Clean Air Act of 1990

Clean Air Act of 1990

The 1990 Clean air Act amendments reduced sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide by instituting a two phase cap and trade program.  Phase I applied to the largest sources of emissions, and phase II applied to nearly all fossil fuel power plants.  Additionally, this act required the complete phase-out of lead in fuels by 1995 and encouraged the use of low sulfur fuels.  It mandated the use of Best Available Control Technologies (BACT) for major sources of pollution.  These amendments authorized a program to control 189 toxic pollutants, including those previously regulated by the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.  Finally, these amendments mandated the phase-out of certain ozone depleting CFCs, including some refrigerants.

Commentary

US Capitol building

Darrel Issa’s Government Handover

January 05, 2011
Clean Fuel

The Historical Record of Job Growth and Environmental Protection: A Convenient Truth for Climate Legislation

June 18, 2009
smokestack and dirty air

Crying Wolf Again: Big Business Gearing up for a Fight Against Obama’s Environmental Program

May 11, 2009

Cry Wolf Quotes

The present state of knowledge on the causes and effects of acid rain is, at best, ambiguous… There is time for science to guide the public policy debate.

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National Association of Manufacturers. 1987.
01/01/1987 | Full Details | Law(s): Clean Air Act of 1990

In January 1990, the DuPont Company testified that accelerating the phase-out of ozone-depleting CFCs to July 1, 1996, would cause ‘severe economic and social disruption.’

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The DuPont Chemical Company, Testimony, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. January 1990.
01/01/1990 | Full Details | Law(s): Clean Air Act of 1990

This study leaves little doubt that a minimum of 200,000 (plus) jobs will be quickly lost, with plants closing in dozens of states. This number could easily exceed 1 million jobs-and even 2 million jobs--at the more extreme assumptions about residual risk.

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The U.S. Business Roundtable, cited in NRDC Blog, 1990
01/01/1990 | Full Details | Law(s): Clean Air Act of 1990

[We are] certain [that] the large installed inventory which we depend upon in this country cannot survive. … We will see shutdowns of refrigeration equipment in supermarkets. … We will see shutdowns of chiller machines, which cool our large office buildings, our hotels, and hospitals.

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The Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. January, 1990.
01/01/1990 | Full Details | Law(s): Clean Air Act of 1990

Evidence

Backgrounders & Briefs

Good Rules: Ten Stories Of Successful Regulation

Demos looks at ten laws and rules that we take for granted.