An Interactive History of the Clean Air Act

Scientific and Policy Perspectives

Jonathan M Davidson,Joseph M Norbeck

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9780123914507
• Topic: Scienze biologiche
• Subtopic: Scienze ambientali

The Clean Air Act of 1970 set out for the United States a basic, yet ambitious, objective to reduce pollution to levels that protect health and welfare. The Act set out state and federal regulations to limit emissions and the Environmental Protection Agency was established to help enforce the regulations. The Act has since had several amendments, notably in 1977 and 1990, and has successfully helped to increase air quality. This book reviews the history of the Clean Air Act of 1970 including the political, business, and scientific elements that went into establishing the Act, emphasizing the importance that scientific evidence played in shaping policy. The analysis then extends to examine the effects of the Act over the past forty years including the Environmental Protection Agency's evolving role and the role of states and industry in shaping and implementing policy. Finally, the book offers best practices to guide allocation of respective government and industry roles to guide sustainable development.

The history and analysis of the Clean Air Act presented in this book illustrates the centrality of scientific analysis and technological capacity in driving environmental policy development. It would be useful for policy makers, environmental scientists, and anyone interested in gaining a clearer understand of the interaction of science and policy.

• Offers an overview of the 1970 Clean Air Act and its subsequent effects
• Highlights the relationship between policy and scientific discovery
• Extracts lessons from the United States to apply to other policy and national contexts

1. Introduction and Overview

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the Clean Air Act’s unprecedented impacts on governments and affected businesses since 1970. These include an overriding national goal to protect public health and public welfare, a dramatic restructuring of federal and state mandates, and unyielding compliance demands for industries. It introduces two elements that are reflected throughout the remaining chapters. First, it traces a movement from an initial emphasis on litigating for policy clarification toward increased reliance on collaborative processes as primary initial forums. A second element that persists through stakeholder interactions is that disputes over underlying science-based findings and on technological capacities drive these determinations. These themes are reflected in the following chapters covering federal, state, industry, trade association, and regional consortiums in implementing air pollution control laws.

Keywords

Carbon monoxide; collaborative processes; criteria pollutants; epidemiological studies; National Ambient Air Quality Standards; performance standards; technology forcing

The United States Clean Air Act of 1970 (Clean Air Act) raised unprecedented implementation challenges for governments and affected industries. Nationally, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established health-based quality standards and directed states to implement control plans subject to federal certification. States responded with program initiatives to attain these levels within designated time frames. Companies initiated emission control technologies and production processes by necessity to comply with evolving federal and state regulations. Many escalated environmental issues to top-level management concerns. Automotive, chemical, and other industry-wide associations emerged as intermediaries on policy and technical issues. Comparably, states formed regional coalitions to address cross-jurisdictional air quality impacts.

This book traces the adaptive administrative and technological responses leading to the current framework for air pollution control policy. Through four decades, public–private and intergovernmental relationships continually center around three primary issue areas:

• the extent to which health-based scientific studies provide a basis for emission controls [National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and regulatory standards for toxic pollutants],

• the extent to which states must plan for and regulate air emissions subject to federal certification and sanctioning authority, and

• the extent to which national and state policies can require industries to implement timely emission control measures and technologies to meet compliance standards.

These concerns provide the underpinnings for ongoing Clean Air Act implementation.

Concurrently, the dynamics among EPA, states, industries, trade associations, and other stakeholders have evolved toward increased reliance on collaborative processes as first-choice arenas. These alternative contexts encourage open dialogue on scientific findings, government-implementation roles, and for determining acceptable control technologies.

1.1. The Historical Context for Clean Air Act Implementation

Until the mid-1960s, the federal role in air quality management focused on research and technical assistance. Pollution control administration remained in the domain of state and local administrators. While industries increased their attention to environmental concerns, these programs had limited authority within most management structures.

The 1970 Clean Air Act emerged as a remarkable bipartisan consensus among Congressional leaders. Its amendment of earlier legislation melded aspirations to protect public health and welfare, to implement national air quality standards, and to trust that American industrial innovation could reduce emission of harmful pollutants. An environmental initiative of this magnitude was exceptional at the time, and perhaps unimaginable in present political contexts.

Through the 1970s, litigation and intense Congressional debate became the primary forums for defining the Act’s overall implementation structure. Supreme Court decisions sustained EPA authority to issue national air quality standards. The Court also affirmed that states could not allow economic or technological limitations to trump regulatory measures. Further, states would be barred from allowing “significant deterioration” in areas already compliant with national standards. Amendments in 1977 codified this policy and extended compliance deadlines for automobile manufacturers and power plants.

Retrenchment in administrative commitment to environmental issues was an overriding marker in the 1980s.The EPA cut its budget, staff, and assistance to states as part of broader directives to reduce federal oversight. However, there were quieter innovations in state program approaches and cooperative agreements among automobile manufacturers to exchange pre-competitive research on emission reduction technologies.

Clean Air Act amendments in 1990 directed the EPA to regulate 189 toxic pollutants at their source. The scope of these provisions extended beyond larger-scale industries to businesses such as dry cleaners and photocopy stores. Pursuant to Title V, the agency developed performance standards for pollutants specified within this law through negotiations with trade associations, impacted businesses, and other stakeholders. This program also directed states to administer and finance these regulations.

The EPA’s addition of more stringent particulate standards in 1997 created widespread impacts on transportation planning as well as on industries and businesses. In December 2009, the agency designated greenhouse gases (CO₂, methane, nitrous dioxide, and chlorofluorohydrocarbons; GHG) as pollutants within the scope of Clean Air Act standards. This controversial process required an initial threshold acceptance of scientific consensus that global climate change was accelerating. A second, and far more controversial decision, was that societal actions were causative factors in these changes. The next determination was to identify key sources of GHG emissions based on empirical data. From that point, policies at all governmental levels must identify appropriate actions. Implementation options may include regulation, taxation, incentives, and other measures. International agreements and industry-accepted standards are additional considerations.

1.2. An Adaptive Regulatory Framework

The Clean Air Act, as amended in 1970 and 1990, continues to reframe relationships among governments and industries. It assigns a federal role to develop ambient air quality standards with authority to guide, certify, and sanction state implementation programs. It also delegates authority to the EPA to direct an expansive regulatory program for toxic pollutants. States are charged with the bulk of administering these requirements. Industries and businesses must continually adapt and develop technologies to comply with state and federal permit requirements.

Relations among environmental stakeholders have evolved from openly antagonistic stances toward emphasis on collaborative interactions. In the 1970s, the EPA’s authority for criteria pollutants, for protecting areas exceeding ambient air quality standards, and state implementation plan (SIP) guidance were resolved primarily via judicial challenges. The 1980s brought more collaborative exchange within industrial sectors. The Cooperative Research Act of 1984 provided an underlying framework for corporations to support pre-competitive scientific studies and develop pollution control technologies.

Following passage of the 1990 amendments, the EPA and states have adapted their strategies to promote more direct stakeholder involvement. Industrial and multi-state associations participate with environmental agency staffs through advisory and working groups. Formalized processes such as negotiated rulemaking provide alternatives to internal agency policy development prior to stakeholder participation. Federal–state, EPA–industry, and state–industry collaborative programs address shared air quality concerns.

Current relationships reflect the complex evolution of these interactions. The EPA’s headquarters office determines standards for criteria pollutants and rules for SIPs. While retaining ultimate authority, the central office delegates many significant interactions with state programs to its 10 regional offices. National staff works more directly with industry associations, state and multi-state representatives, and nongovernmental organizations on policy matters.

As currently structured, state environmental agencies retain central roles in planning and implementing air quality strategies. They have primary responsibilities for regulating emissions to meet their implementation plan goals. States may develop stricter standards provided that they can be supported by health impact research. For example, California developed motor vehicle emission standards based on its own findings. Each state must also administer and financially support the national Title V permit program for toxic emissions specified in the 1990 amendments. Multi-state consortiums convey broader regional concerns and participate in developing national policies.

Industries and utilities interact directly with states on regulatory matters. Trade associations convey their constituents’ interests in direct interactions with EPA’s national and regional staff. They also assist members in interpreting technologies required for regulatory compliance.

1.3. EPA and State Responses to Clean Air Act Mandates

Clean Air Act implementation led to dramatic institutional shifts for governments and affected industries. Initially, the EPA focused on setting standards for air quality and control technologies, and on guidance for state implementation planning. Since 1990, the agency’s scope has expanded to incorporate a detailed regulatory structure for toxic air pollutants. The EPA’s growth is reflected in a comparison between its first-year $1 billion budget and 4,000 employees¹ with a nearly $14 billion discretionary budget² for more than 17,000 employees in 2010. ³

¹United States Environmental Protection Agency, “EPA’s Budget and Spending,”http://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/budget.html (accessed October 2011).

²EPA, Fiscal Year 2010, Agency Financial Report, Section 2, p. 9 (2011).

³Ibid., Section 1, p. 2.

State programs have comparably expanded their primary implementation roles to meet NAAQS. SIPs are revised continually to ensure ongoing abatement in nonattainment areas and sustaining air quality in areas that meet current criteria. Multi-state organizations such as the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management and the Great Lakes Commission address common regional issues in controlling air emissions.

1.4. Industry and Trade Associations Respond to Technological Challenges

Industries have responded to Clean Air Act mandates with new technologies and escalated management attention. Beginning in the 1980s, motor vehicle and other manufacturers established collaborative research programs to improve overall efficiencies. Companies that responded proactively were able to market control technologies to others within their sectors. The overlay of federal Title V permits has required technologies and practices prescribed for comparable toxic source emitters.

As regulatory challenges expanded, trade associations emerged as intermediaries between members and government policy makers. Automobile, chemical, and other manufacturing interests interpret developments and advocate common interests. Corporate members balance the tensions of responding to industry-wide regulations while protecting their proprietary interests. Smaller-scale businesses such as dry cleaners, print shops, and paint retailers emulated this pattern to address technology standards for toxic pollutants. Trade associations have provided crucial assistance with common regulatory challenges, operating requirements, and applicable control technologies.

1.5. The Impact of Science–Policy Interactions on Clean Air Act Implementation

The Clean Air Act established two major programs with scientific and technological underpinnings. The 1970 amendments required that the NAAQS “accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge useful in indicating the kind and extent of all identifiable effects on public health or welfare.”⁴ The EPA responded by designating NAAQS for carbon monoxide, ozone, lead, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and for sulfur dioxide. These pollutants and their associated criteria were based on controlled studies measuring health impacts on at-risk persons. In developing health-based air quality standards, the agency accepted the underlying validity of its epidemiological studies.

⁴Clean Air Act 1970 amendments, 42 United States Code Section 4208.

In addition to the health-based quality standards for ambient air quality, the EPA has established rules designating acceptable technologies and practices for facilities that emit toxic air pollutants. These directives are formulated in conjunction with representatives for impacted source emitters. Typically, the EPA accepts consensus findings on technological feasibility and “best practices.” These underlying processes demand scientific rigor and advancing technologies. In tracing the evolution of these policy and regulatory developments, the chapters that follow can be framed within the following considerations:

• Is there a causative relationship between a designated pollutant or pollutant class. The accounts for the GHG designation and human health impairment via air emissions?

• If a causative relationship i...