What are the two features of command-and-control regulation? Go back and reread Section 13.1, 13.2, or 13.3 and explain to what degree the national legislation covering air, water, and land has these two features. Give examples.

Section 13.1

Section 13.2

Section 13.3

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The original CAA, passed in 1963, focused on federal assistance to the states. Major amendments to the CAA occurred in 1970, 1977, and 1990 and have shaped the national regulatory framework. The CAA (as amended) mandates a safety standard. Standards are to be set to "provide an adequate margin of safety ... to protect the public... from any known or anticipated adverse effects associated with such air pollutants in the ambient air." Congress explicitly ruled out a consideration of costs and benefits in the attainment of this goal. Yet, as we saw in Chapter 7, completely safe levels of many pollutants, short of zero discharge, do not exist. One of the difficulties the EPA has had in implementing the CAA has been in hammering out a politically acceptable definition of safety. The CAA distinguishes two types of air pollutants. First are the so-called criteria (or common) air pollutants: particulates, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, ground-level ozone (smog), and lead. All these pollutants generate a variety of respiratory and heart-related problems, some contribute to cancer, and lead also causes neurological diseases. Ground-level ozone, better known as smog, should not be confused with ozone in the upper atmosphere. Ground-level ozone is a harmful pollutant, while the ozone layer surrounding the earth provides a shield protecting us from dangerous ultraviolet rays. Similarly, carbon monoxide (CO)-the fatal gas that accumulates in a closed garage when the car is running-should not be confused with carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide, which is the major contributor to global warming, is also emitted from cars but does not directly harm human health. In addition to the criteria pollutants, Congress was also concerned about other less common air pollutants, which are also carcinogenic or interfere with reproductive, immune, or neurological systems. These pollutants, now called hazardous air pollutants or air toxics, are also regulated under a safety standard, but in a different manner than the criteria pollutants. For the criteria pollutants, Congress directed the EPA to develop National Ambi- ent Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Ambient air quality refers to the average quality of air in a particular region. Each criteria pollutant was to be given a primary standard, designed to protect human health, and a secondary standard that focused on protecting