Clean Air Act

IN RESPONSE TO GROWING concern for the quality of the environment, the Clean Air Act (CAA), first passed in 1970 and amended substantially in 1990, has grown from its original set of guidelines for states to regulate sources of air pollution to specific air-quality requirements and regulatory programs.

Authorized by the CAA of 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which was the traditional centerpiece of CAA regulations. The NAAQS addresses six pollutants that threaten public health and welfare: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, and lead. All states and cities and towns in the United States must have levels of these pollutants beneath the ceilings required by the NAAQS or face substantial “nonattainment” fines and penalties.

The CAA authorized the establishment of New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), which regulates the amount of permissible emissions from different classes of facilities. The NSPS requirements are set at levels that are attainable by using programs and systems of emissions reduction, while taking cost for businesses into consideration. However, the NSPS' primary concerns are air quality, environmental impact, and energy requirements, not cost.

The National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) is another major component of the CAA. It was created to detail and regulate pollutants that may result, or are anticipated to result, in a decrease in public health. So far, this list of potentially harmful air pollutants contains 189 hazardous substances. The 1990 CAA amendments required the EPA to set standard, permissible ceilings for the substances. The implementation of risk-management programs at businesses for dealing with potential releases of hazardous substances is also one of the new requirements of the 1990 CAA amendments.

The CAA amendments administered a specific system for acid rain, caused by sulfur dioxide emissions, describing a potential reduction of 10 million tons annually. The new system, which is marketbased, provides power plants, or other sulfur dioxide producers, with emissions allowances, which may be bought, sold, or traded with other companies. Other similar operating permit programs that regulate various air pollutants have been established, administered by state governments. These permits deal primarily with the construction of new businesses or sources of air pollution.

The CAA amendments also set requirements for the banning of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons to stop the depletion of the Earth's ozone layer and to comply with the Montréal Protocol, which set international guidelines to reduce depletion. Fines may be levied against those individuals or businesses that do not meet CAA standards. The CAA amendments legislated criminal penalties and potential jail time of up to 15 years for those who[Page 173] knowingly violated CAA standards, along with fines of up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations for each violation. Since November 15, 1990, when President George H. W. Bush signed the CAA amendments into law, the CAA has had far-reaching positive effects on public health and the environment.