To achieve new air quality goals and regulatory reform, the EPA has recently
added new amendments to the CAA. Specifically, the new laws
Encourage the use of market-based principles and other innovative
approaches such as performance-based standards and emissions trad-
ing. In emissions trading, a system used in the European Union, compa-
nies are issued permits and if they don’t use them, can sell them to
other companies who need them at a profit, with the overall effect of
reducing emissions
Provide a framework from which alternative clean fuels can be used by
setting standards in the fleet and California pilot program; these can be
met by the most cost-effective combination of fuels and technology
Advance the use of clean low sulfur coal and natural gas, as well as innov-
ative technologies to clean high sulfur coal through the acid rain program
Reduce enough energy waste and create enough of a market for clean
fuels derived from grain and natural gas to cut dependency on oil imports
by one million barrels/day
Promote energy conservation through an acid rain program that gives
utilities flexibility to obtain needed emission reductions through pro-
grams that encourage customers to conserve energy
Through provisions in the EPA, the United States government provides indi-
vidual states with funding to conduct scientific research, engage expert stud-
ies, and engineer new, environmentally oriented designs.
EPA Clean Water Act...........................................................................
Until changes were made to the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1977, it was known
as the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972. It is the main
federal law governing water pollution throughout America. There is also a
Clean Water Act of Ontario, Canada.
When the CWA was originally implemented, efforts focused on regulating dis-
charges from traditional “point source” facilities, such as municipal sewage
plants and industrial facilities, with little attention paid to runoff from con-
struction sites, farms, streets, and other “wet-weather” sources. Greater
attention is now being given to physical and biological integrity of the coun-
try’s waters, as well.
Over the last decade, programs endorsed by the CWA have shifted from
approaches focused on specific sources and pollutants to strategies that are
holistic and watershed-based. This new methodology emphasizes protecting
healthy waters as much as it does restoring damaged ones and addresses a
complete spectrum of concerns, as opposed to the simply looking at those
that are bound by the Act’s regulations. Another characteristic of the new
204 Part III: Going Green
