The Role of the
Federal Government
& the Role of the States
The Clean Air Act is
a federal law covering the entire country, the states do much of the
work to carry out the Act. For example, a state air pollution agency
holds a hearing on a permit application by a power or chemical plant
or fines a company for violating air pollution limits.
Under this law, EPA
sets limits on how much of a pollutant can be in the air anywhere in
the United States. This ensures that all Americans have the same
basic health and environmental protections. The law allows
individual states to have stronger pollution controls, but states
are not allowed to have weaker pollution controls than those set for
the whole country.
The law recognizes
that it makes sense for states to take the lead in carrying out the
Clean Air Act, because pollution control problems often require
special understanding of local industries, geography, housing
patterns, etc.
States are charged
with the duty to develop state implementation plans (SIPs)
that acts as a plan to reduce pollution to become compliant with
basic health standards. The EPA must approve each SIP, and if
a SIP isn't acceptable, EPA can take over enforcing the Clean Air
Act in that state.
Interstate Air
Pollution
Air pollution often
travels from its source in one state to another state. In many
metropolitan areas, people live in one state and work or shop in an-
other; air pollution from cars and trucks may spread throughout the
interstate area. The 1990 Clean Air Act provides for interstate
commissions on air pollution control, which are to develop regional
strategies for cleaning up air pollution. The 1990 Clean Air Act
includes other provisions to reduce interstate air pollution.
Permits
One of the major
breakthroughs in the 1990 Clean Air Act is a permit program
for larger sources that release pollutants into the air.
The permit includes
information on which pollutants are being released, how much may be
released, and what kinds of steps the source's owner or operator is
taking to reduce pollution, including plans to monitor
(measure) the pollution. The permit system is especially useful for
businesses covered by more than one part of the law, since
information about all of a source's air pollution will now be in one
place. The permit system simplifies and clarifies businesses'
obligations for cleaning up air pollution and, over time, can reduce
paperwork. For instance, an electric power plant may be covered by
the acid rain, hazardous air pollutant and non-attainment (smog)
parts of the Clean Air Act; the detailed information required by all
these separate sections will be in one place--on the permit.
Enforcement
The 1990 Clean Air
Act gives enforcement powers to EPA. It used to be very
difficult for EPA to penalize a company for violating the Clean Air
Act. EPA has to go to court for even minor violations. The 1990 law
enables EPA to fine violators, much like a police officer giving
traffic tickets. Other parts of the 1990 law increase penalties for
violating the Act and bring the Clean Air Act's enforcement powers
in line with other environmental laws.
Deadlines
The 1990 Clean Air
Act sets deadlines for EPA, states, local governments and
businesses to reduce air pollution. The deadlines in the 1990 Clean
Air Act were designed to be more realistic than dead- lines in
previous versions of the law, so it is more likely that these
deadlines will be met.
Public participation
Public
participation is a very important part of the 1990 Clean Air
Act. Throughout the Act, the public is given opportunities to take
part in determining how the law will be carried out. For in- stance,
you can take part in hearings on the state and local plans for
cleaning up air pollution. You can sue the government or a source's
owner or operator to get action when EPA or your state has not
enforced the Act. You can request action by the state or EPA against
violators.
The reports required
by the Act are public documents. A great deal of information will be
collected on just how much pollution is being released; these
monitoring (measuring) data will be available to the public. The
1990 Clean Air Act ordered EPA to set up clearinghouses to
collect and give out technical information. Typically, these
clearinghouses will serve the public as well as state and other air
pollution control agencies.
See the list at the
end of this summary for organizations to contact for additional
information about air pollution and the Clean Air Act. |
