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Clean Air Act (United States)

Clean Air Act
Great Seal of the United States
Long title An Act to improve, strengthen, and accelerate programs for the prevention and abatement of air pollution.
Acronyms (colloquial) CAA
Nicknames Clean Air Act of 1963
Enacted by the 88th United States Congress
Effective December 17, 1963
Citations
Public law 88-206
Statutes at Large 77 Stat. 392
Codification
Titles amended 42 U.S.C.: Public Health and Social Welfare
U.S.C. sections amended 42 U.S.C. ch. 85, subch. I § 7401 et seq.
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the House as H.R. 6518 by Kenneth A. Roberts (DAL) on July 9, 1963
  • Committee consideration by House Energy and Commerce
  • Passed the House on July 24, 1963 (275-104)
  • Passed the Senate on November 19, 1963 (passed voice vote, in lieu of S. 432)
  • Reported by the joint conference committee on December 5, 1963; agreed to by the House on December 10, 1963 (276-112) and by the Senate on December 10, 1963 (passed voice vote)
  • Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on December 17, 1963
Major amendments
Air Quality Act of 1967 (81 Stat. 485, P.L. 90-148)
Clean Air Act Extension of 1970 (84 Stat. 1676, P.L. 91-604)
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 (91 Stat. 685, P.L. 95-95)
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (104 Stat. 2468, P.L. 101-549)
United States Supreme Court cases
Union Elec. Co. v. EPA, 427 U.S. 246 (1976)
Chevron USA v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 467 U.S. 837 (1984)

The Clean Air Act is a United States federal law designed to control air pollution on a national level. 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. As with many other major U.S. federal environmental statutes, it is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in coordination with state, local, and tribal governments. Its implementing regulations are codified at 40 C.F.R. Subchapter C, Parts 50-97.

The 1955 Air Pollution Control Act was the first U.S federal legislation that pertained to air pollution; it also provided funds for federal government research of air pollution. The first federal legislation to actually pertain to "controlling" air pollution was the Clean Air Act of 1963. The 1963 act accomplished this by establishing a federal program within the U.S. Public Health Service and authorizing research into techniques for monitoring and controlling air pollution. In 1967, the Air Quality Act enabled the federal government to increase its activities to investigate enforcing interstate air pollution transport, and, for the first time, to perform far-reaching ambient monitoring studies and stationary source inspections. The 1967 act also authorized expanded studies of air pollutant emission inventories, ambient monitoring techniques, and control techniques.

Major amendments to the law, requiring regulatory controls for air pollution, passed in 1970, 1977 and 1990.

The 1970 amendments greatly expanded the federal mandate, requiring comprehensive federal and state regulations for both stationary (industrial) pollution sources and mobile sources. It also significantly expanded federal enforcement. Also, the Environmental Protection Agency was established on December 2, 1970 for the purpose of consolidating pertinent federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities into one agency that ensures environmental protection.


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Wikipedia

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