Law Commons^™

Crossroads For Federal Enforcement Of The Clean Air Act, Joyce M. Martin

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

A major goal of the Clean Air Act 1 (hereinafter CAA or "Act") is to "protect and enhance the quality of the Nation's air resources." 2 The Act uses a two tiered approach to accomplish this goal. First, the Act focuses on the national attainment and maintenance of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for "criteria" pollutants, 3 and second, the Act also sets specific standards for known hazardous air pollutants (HAPS) 4 . The Act emphasizes throughout its text that air quality problems are national in scope and often cross state boundaries. 5 Congress clearly intended that enforcement of …