The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990: Reduction of Acid Rain, Urban Air Pollution, and Environmental Policy

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The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments were a landmark effort to reduce air pollution through a variety of instruments including the use of a market-based system of trade-able pollution "permits" under its Title IV and Title V. This Archives Unbound collection consists of essential documents on the promulgation and implementation of the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990 and other environmental issues including endangered species and protection of American wetlands.

Air pollution is a significant drain on the health, economy, and environment of America. Adverse health affects range from mild eye irritation to death and birth defects. Reduced crop yields, "dead" lakes, and crumbling monuments are also caused by air pollution. Because of all these deleterious effects, America has been progressively expanding its efforts to control pollution since the first city smoke control ordinances were passed in 1881. The first major national strides were made in 1970 with the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and the 1970 Clean Air Act. The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments were a landmark effort to reduce air pollution through a variety of instruments including the use of a market-based system of trade-able pollution "permits" under its Title IV and Title V.

This Archives Unbound collection consists of essential documents on the promulgation and implementation of the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990 and other environmental issues including endangered species and protection of American wetlands.

Comprising various Staff and Office files from the Bush Presidency, this collection includes incoming letters, memoranda, reports, and printed material. Letters include routine correspondence from organizations such as the Environment Defense Fund, the Clean Air Working Group, the Utility Air Regulatory Group, National Environmental Development Association, American Paper Institute/National Forest Products Association, and the National Association of Manufacturers supporting or opposing specific provisions of the CAAA. In addition, there is correspondence between the staff in the Office of the Management and Budget (OMB), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other departments and congressional committees. Memoranda discuss the implementation and enforcement of the provisions of the CAAA; and drafts of different legislative rules responsive to CAAA, their notices in the Federal Registry, and public comments responsive to these notices. Reports comparing the House and Senate CAAA bills and the Bush administration's proposals based on detailed side-by-side and cost analyses are also included in this collection of documents. In addition, a compilation of CAAA mandated studies and research reports from 1990, a summary of President Bush's regulatory reform initiative, and papers on topics such as the Endangered Species Act and its economic effect, the evolution of the federal environmental policy, and climate change are included in this collection. Printed materials include news clippings, articles, and editorials from various sources such as the concerning environmental legislative proposals, President Bush's record on the environment, government regulation, and the Competitiveness Council. Finally, this collection contains speeches delivered by President Bush, EPA Administrator, William Reilly, and the Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, William Rosenberg, concerning the administration's environmental agenda and press releases and fact sheets issued by the White House, the Department of the Interior, and the EPA dealing with Bush administration initiatives and accomplishments on the environment and regulatory reform.

Publisher's Note: This collection comprises the FOIA Requests 2001-1865-F and 2001-1978-F, filed by the George H.W. Bush Library. All available documents, including those subsequently-opened and interfiled at the time of scanning, have been included. There are a very small number of individual documents that remain classified or unprocessed. "Document Withdrawal/Redaction Sheets" have been included in this collection. These withdrawal/redaction sheets itemize documents that have been withdrawn due to either national security or privacy restrictions, by the staff of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library.

01/01/1989 - 12/31/1991