Clean Air Act: History, Purpose and Goals, and Success and Failures

Clean Air Act
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Clean Air Act
History of the Clean Air Act
Over the years, the world has been suffering from air pollution. Even though air pollution occurs due to natural factors, others are due to artificial factors. Since air pollution has a negative environmental impact, most people were advocating for different measures that can help to manage it. For instance, there was smog in most of the country's cities and industrial centers. These cries caused the government to employ the clean air act. The Clean Air Act was enacted in 1963 (Currie & Walker, 2019). Since the following enactment, the Act has undergone a series of amendments. The main reason has been integrating more laws covering the current societal transformations.
Like most U.S. Federal environment statutes, this Act is also being controlled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the state and the other tribal governments. The EPA is usually responsible for developing regulations and enforcing law mandates. Furthermore, it also plays a critical role in creating associated regulatory programs that are complex and technical and then implementing the following regulations.
The statute has been divided into subchapters in the U.S. Code. However, the section numbers are not closely related to the subchapters. Nevertheless, the major bills that have been made laws are called "Titles." This process helps to number the law sections since they are numbered according to their title. Even though most statute parts are detailed, others have general outlines regarding the regulatory programs, leaving most key terms undefined. This instance has made the most responsible agencies, such as the EPA, develop administrative regulations for Congress's instruction.
Clean Air Act Purpose and Goals
In most instances, there are reasons which prompt the Act to be formulated. Even though most people are familiar with the Clean Air Act, most do not understand the main reasons which prompted this Act to be formulated. To successfully embrace this Act, it is critical to understand the purpose and goals the following Act was looking forward to achieving. One of the goals that this Act was looking forward to achieving was to ensure that economic growth continued in harmony with clean air. The main reason was that even though the country wanted to have economic development, this development was polluting the air. For instance, the people had set up industries in most areas with the most pollution.
The other goal of this Act was to look for measures to protect public health. Before this instance, there were several complaints where people cited air pollution as a major cause of their suffering. For instance, there has been an increase in people suffering from air pollution-related conditions (Wang, 2019). Furthermore, there was an uproar from some human rights organizations. The Clean Air Act sought to limit air pollution to prevent citizens from falling sick.
The other goal of the following Act was to protect flora and fauna. The U.S. government prioritizes its environment since they know it plays a part in its climate. However, it was evident that air pollution played a part in destroying some plants. This instance was interfering with the ecosystem. Furthermore, this instance also caused some animals to become extinct due to economic change. This instance affected the country's climate and tourism. The country was employing this Act to protect their animals and plants from being extinct.
Success and Failures of the Clean Air Act
The enactment of the Clean Air Act has been faced with general reactions from the general public. Some people are terming this Act successful, while others doubt its success. For instance, this Act has helped to protect American families and workers from air pollution (Schmalensee & Stavins, 2019). Since introducing the following Act, America has recorded fewer premature deaths and illnesses. For example, fewer people have asthma, bronchitis, and skin diseases. Furthermore, this Act has also helped reduce the damage that air pollution exposure to crops and forests. This Act has also helped improve workplace productivity since people can work for long hours since the...