Policy Evolution under the Clean Air Act

Richard Schmalensee and Robert Stavins

No 25309, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The U.S. Clean Air Act, passed in 1970 with strong bipartisan support, was the first environmental law to give the Federal government a serious regulatory role, established the architecture of the U.S. air pollution control system, and became a model for subsequent environmental laws in the United States and globally. We outline the Act’s key provisions, as well as the main changes Congress has made to it over time. We assess the evolution of air pollution control policy under the Clean Air Act, with particular attention to the types of policy instruments used. We provide a generic assessment of the major types of policy instruments, and we trace and assess the historical evolution of EPA’s policy instrument use, with particular focus on the increased use of market-based policy instruments, beginning in the 1970s and culminating in the 1990s. Over the past fifty years, air pollution regulation has gradually become much more complex, and over the past twenty years, policy debates have become increasingly partisan and polarized, to the point that it has become impossible to amend the Act or pass other legislation to address the new threat of climate change.

JEL-codes: Q28 Q40 Q48 Q54 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env, nep-his, nep-reg and nep-res
Note: EEE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published as Richard Schmalensee & Robert N. Stavins, 2019. "Policy Evolution under the Clean Air Act," Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol 33(4), pages 27-50.

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Journal Article: Policy Evolution under the Clean Air Act (2019)
Working Paper: Policy Evolution under the Clean Air Act (2018)
Working Paper: Policy Evolution under the Clean Air Act (2018)
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