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 effects include serious long-term losses in domestic output and employment, heavy cost burdens on manufacturing industries, and a resultant gradual contraction of the entire industrial base. The irony of this bleak scenario is that these economic hardships are borne with no real assurance they would be balanced by a cleaner, healthier environment.

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The National Association of Manufacturers, The New Republic, 1987
01/01/1987 | Full Details | Law(s): Clean Air Act of 1990

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

We just don't have the technology to comply [with Clean Air Act regulations]….[not even with] technology on the horizon.

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Ford Motor Company, Testimony, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. May 1989.
05/01/1989 | Full Details | Law(s): Clean Air Act of 1990

The Chamber said that the proposed legislation would [Amending the Clean Air Act would ] vastly increase the cost and complexity [of the law by more than $20 billion a year]

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Chamber of Commerce opposes the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act.
08/23/1990 | 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.