Clean Air Act

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Congress announced the purpose of the Clean Air Act in Title I: to “encourage or otherwise promote reasonable Federal, State, and local governmental actions . . . for pollution prevention.” It is noteworthy that Congress states that “air pollution prevention . . . and air pollution control at its source is the primary responsibility of States and local governments,” but the act pledges to provide federal financial help in “the development of cooperative Federal, State, regional, and local programs to prevent and control air pollution.”

The Clean Air Act authorized development of sweeping federal and state regulations that would limit air pollution from stationary sources (such as factories) and mobile sources (such as cars and airplanes). It created four plans that affected stationary sources. The first is the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. These standards were targeted at major polluting chemicals, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. The second is the State Implementation Plans. This portion of the act required the states to develop methods for reducing air pollutants and for meeting air-quality standards but specified that if a state failed (or refused) to form such a plan, the federal government could step in and administer the law in that state. The third proposal comprised New Source Performance Standards, the purpose of which was to determine how much pollution should be allowed by various industries in different regions of the country, particularly at newly constructed industrial facilities. Finally, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants specifies a list of nearly two hundred pollutants, from acetaldehyde to xylenes, and directs the EPA to develop standards for controlling them.

From the standpoint of the average citizen, perhaps one of the most visible effects of the Clean Air Act was its mandate to reduce auto emissions (Title II). In the twenty-first century, it seems almost comical to recall that prior to the Clean Air Act, it was not uncommon for the gas mileage of “gas-guzzling” passenger cars to be under ten miles per gallon. Gasoline at that time contained high concentrations of lead and other pollutants, and cars burned that gasoline inefficiently. The goal of the Clean Air Act was to reduce auto emissions by 90 percent.