In this entry, there is a focus on the development
of air quality standards in the United States since, to
a large degree, these activities have served as a
template for other countries. For comparative purposes, the World Health Organization’s Air Quality
Guidelines have also been summarized. Reference
will be made at several junctures to the distinction
between guidelines providing guidance for
policymakers versus standards that are legally binding and, in turn, may mandate certain actions. The
omission of detailed discussions of guidelines and
standards as developed and used in other countries
around the globe is not intended as a judgment of
their quality or utility.
The US Legal Framework for Air Quality
Standards
As concern mounted for the poor quality of air,
citizens increasingly turned to the government to
enact laws to restrict emissions and improve air
quality [7, 60]. Bachmann’s perspective is of special
interest since as a US EPA employee for more than
three decades, he had a central role in the setting of
NAAQS. Readers interested in legal details of the
Clean Air Act and NAAQS will find the summary
of Martineau and Novello [33] useful. Initially, these
air quality initiatives were focused at the local level
in major cities around the world. In the United
States, heavily industrialized cities, such as Pittsburgh, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit, enacted
legislation setting local standards. In most cases,
these early standards focused on smoke.
By the mid-twentieth century in the United
States, it had become apparent that local efforts
on air pollution control were not sufficient, and
complementary efforts were needed at the state or
national level. At the national level in the United
States post-WWII, the lead agency for air quality
was the Division of Air Pollution of the Public
Health Service within the Department of Health,
Education and Welfare. The Air Pollution Control
Act of 1955 [60] provided funding to the PHS for
air pollution control research and to support the
state’s efforts. However, the impact of this Act on
progress in managing air quality was limited.
In 1963, the Clean Air Act (CAA) was passed,
which became the principal national statute in the
United States concerned with air quality [14]. The
original CAA [14] directed the then Department of
Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) to “compile
and publish criteria on the effects of air pollutants,”
hence the identification of “criteria pollutants” and
“criteria documents” summarizing the scientific
knowledge on certain air pollutants arising from
multiple sources and found across the United
States. The National Air Pollution Control Administration (NAPCA) within HEW was initially
assigned responsibility of administering the CAA.
The role of NAPCA was strengthened with the
CAA Amendments of 1967. However, in the
absence of a specific time schedule progress
remained slow. A single document on SO 2 was
developed [32]. When the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created in 1970 by
consolidating numerous existing federal agencies,
responsibility for administering the CAA was
effectively transferred from NAPCA to the EPA.
In 1970, almost coincident with creation of the
US Environmental Protection Agency, major
amendments to the CAA were passed that opened
a new era in managing air quality in the United
States [15]. The Clean Air Act as amended is a
very broad piece of legislation. The sections dealing with the establishment of National Ambient
Air Quality Standards are a key part of the Act and
are viewed by many individuals as the core of the
Act. Other sections of the Act provide authority
for implementing processes to achieve attainment
of the NAAQS and otherwise in improving air
quality. This includes a delegation of responsibility to the individual States for taking steps to attain
the NAAQS. This includes the development of
State Implementation Plans if the States have
areas that are not in attainment with regard to
any specific NAAQS as evaluated by the concentration and statistical form of the Standard.
Other sections of the Act address both Stationary and Mobile Sources and the control of their
emissions. This includes specific emission standards for vehicles and provision for issuance of
fuel efficiency goals that in the course of being
achieved impact on air quality. The rigid “command and control” and standard-setting approach
of the United States contrasts sharply with the
guidance approach taken by the World Health
Organization (WHO).
Air Quality Guidelines and Standards
17
of air quality standards in the United States since, to
a large degree, these activities have served as a
template for other countries. For comparative purposes, the World Health Organization’s Air Quality
Guidelines have also been summarized. Reference
will be made at several junctures to the distinction
between guidelines providing guidance for
policymakers versus standards that are legally binding and, in turn, may mandate certain actions. The
omission of detailed discussions of guidelines and
standards as developed and used in other countries
around the globe is not intended as a judgment of
their quality or utility.
The US Legal Framework for Air Quality
Standards
As concern mounted for the poor quality of air,
citizens increasingly turned to the government to
enact laws to restrict emissions and improve air
quality [7, 60]. Bachmann’s perspective is of special
interest since as a US EPA employee for more than
three decades, he had a central role in the setting of
NAAQS. Readers interested in legal details of the
Clean Air Act and NAAQS will find the summary
of Martineau and Novello [33] useful. Initially, these
air quality initiatives were focused at the local level
in major cities around the world. In the United
States, heavily industrialized cities, such as Pittsburgh, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit, enacted
legislation setting local standards. In most cases,
these early standards focused on smoke.
By the mid-twentieth century in the United
States, it had become apparent that local efforts
on air pollution control were not sufficient, and
complementary efforts were needed at the state or
national level. At the national level in the United
States post-WWII, the lead agency for air quality
was the Division of Air Pollution of the Public
Health Service within the Department of Health,
Education and Welfare. The Air Pollution Control
Act of 1955 [60] provided funding to the PHS for
air pollution control research and to support the
state’s efforts. However, the impact of this Act on
progress in managing air quality was limited.
In 1963, the Clean Air Act (CAA) was passed,
which became the principal national statute in the
United States concerned with air quality [14]. The
original CAA [14] directed the then Department of
Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) to “compile
and publish criteria on the effects of air pollutants,”
hence the identification of “criteria pollutants” and
“criteria documents” summarizing the scientific
knowledge on certain air pollutants arising from
multiple sources and found across the United
States. The National Air Pollution Control Administration (NAPCA) within HEW was initially
assigned responsibility of administering the CAA.
The role of NAPCA was strengthened with the
CAA Amendments of 1967. However, in the
absence of a specific time schedule progress
remained slow. A single document on SO 2 was
developed [32]. When the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created in 1970 by
consolidating numerous existing federal agencies,
responsibility for administering the CAA was
effectively transferred from NAPCA to the EPA.
In 1970, almost coincident with creation of the
US Environmental Protection Agency, major
amendments to the CAA were passed that opened
a new era in managing air quality in the United
States [15]. The Clean Air Act as amended is a
very broad piece of legislation. The sections dealing with the establishment of National Ambient
Air Quality Standards are a key part of the Act and
are viewed by many individuals as the core of the
Act. Other sections of the Act provide authority
for implementing processes to achieve attainment
of the NAAQS and otherwise in improving air
quality. This includes a delegation of responsibility to the individual States for taking steps to attain
the NAAQS. This includes the development of
State Implementation Plans if the States have
areas that are not in attainment with regard to
any specific NAAQS as evaluated by the concentration and statistical form of the Standard.
Other sections of the Act address both Stationary and Mobile Sources and the control of their
emissions. This includes specific emission standards for vehicles and provision for issuance of
fuel efficiency goals that in the course of being
achieved impact on air quality. The rigid “command and control” and standard-setting approach
of the United States contrasts sharply with the
guidance approach taken by the World Health
Organization (WHO).
Air Quality Guidelines and Standards
17