Making ready for the Clean Air Act

Five areas of the Clean Air Act have become particularly controversial. The first four date from the 1970 amendments: EPA's national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), its emissions standards for new or substantially modified sources, the system of local control of air polluters under state plans filed with EPA, and the automobile emissions standards. The fifth area, introduced in the 1977 amendments, is that of prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) in parts of the country where air quality exceeds the national standards. In considering them here, we briefly review the history of each provision, discuss the logic behind the approach that Congress or EPA took, identify the problems that have resulted, and suggest some ways of dealing with those problems. We then take up the larger issue of how economic balance and incentives can best be brought into air quality regulation.