of hazardous waste. (35) Taken as a whole, the precedents of the late nineteenth through the mid- twentieth century have established a framework in which the problem of hazardous waste is understood and (40) confronted today.

Efforts at refuse reform gradually identified the immutable connection between waste and disease, turning eyesores into nuisances and nuisances (45) into health hazards. Confronting the refuse problem and other forms of municipal pollution forced cities to define public responsibility and accountability with respect to the (50) environment. The courts retained their role as arbiter of what constituted private and public nuisances, making it quite clear that they were not going to be left out of the process of defining (55) environmental liability in the United States. In the case of hazardous waste, precedents for behavior and remedial action were well developed by 1940.

“It has been suggested that post-World War II concepts of environmental liability.”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 4 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. The author's primary purpose is to discuss

1. contrasts in the legislative approaches to environmental liability before and after World War II
2. legislative trends which have been instrumental in the reduction of environmental hazardous waste
3. the historical and legislative context in which to view post-World War II hazardous waste problems
4. early patterns of industrial abuse and pollution of the American environment
5. the growth of an activist tradition in American jurisprudence

2. According to the passage, judicial assessments of liability in waste disposal disputes prior to World War II were usually based on

1. excessively broad definitions of legal responsibility
2. the presence of a clear threat to the public health
3. precedents derived from well-known cases of large-scale industrial polluters
4. restricted interpretations of property rights infringements
5. trivial issues such as littering, eyesores, and other public nuisances

3. With which of the following statements would the author be most likely to agree?

1. The growth of community responsibility for waste control exemplifies the tendency of government power to expand at the expense of individual rights.
2. Although important legal precedents for waste control were established between 1880 and 1940, today's problems will require radically new approaches.
3. While early court decisions established important precedents involving environmental abuses by industry, such equally pressing matters as disposal of municipal garbage were neglected.
4. Because environmental legislation between 1880 and 1940 was in advance of its time it failed to affect society's awareness of environmental problems.
5. The historical role of U.S. courts in defining problems of hazardous waste and environmental liability provides valuable traditions for courts today

4. The author mentions each of the following as pertaining to 1880-1940 America EXCEPT

1. the negligible contribution of technologists toward the problem of hazardous waste
2. the creation of precedents that would help future leaders address an environmental issue
3. the existence of regulatory tools to deal with industrial concerns
4. the forging of a link between the unsightly appearance and potential danger of industrial by-products
5. the incomplete recognition of the problems of hazardous waste

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