What Has Been Done to Reduce Mercury Emissions?
In the 1960s and 1970s the American public became increasingly concerned about the effect of pollution on human health and the environment. In response, Congress enacted a number of measures designed to protect the national environment. In 1970 Congress passed the Clean Air Act, the comprehensive federal law that regulates emissions from all sources. Its purpose is to protect the quality of the nation’s air resources, promote public health, and assist in developing air pollution prevention and control programs. Its initial goal was to achieve mandated standards by 1975. The act was amended in 1977 to strengthen pollution controls and again in 1990 to meet unaddressed problems such as acid rain and hazardous air pollutants. In 1970 Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect the environment by controlling and reducing all types of environmental pollution. As mandated by the Clean Air Act, the EPA was required to establish technology-based federal standards for
