Because many states fail to meet mandated targets, the first set of clean air act amendments is adopted. This page provides an overview of the 1990 amendments to title ii of the clean air act, which were enacted to curb acid rain, urban air pollution and toxic air emissions. United states office of air 450k92001 environmental. On november 15, 1990, president bush signed into law the clean air act amendments of 1990. A bill to amend the clean air act to provide for attainment and maintenance of health protective national ambient air quality standards, and for other purposes. The 1990 clean air act amendments the 1990 amendments establish radically new propositions as a matter of federal law and repeal old, fundamental and successful provisions. A progress report the passage of the clean air act amendments of 1990 caaa has encouraoecl states to develop creative implementation plans in order to meet the ambient air quality stan clards that the act requires. The clean air act was major legislation passed to control air pollution in the united states.
The united states code is meant to be an organized, logical compilation of the laws passed by congress. They also contain provisions to provide additional unemployment benefits through the job training partnership act to workers laid off as a consequence of compliance with. National ambient air quality standards naaqs the clean air act, which was last amended in 1990, requires epa to set national ambient air quality standards 40 cfr part 50 for pollutants considered harmful to public health and the environment. The clean air act amendments of 19901 amendments transform the federal statute which regulates air pollution into a behemoth of over 700 pages in length. After the clean air act amendments of 1990, pollution taxes and permit markets became the preferred tools for environmental regulation. Animation explaining how the clean air act amendments of 1990 nearly eliminated the production of acid rain. We investigate what portion of reductions in ambient fine particulate matter pm 2. Bush in 1989, the clean air act amendments of 1990 substantially strengthened the clean air act, or caafirst passed in 1970in. The 1990 amendments also clean air act roles and responsibilities they also brief history of the clean air act i cloud which lingered for five days, in 6,000 of the towns 14,000 people. The degree to which federal policies, such as the clean air act caa, actually improve air quality is not fully understood. In re sponding to this challenge, state regu lators throughout the nation and.
At its top level, it divides the world of legislation into fifty topicallyorganized titles, and each title is further subdivided into any number of logical subtopics. In 1955, after many state and local governments had passed legislation dealing with air pollution, the federal government decided that this problem needed to. The act was last reauthorized and amended by the congress in 1990. This page provides an overview of the 1990 amendments to title vi of the clean air act, which were enacted to curb acid rain, urban air pollution and toxic air emissions. Department of energy laboratory operated by midwest research institute battelle bechtel contract no. The caa sets forth airquality standards and requirements to control pollutant release. The 1990 clean air act is a piece of environmental policy of the united states relating to the reduction of smog and air pollution.
Specifically the amendments were designed to curb four major threats to the environment and to the health of millions of americans. Its goals are to use safe loweremitting alternatives, employ lowemission. The clean air act amendments of 1990 included requirements that the epa perform periodic benefitcost analyses of the impact of the regulations. The clean air act,1 last reauthorized and amended by the congress in 1990, provides for a number of related programs designed to protect health and control air pollution. As state programs, sbeaps work together sharing tools and outreach materials. Chemical accident prevention and the clean air act amendments of 1990 may 1996 the caa, under s. The 1990 clean air act amendments established section 507 that requires each state establish a small business stationary source technical and environmental compliance assistance program. Section ii introduction to the federal clean air act and related programs. In june 1989 president bush proposed sweeping revisions to the clean air act. The act was passed in 1963, but important and major amendments were added to the original act in 1970 and 1990. The 1990 amendments to the clean air act were signed into law by president bush on november 15, 1990. The edits to this title deal with stratospheric ozone and global climate protection. On november 15, 1990 the clean air act was revised with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed into law by president george h.
The amendments add substantial new requirements to the clean air act of 1970,2 as previously amended in 1977. For all listings above which contain the word compounds and for glycol ethers, the following applies. Clean air act united states house of representatives. Keeping pace with the 1990 clear air act amendments. The federal role was strengthened in subsequent amendments, notably the clean air act.
Clean air act amendments legislative history senate report no. Unless otherwise specified, these listings are defined as including any unique chemical substance that contains the named chemical i. It follows the clean air act in 1963, the clean air act amendment in 1966, the clean air act 1970, and the clean air act amendments in 1977. The clean air act is the law that defines epas responsibilities for protecting and improving the nations air quality and the stratospheric ozone layer. Opportunities for promoting renewable energy final report december 11, 2000 national renewable energy laboratory 1617 cole boulevard golden, colorado 8040393 nrel is a u. The 1990 clean air act amendments revised section 112 to require issuance of technologybased standards for major sources and certain area sources. The last major change in the law, the clean air act amendments of 1990, was enacted by congress in 1990. In 1952, over 3,000 people died in what became known as londons carrying lanterns. The authors analyze the new permit program mandated by the 1990 amendments, which requires the creation of a state. Did the clean air act amendments of 1990 really improve. Legislation passed since then has made several minor changes.
Specifically the amendments were designed to curb four major. The clean air act amendments of 1990 established new programs and made major changes in the ways that air pollution is controlled. Act of 1963, which established funding for the study in 1970. The clean air act amendments of 1990 continue the federal acid rain research program and contain several new provisions relating to research, development and air monitoring.
Foundries prepare for clean air acts title v showdown. The clean air act amendments of 1990 proposed emissions trading, added provisions for addressing acid rain, ozone depletion and toxic air pollution, and established a national permits program. Act places new federal controls on small sources of air pollution that ultimately may affect. Clean air act amendments of 1990 while epa has completed the majority of the actions required by the 1990 amendments, it has not done so in accordance with all statutory deadlines. Publication date 1990 series report 101st congress, 2d session, house of representatives. Building on congressional proposals advanced during the 1980s, the president proposed legislation designed to curb three major threats to the nations environment and to the health of millions of americans. Clean air act text overview of the clean air act and air. These programs are often known as the small business environmental assistance programs or sbeap. D if, after the date of the enactment of the clean air act amendments of 1990, the administrator modifies the method of determining compliance with the national primary ambient air quality standard, a design value or other indicator comparable to 0. The amendments also established a national operating permits program to make the law more workable, and strengthened enforcement to help ensure better compliance with the act. This was the most recent of three significant development in environmental legislation in years, along with the clean air act of 1970 and the 1977 clean air act amendments.
The first was a retrospective analysis that estimated the benefits and costs of the initial clean air act regulations before 1990 by comparing the. Legislative history of the clean air act amendments of 1990 theodore l. Clean air act amendments of 1990 or 172a1 to the extent. The impact of the clean air act pubmed central pmc. Nioshtic2 publications search 20039481 effects of the. The plain english guide to the clean air act pinal county. The clean air act highlights of the 1990 amendments. Air pollution implementation of the clean air act amendments. The first 20 years of the clean air act programs from 1970 to 1990 resulted in the prevention of more than 205,000 premature deaths in the year 1990 alone. Complying with the clean air act amendments of 1990. Status of implementation and issues of the clean air act. Section 112 of the caa addresses emissions of hazardous air pollutants. Among other provisions, the act places new federal controls on small sources of air pollution that ultimately may affect hundreds of thousands of small american businesses. The clean air act identifies two types of national ambient air quality standards.
This article is the third in a threepart series on the clean air act and the 1990 amendments. Epas prospective study of the clean air act focuses on the effects of the 1990 clean air act amendments from 1990 through 2010 by estimating the incremental benefits of the 1990 amendments. Provisions for attainment and maintenance of national ambient air quality standards amends the clean air act to require state governors to designate areas within a state as nonattainment, attainment, or unclassifiable, with regard to air quality standards, and to submit such designations to the administrator of. Although important air pollution challenges remain, and we have much work left to do, the 1990 amendments have had. Senator sponsors bill to standardize federal accounting. The clean air act amendments of 1990 were signed into law as p. Although permit markets had been used in the united states as early as the 1970s, the clean air act amendments of 1990 ushered in an era of read more. The president received the bill from congress on november 14, 1990 and signed it on november 15, 1990. The probable effects of the clean air act amendment of 1990 on the production of coke in the united states resulting from the shutdown of several cokemaking plants by integrated steel producers in 19931995 or 2003 are addressed.
It was enacted by the 101st united states congress. The clean air act highlights of the 1990 amendments on november 15, 1990 the clean air act was revised with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed into law by president george h. Prior to 1990, caa the established a riskbased program under which only a few standards were developed. This act implements a comprehensive program for reducing air pollution focusing on the reduction of ambient that which is present in the. Those amendmentsparticularly the first six titles of the lawrequire the. The clean air acts economic benefits past, present and future.
To date, three indepth analyses have been performed. The clean air act amendments of 1990 list of hazardous air. The clean air act of 1990 contains a broad array of authorities to make the law more readily enforceable, thus bringing it up to date with the other major environmental statutes. It is one of the united states first and most influential modern environmental laws, and one of the most comprehensive air quality laws in the world. The edits to this title deal emissions from mobile sources.