This survey is designed to provide the general reader with some basic background on the legal aspects of the effort to achieve environmental quality. The first chapter discusses the structure of federal environmental control in terms of newly established agencies and recently enacted legislation. Other chapters deal individually with air, water, and noise pollution within the framework of the process and causes of these types of pollution, and a review of the relevant legislative controls. Two other chapters take up pesticides, and land use within a similar framework. One entire chapter is devoted to procedural aspects of environmental law. It discusses fundamental problems faced by environmental lawyers, and strategies they frequently employed. The International Role in Environmental Quality is the subject of another section. It discusses the activities of the Unite d Nations and other intergovernmental bodies, bilateral cooperation, and the activities of nongovernmental organizations. The text concludes with summaries of federal anti-pollution legislation; selected state air and water pollution control statutes; and excerpts from leading cases on environmental law. Appendices provide the texts of environmental documents, and other resources. (Author/JLB)