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Notice
On July 11, 2008, the D.C. Circuit vacated EPA's Clean Air Interstate Rule. EPA is reviewing the Court's decisions and evaluating its impacts.
Read the Court's Opinion (PDF) (60pp, 221k)
On February 8, 2008, the D.C. Circuit vacated EPA's rule removing power plants from the Clean Air Act list of sources of hazardous air pollutants. At the same time, the Court vacated the Clean Air Mercury Rule. EPA is reviewing the Court's decisions and evaluating its impacts.
Read the Court's Opinion (PDF) (18pp, 51k)
The Clean Air Rules are a suite of actions that will dramatically improve America's air quality. Three of the rules specifically address the transport of pollution across state borders (the Clean Air Interstate Rule, Clean Air Mercury Rule and Clean Air Nonroad Diesel Rule). These rules provide national tools to achieve significant improvement in air quality and the associated benefits of improved health, longevity and quality of life for all Americans. Taken together, they will make the next 15 years one of the most productive periods of air quality improvement in America's history.
The Clean Air Rules of 2004 encompass the following major rules:
Clean Air Interstate
Rule
The Clean Air Interstate Rule (originally proposed as the Interstate Air
Quality Rule) provides states with a solution to the problem of power
plant pollution
that drifts from one state to another. The rule uses a cap and trade system
to reduce the target pollutants by 70 percent.
Mercury Rule
EPA issued the Clean Air Mercury Rule (originally proposed as the
Utility Mercury Reductions Rule) on March 15, 2005. This rule will
build on the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) to reduce mercury emissions
from coal-fired power plants, the largest remaining domestic source
of human-caused mercury emissions. Issuance of the Clean Air Mercury
Rule marks the first time EPA has regulated mercury emissions from
utilities, and makes the U.S. the first nation in the world to control
emissions from this major source of mercury pollution.
Nonroad Diesel Rule
The Clean Air Nonroad Diesel Rule will change the way diesel engines
function to remove emissions and the way diesel fuel is refined
to remove sulfur.The black puff of smoke you see coming from construction
and other nonroad diesel equipment will be gone forever. The Rule
is one of EPA's Clean
Diesel Programs, which together will result in the most dramatic
improvement in air quality since the catalytic converter was first
introduced a quarter century ago.
Ozone Rules
The Clean Air Ozone Rules (dealing with 8-hour ground-level ozone
designation and implementation) designate those areas whose air
does not meet the health-based standards for ground-level ozone.
The ozone rules classify the seriousness of the problem and require
states to submit plans for reducing the levels of ozone in areas
where the ozone standards are not met.
Fine Particle Rules
The Clean Air Fine Particle Rules (dealing with PM 2.5 designations
and implementation) designate those areas whose air does not meet
the health-based standards for fine-particulate pollution. This
requires states to submit plans for reducing the levels of particulate
pollution in areas where the fine-particle standards are not met.