Long title | An Act to improve, strengthen, and accelerate programs for the prevention and abatement of air pollution. |
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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 | |
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Major amendments | |
Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act of 1965 (79 Stat. 992, Pub.L. 89–272) Air Quality Act of 1967 (81 Stat. 485, Pub.L. 90–148) Clean Air Act Extension of 1970 (84 Stat. 1676, Pub.L. 91–604) Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 (91 Stat. 685, Pub.L. 95–95) Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (104 Stat. 2468, Pub.L. 101–549) |
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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) Whitman v. American Trucking Ass'ns, Inc., 531 U.S. 457 (2001) |
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.
It was first amended in 1965, by the Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act, which authorized the federal government to set required standards for controlling the emission of pollutants from certain automobiles, beginning with the 1968 models. A second amendment, the Air Quality Act of 1967, 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.
Amendments approved in 1970 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, EPA 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.