Clean Air Act

     The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the comprehensive federal law that regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources.  Established in 1970, the CAA aims to clean and protect air in the United States.  The law authorizes the EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and public welfare and to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants.  If an air pollution is determined to be harmful to the health and welfare of current and future generations, it becomes an issue for the CAA.

     

     This is the case with carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions.  In 2009 the EPA found that these emissions are harmful as they cause climate change and ocean acidification.  These gases trap heat in the atmosphere and include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases and are produced by human activities.  Scientists warn that climate change can lead to more intense weather events causing deaths, and damage to property and infrastructure, among many other problems.  In the past few years, under the CAA, the EPA has been taking steps to limit greenhouse gas pollution.

Growth Areas and Emissions since the inception of the Clean Air Act in 1970

     Between 2010 and 2012, the EPA and the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration issued national greenhouse gas emission standards and fuel economy standards for cars and trucks for model years 2012-2025.  These standards are estimated to save 4 billion barrels of oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2 billion metric tons over the lifetimes of light duty vehicles produced in 2017-2025.  In 2011, the EPA and states began requiring preconstruction permits that limit greenhouse gas emissions from large new stationary sources.  As Kelsey has written about, in August of 2015, President Obama and the EPA announced the Clean Power Plan, which is a partnership created by the CAA.  In July of 2015, the EPA finalized a rule that prohibits certain uses of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a class of potent greenhouse gases.  These HFCs can be found in air-conditioning, refrigeration and other equipment.  With new technologies for this equipment and with the new rule, HFC emissions are estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of 54 to 64 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2025.

     

     Along with the reduction of greenhouse gases, the EPA is also working on protecting the ozone layer.  Under the Clean Air Act there are programs to ensure refrigerants and fire extinguishing agents are recycled properly, ensure that alternatives to ozone-depleting substances are evaluated for their impacts on human health and the environment, and ban the release of ozone-depleting substances during work on air conditioners and other refrigeration equipment.  The EPA also plans to phase-out ozone-depleting substances and continue to minimize the release of chemicals in use.

     The EPA encourages the development of products, technologies, and initiatives that reap co-benefits in climate change.  All of these regulations being taken by the EPA and other actors under the CAA are a good steps towards mitigating the problem of climate change in the United States.  It also encourages other nations to adopt similar strategies to reduce emissions to solve climate change.

Sources

http://www2.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-air-act

http://www3.epa.gov/otaq/climate/regulations.htm

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/B1C42A422851C64685257E760057D08F