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Federal Water Pollution Control Act
This act was the first major U.S. law to address water pollution and it establishes and structures discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States. The act also regulates the standards for the surface waters. Basically this act made it unlawful to empty any pollutant from a paint source into navigable waters. -
National Air Pollution Control Act
This act declared that air pollution was a danger to the public health and welfare. This act is extremely important because it was the first federal air pollution legislation and it was created or intended to provide research and technical assistance to enable the control of air pollution at its source. -
Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act of 1963 authorized the development of a national program to address air pollution related environmental problems. This act also authorized research into techniques to reduce air pollution from stationary sources such as power plants and steel mills. The act contained no provisions for the federal government to actively combat air pollution by punishing polluters. -
Wilderness Act
The wilderness Act of 1964 created the national wilderness preservation system and the act provided criteria for determining suitability and establishing restrictions on activities that can be detrimental on a designated area. This act actually defined wilderness as areas where the earth and communities of life are left unchanged by people. -
National Emissions Standards Act
The National Emissions Standards Act of 1965 is considered a federal framework within which automobile pollution has been regulated and the whole purpose of this act was to establish a national automobile pollution standard. The National Emissions Standards Act is also sometimes called the Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act. -
Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act
The Motor Vehicle Air Pollution control Act was enacted in 1965 and it was enacted to focus more specifically on automobile emissions and standards. The act called for a reduction of hydrocarbons and a 56% reduction of carbon monoxide. The act also called for a 100% reduction of crankcase hydrocarbons. -
Solid Waste Disposal Act
The Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965 was passed by congress as part of the amendments to the clean air act and it was the first law that required environmentally sound methods for disposal of commercial, household, municipal and industrial waste as well. The purpose of this act was to promote better management of solid wastes and support resource recovery. -
California Air Resources Board
The California Air Resources Board was formed in 1967 and it is the Clean Air agency in the government of California. The board has specific goals such as attaining and maintaining a healthy air quality and also protecting the public from exposure to toxic air contaminations. The California Air Resources Board is also referred to as CARB or ARB. -
Air Quality Act
The Air Quality act was enacted in 1967 in order to expand federal government activities. The Air Quality Act also authorized to further expand the studies of air pollution and emission inventories, ambient monitoring techniques and control techniques. The Air Quality Act is also known as the Clean Air Act of 1967. -
Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act
The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act was enacted in 1969 and it is also known as the coal act. This act included surface as well as underground coal mines within its scope to require two annual inspections of every surface coal mine and four underground coal mine. This act dramatically increased federal enforcement power in the coal mines. -
National Environmental Policy Act
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was enacted on January 1, 1970 and this act required federal agencies to intergrate environmental values into their decision making processes by considering the environmental impact of their proposed actions and also reasonable alternatives to those actions purposed. It is said to be one of the first laws ever written that establishes the broad national framework for protecting our environment. -
Environmental Quality Improvement Act
The Environmental Quality Improvement Act of 1970 states that congress declares findings that man has caused changes in the environment and that many of these may affect the relationship between man and his environment. Furthermore, this act states that population increases and urban concentration contribute directly to pollution and the degradation of our environment. The purpose was to assure that each Federal department and agency conducted or supported public works activities. -
Clean Air Act (Extension)
The Clean Air Act of 1970 allowed the development of comprehensive federal and state regulations to limit emissions from both stationary (industrial) sources and mobile sources. Furthermore, four major regulatory programs affecting stationary sources were initiated called; the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, State Implementation Plans,
New Source Performance Standards and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants. -
Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act
The Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was signed by President Richard Nixon and what the law did was give the Federal Government the authority to set and enforce safety and health standards for most of the country's workers. This act was the result of a hard fought legislative battle which began in 1968. -
Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act
The Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act of 1971 gave the The Secretary of Health and Human Services the ability to prohibit the application of lead-based paint to any cooking utensil, drinking utensil, or eating utensil manufactured and distributed after January 13, 1971. The act also to prohibit the use of lead-based paint in residential structures constructed or rehabilitated by the Federal Government. -
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act was first passed in 1947, however it was rewritten in 1972. When this act was first passed it established procedures for registering pesticides with the U.S department of Agriculture and it established labeling provisions. Now it has strengthen the registration process by shifting the burden of proof to the chemical manufacturer. -
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act of 1972 basically established the basic structure for regulating the discharge of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters as well. The origin of the Clean Water Act was enacted in earlier years however; it was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The reason for the change was because the act was significantly reorganized and expanded. -
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 was important to both domestic and international conservation because it provided a framework to conserve and protect endangered and threaten species and their habitats. This act also includes plants. The EPA provides States with financial assistance to develop and maintain conservation programs to aid the species. -
Safe Drinking Water Act
The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 was passed to protect the public by regulating the nation’s public drinking water supply. The act authorized the EPA to set national health-based standards for drinking water to protect against both naturally-occurring and man-made contaminants that may be found in our drinking water. -
Hazardous Materials Transportation Act
The Hazardous Materials Transportation Act of 1975 was made to regulate the transportation of hazardous materials and to protect against the risks to life, property and the environment. This applies to the transportation of hazardous materials on the interstate, intrastate and foreign commerce. The act was mainly passed to improve existing regulations for hazardous materials. -
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 gave the EPA the authority to control hazardous waste from the “cradle-to-grave” meaning the generation, transportation, treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous waste. The act also provided the framework for the management of non-hazardous solid wastes and it increased the enforcement authority for the EPA. -
Toxic Substances Control Act
The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 provided the EPA with the authority to require the reporting and record keeping as well as the testing requirements and the restrictions relating to chemical substances and/or mixtures. The act also addresses the production and importation as well the use and disposal of specific chemicals like PCBs -
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 was enacted after the United States Congress recognized the need to regulate mining activity, rehabilitate abandoned mines, and protect society and the environment from the adverse effects of mining operations. Before the act, surface coal mining landowners had simply abandoned mine sites. -
National Energy Conservation Policy Act
The National Energy Conservation Policy Act of 1978 enabled the united States department of energy to set Minimum Energy Performance Standards otherwise known as MEPS, to replace those set by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) in 1975. The act also gave the DOE the control to establish procedures for the submission, approval, implementation, and monitoring of residential energy conservation plans by state utility regulatory authorities. -
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 provided a superfund to clean up uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites as well as accidents, spills, and other emergency releases of pollutants and contaminants into the environment. The EPA was given power to seek out those parties responsible for any release and assure their cooperation in the cleanup. -
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980 basically stated that Fish and wildlife are of ecological, educational, esthetic, cultural, recreational, economic, and scientific value to the nation. This act helped restore and maintain fish and wildlife. The act also helps assure a productive and more esthetically pleasing environment for all citizens. -
Nuclear Waste Policy Act
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 established an inclusive national program for the safe, permanent disposal of highly radioactive wastes. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act created a timetable and procedure for establishing a permanent, underground repository for high-level radioactive waste by the mid-1990s, and some temporary federal storage of waste. -
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 was created in response to environmental and safety hazards concerns. The act requires covered emergency planning and "Community Right-to-Know" reporting on hazardous and toxic chemicals for the public. The Community Right-to-Know provisions help increase the public's knowledge and access to information on chemicals at individual facilities, their uses, and releases into the environment. -
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act
The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act amended the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). SARA reflects the EPA important changes and additions to the program. SARA basically stressed the importance of permanent remedies and innovative treatment technologies in cleaning up hazardous waste sites, required Superfund actions to consider the standards and requirements found in other State and Federal environmental laws and regulations. -
Water Quality Act
The Water Quality Act of 1987 is an amendment to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (the Clean Water Act) to authorize specified research, investigation, and training programs in water pollution control, State and interstate pollution control programs, undergraduate programs in water quality control and grants for developing waste treatment management plans for areas with substantial water quality control problems. -
Basel Convention
The Basel convention of 1989 was created to address increasing concerns over the management, disposal and transboundary movements of hazardous wastes. The treaty is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries. -
Montreal Protocol
The Montreal Protocol of 1989 was created to reduce the production and consumption of ozone depleting substances in order to reduce their abundance in the atmosphere, and thereby protect the earth’s ozone layer. The Montreal Protocol includes a unique adjustment provision that enables the Parties to the Protocol to respond quickly to new scientific information and agree to accelerate the reductions required on chemicals already covered by the Protocol. -
Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act
The Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 also known as Title X, was created to protect families from exposure to lead from paint, dust, and soil. The law appointed EPA to require the disclosure of known information on lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards before the sale or lease of most housing built before 1978. -
North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act
The North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act of 1993 was made so that Mexico, Canada and the United States could eliminate most tariffs on trade between these nations. The three countries phased out numerous tariffs, with a particular focus on those related to agriculture, textiles and automobiles, to encourage economic activity between the United States, Mexico and Canada. -
Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice
The Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice of 1994 required federal actions to address environmental justice in minority populations and low-income populations. The order directs federal agencies to identify and address the disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of their actions on minority and low-income populations, to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law also directs each agency to develop a strategy for implementing justice. -
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol of 1998 is an international treaty, which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The treaty commits the State Parties to reduce greenhouse gases emissions, based on the premise that global warming exists and man-made CO2 emissions have caused it. The goal is to help global warming by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. -
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21)
The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century of 1998 authorized federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit for the 6-year period 1998-2003. The act requires that seven planning factors be included in regional transportation plans such as increasing the safety and security of the transportation system for motorized and non-motorized users. -
California AB 1493
The California AB 1493 of 2002 s the first legislation in the world to regulates greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles. The AB 1493 will require automakers to cut CO2 emissions from cars and light trucks by the 2008 model year, and it directs the California Air Resources Board to determine by how much emissions should be reduced. -
o Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users of 2005 guaranteed funding for highways, highway safety, and public transportation totaling $244.1 billion. This act represents the largest surface transportation investment in our Nation's history. This act addresses challenges such as improving safety, reducing traffic congestion, improving efficiency in freight movement, increasing intermodal connectivity, and protecting the environment. -
Energy Independence and Security Act
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 aims to aims to move the United States toward greater energy independence and security, increase the production of clean renewable fuels, protect consumers, increase the efficiency of products, buildings, and vehicles and promote research on and deploy greenhouse gas capture and storage options.
