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United States Clean Air Act
 
 
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The United States Clean Air Act describes legislation
Legislation

Legislation is law which has been promulgation by a legislature or other governing body. The term may refer to a single law, or the collective body of enacted law, while "statute" is also used to refer to a single law....
 enacted by Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
 to control air pollution
Air pollution

Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural environment, into the Earth's atmosphere....
 on a national level. The first Clean Air Act was the Air Pollution Control Act
Air Pollution Control Act

The Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 was the first United States Clean Air Act enacted by United States Congress to address the national Environmental hazard of air pollution....
 of 1955, followed by the Clean Air Act of 1963, the Air Quality Act of 1967, the Clean Air Act Extension of 1970
Clean Air Act (1970)

The Clean Air Act Extension of 1970 is a United States federal law that requires the United States Environmental Protection Agency to develop and enforce regulations to protect the general public from exposure to air pollution that are known to be hazardous to human health....
, and Clean Air Act Amendments in 1977 and 1990. Numerous state and local governments have enacted similar legislation, either implementing federal programs or filling in locally important gaps in federal programs.

The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 proposed emissions trading
Emissions trading

Emissions trading is an administration approach used to control pollution by providing economics incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants....
, added provisions for addressing acid rain
Acid rain

Acid rain is rain or any other form of Precipitation that is unusually acidic. It has harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure....
, ozone depletion
Ozone depletion

Ozone depletion describes two distinct, but related observations: a slow, steady decline of about 4 percent per decade in the total volume of ozone in Earth stratosphere since the late 1970s, and a much larger, but seasonal, decrease in stratospheric ozone over Earth's polar regions during the same period....
 and toxic air pollution, and established a national permits program.






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The United States Clean Air Act describes legislation
Legislation

Legislation is law which has been promulgation by a legislature or other governing body. The term may refer to a single law, or the collective body of enacted law, while "statute" is also used to refer to a single law....
 enacted by Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
 to control air pollution
Air pollution

Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural environment, into the Earth's atmosphere....
 on a national level. The first Clean Air Act was the Air Pollution Control Act
Air Pollution Control Act

The Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 was the first United States Clean Air Act enacted by United States Congress to address the national Environmental hazard of air pollution....
 of 1955, followed by the Clean Air Act of 1963, the Air Quality Act of 1967, the Clean Air Act Extension of 1970
Clean Air Act (1970)

The Clean Air Act Extension of 1970 is a United States federal law that requires the United States Environmental Protection Agency to develop and enforce regulations to protect the general public from exposure to air pollution that are known to be hazardous to human health....
, and Clean Air Act Amendments in 1977 and 1990. Numerous state and local governments have enacted similar legislation, either implementing federal programs or filling in locally important gaps in federal programs.

The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 proposed emissions trading
Emissions trading

Emissions trading is an administration approach used to control pollution by providing economics incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants....
, added provisions for addressing acid rain
Acid rain

Acid rain is rain or any other form of Precipitation that is unusually acidic. It has harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure....
, ozone depletion
Ozone depletion

Ozone depletion describes two distinct, but related observations: a slow, steady decline of about 4 percent per decade in the total volume of ozone in Earth stratosphere since the late 1970s, and a much larger, but seasonal, decrease in stratospheric ozone over Earth's polar regions during the same period....
 and toxic air pollution, and established a national permits program. The amendments once approved also established new auto gasoline reformulation requirements, set Reid Vapor Pressure
Reid Vapor Pressure

Reid vapor pressure is a common measure of the Gasoline#Volatility. It is defined as theabsolute vapor pressure exerted by a liquid at 100 ?F as determined by the test method ASTM-D-323....
 (RVP) standards to control evaporative emissions from gasoline and mandated that the new gasoline formulations be sold from May-September in many states.

Recent history

In May 2007, President George W. Bush issued an executive order to cut greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles, spurred by a Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
 ruling that the United States Environmental Protection Agency? (EPA) may take action under the Clean Air Act to regulate GHG emissions from motor vehicles. Bush proposed the 20-in-10 bill
Bill (proposed law)

A bill is a proposed new law introduced within a legislature that has not been ratification, adopted, or received royal assent. Once a bill has become law, it is thereafter an Statute; but in popular usage the two terms are often treated interchangeably....
, a goal to reduce gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next ten years.

Bush sent the Congress a proposal that would meet it in two steps:
  • First, to set a mandatory fuel standard, requiring 35 billion gallons of renewable and other alternative fuels by 2017. This amounts to nearly five times the target previously set for 2012, and was intended to displace 15 percent of projected annual gasoline use in the United States.
  • Second, to continue the efforts to increase fuel efficiency by reforming and modernizing Corporate Average Fuel Economy
    Corporate Average Fuel Economy

    The Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations in the United States, first enacted by Congress in 1975, are federal regulations intended to improve the average Fuel economy in automobiles of automobile and light trucks sold in the US in the wake of the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo....
     (CAFE) Standards for cars, and extending the current Light Truck Rule, with the intention of reducing projected annual gasoline use in the United States by up to 8.5 billion gallons by 2017. This would bring a further 5 percent reduction that, in combination with increasing the supply of renewable and other alternative fuels, would bring the total reduction in projected annual gasoline use to 20 percent.

See also

  • Emission standards