The Clean Air Act boasts of being a comprehensive federal law aimed at regulating air emissions from various sources. Since the introduction of the Act, it has proven useful in improving public health. The Act aimed at reducing emissions from the influence of air pollution, improving air quality. Rapid industrialization and urbanization, call for more concern on the issue of air pollution. The aim of the paper is to analyze the effect of the Clean Air Act on the economy with a focus on the programs and processes leading to the reductions of the six criteria. The Act makes use of several approaches to deal with pollution at the source. The six criteria of pollutants include lead, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, ground-level ozone, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide, (EPA, 2017). The EPA then has a role to ensure compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The standards provide guidelines for the allowed concentration of the various pollutants in the atmosphere. As Welker-hood (2012) explains, states develop their own regulations to ensure NAAQS compliance. The EPA provides the provision for hazardous air pollutants also known as air toxics that negatively affect the environment and public health. The Act provides set standards of operation for various entities such as factories that result in pollution through the activities they undertake in. There is a need for monitoring such entities to ensure that they comply with the laid out environmental regulations. The EPA assists in this case by ensuring compliance. Ignoring dangerous air pollutants presents devastating effects on the health of individuals. The pollutants vary in their effects, with the laid out six criteria being insufficient in addressing potentially harmful toxins. The clean air act provides provisions for the EPA to regulate hazardous air pollutants. Some of them include methylene chloride, asbestos, mercury, and liquids such as hexane. As explained by Walker (2013), the CAA amendment of 1990 provided for the formulation of a new particulate matter standard, (PM10) and placing requirements on the various polluting sources to obtain operating permits. The amendment provided the opportunity for economic growth and positively contributed to a decline in pollution levels. The reductions in this sense, broadened the scope of pollutants to include acid rain, urban air pollution, depletion of the ozone, and emission of toxic gases, (Ross, 2012). The idea behind the reductions was to expand the scope of the pollutants likely to cause harm to the environment. Following the amendment, the acid rain program was in place. As pointed out by Ross (2012), the program takes on a cap-and-trade approach. The effect is the reduction of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions. It is important to note that the pollutants were part of the six criteria. According to Hubbell et al. (2009), another program is the ARP, a cap and trade program for sulfur dioxide emission. The program allows for the provision of various allowances to entities. The entities then capitalize on the allowances as an incentive to ensure that the emissions do not go beyond a certain margin. The NOx budget trading program is another program that hopes to improve an understanding of ozone transport issues. The program developed the NOx SIP call requiring states to manage NOx emissions. CAA programs build on focus on specific pollutants with criteria pollutant emission programs being separate from programs addressing air toxic emissions. Controlling pollution remains at the center of building the economy and ensuring public safety. A way to reduce the emission of various pollutants, especially sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide involves combustion control and change in fuel sources. With combustion control, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are by-products of combustion from factories. One of the ways of managing their release into the atmosphere is through combustion control. With entities having a manner in which they monitor the combustion of material, it is possible to control emissions released into the atmosphere. Changes in fuel sources present a solution to reducing the emission of pollutants as they involve channeling of naturally based sources of energy such as solar and wind. This minimizes the release of byproducts associated with the use of fuel sources such as coal. Through reduced emissions, there is improved quality of life as the environment provides individuals with the opportunity to contribute effectively to growing the economy. Through improved productivity of individuals, they work to improve the economy. Through the establishment of various programs, entities are liable for their operations and ensure that they align their interests to favorable practices that protect the environment. The reduced emissions also reveal the importance of the CAA in its endeavor to provide a cleaner environment.
Conclusion
The act set the tone for the change in managing pollution by setting precedence for the conduct of various entities in managing pollution. It also provided sustainable guidelines for the management of air pollution. Some of the reductions made available in the amendments paved the way for the revolution of building a cleaner environment.
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References
Hubbell, B. J., Crume, R. V., Evarts, D. M., & Cohen, J. M. (2009). Policy monitor: regulation and progress under the 1990 clean air act amendments. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy , 4 (1), 122-138.
Ross, K., Chmiel, J. F., & Ferkol, T. (2012). The impact of the Clean Air Act. The Journal of pediatrics , 161 (5), 781.
WELKER-HOOD, K. R. I. S. T. E. N., GOTTLIEB, B., & SUTTLES, J. (2011). The Clean air act.
Walker, Reed. (2013). The Transitional Costs Of Sectoral Reallocation: Evidence from the clean air act and the workforce. Print.
