Appendix I: Significant Dates in American Environmental History 297
United Nations Conference on Ozone Depletion held in Vienna.
Society for Conservation Biology founded.
Vienna Convention on Ozone Protection.
1986 Air Resources Board established in California.
Ronald Reagan reduces CAFE standard to 21-miles/gal.
1987 Water Quality Control Act.
Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act (Annex V of International Con-
vention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships) prohibits dumping of plastics at
sea.
Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone.
1988 Ocean Dumping Ban Act (Title I of 1972 Marine Protection, Research and Sanc-
tuaries Act) bans dumping of industrial waste and sewage sludge into ocean.
James Hansen’s Senate testimony on global warming sparks controversy on the
issue.
1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill leaks 35,000 tons of oil into Prince William Sound in Alaska.
Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous
Wastes and Their Disposal. Not ratified by U.S. Senate.
1990 Oil Pollution Control Act defines liability for oil spills.
Clean Air Act Amendments.
1991 United Nations moratorium on large drift nets (General Assembly action).
1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; Kyoto Protocol
added in 1997.
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de
Janeiro; it is the first “earth summit.”
International Convention on Biological Diversity. Not ratified by U.S. Senate.
1993 Chemical Weapons Treaty.
U.S. Green Building Council founded.
1994 California Desert Protection Act.
1996 Sustainable Fisheries Act requires the nation’s eight regional fishing councils to
adopt plans for fishery restoration and impose quotas where necessary.
Antarctica Environmental Protection Act prohibits mining in Antarctica for at
least fifty more years.
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).