Can EPA regulations effectively lower the amount of greenhouse gas emissions?

Yes

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by Rita Mcconnell

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Although there is still along way to go in cleaning American air, there's no doubt much progress has been made. The overwhelming majority of those air quality improvements are due to the success of one most important piece of legislation: The Clean Air Act.

While cities and regions around the country had passed governance and rules regarding air pollution as far back as the 1880s, the first comprehensive national legislation to look thoughtfully at the problem was the Clean Air Act of 1963. Following a few eye-opening air pollution disasters, most notably a stagnant weather spell in the mill town of Donora, PA, which trapped emissions overhead killing 20 people and sickening thousands more, the federal government provided funding for the research and study of air pollution in the 1963 act.

But it wasn't until significantly bulking up the Clean Air Act in 1970 that true air quality improvement began to take place. The 1970 Act established for the first time the authority for federal and state regulations addressing air pollution from industrial and mobile sources. It established the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), New Source Performance Standards, State Implementation Plans and National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS). These developments happened just as the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established.

Further amendments in 1977 and 1990 created tighter requirements for areas deemed to be in non-attainment with the NAAQS, including restrictions related to industrial economic development and the withholding of federal transportation funds. The 1990 Amendments also created the Acid Rain Program, instituted requirements for the permitting of stationary air pollution sources, and brought about the phase out of chloroflourocarbons (CFCs).

The Clean Air Act and its subsequent additions and modifications have made a clear impact in the quality of the air American's breathe.

According to the EPA, since 1970 concentrations of major pollutants, including carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, sulfur dioxide; particulate matter (PM 10) and lead in the air have dropped by nearly 50 percent. Lead alone has dropped by nearly 90 percent, due to the phase out of leaded gasoline.

Additionall y, toxics from major industry, like chemical facilities, paper mills and refineries have fallen by almost 70 percent in the same time frame.

Under the 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments, while nitrogen oxide (NOx) from vehicles remained stable, particulate matter (soot) dropped by 22 percent and hydrocarbon emissions by 17 percent, even though the number of vehicle miles driven by Americans increased.

The Acid Rain program, which regulates sulfur dioxide (SO2) and NOx emissions from power plants, went into action in 1995. Through cap and trade, it has decreased SO2 by 41 percent from 1980 levels.

In a relatively short period of time, considering its numerous goals and the controversy surrounding it at each step, the Clean Air Act has made great strides in improving air quality around the country. Its successes offer real hope for new, serious regulation designed to attack the threats of global warming.

Yet the Clean Air Act has only started to work its magic. Significant portions have yet to be rolled out, and even at this writing, regulators, industry and various stakeholders are looking for solutions to questions raised in the Act, including how to deal with fine particulate matter, better known as PM 2.5. If the recent past is an indication of results yet to come, the Clean Air Acts will continue to be one of the most successful pieces of health-based legislation in American history.

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