Congressional Research Service Reports - 404 Matching Results
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- Particulate Matter Air Quality Standards: Background and Current Developments
- Following a brief summary of recent developments regarding the implementation and re-evaluation of the 1997 standards, this report provides a broad overview of the standard-setting process, followed by a description of revisions to earlier standards, legal challenges to the 1997 standard, and particulate matter health effects research. EPA’s ongoing progress in reviewing the 1997 standard is then summarized. Other activities that potentially impact the implementation and review of the particulate matter standards, such as other air quality regulations and proposed legislation, are also discussed in this report.
- Air Quality Standards and Sound Science: What Role for CASAC?
- This report discusses the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which are standards that define what EPA considers to be clean air. Their importance stems from the long and complicated implementation process that is set in motion by their establishment.
- Ozone Air Quality Standards: EPA's 2015 Revision
- This report discusses the standard-setting process, the specifics of the current and most recent reviews, and issues that may be raised as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) brings the current review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone to completion.
- The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Particulate Matter (PM): EPA's 2006 Revisions and Associated Issues
- This report provides an analysis of the EPA's final 2006 revisions to the particulates National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), and an overview of the estimated costs and benefits of the revised standards and of more stringent alternatives analyzed. The report highlights concerns and issues raised regarding the 2006 revisions to the particulates standards, including those of the science advisory committee (CASAC), and actions in Congress.
- Ozone Air Quality Standards: EPA's 2015 Revision
- This report discusses the standard-setting process, the specifics of the current and most recent reviews, and issues that may be raised as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) brings the current review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone to completion.
- EPA's Upcoming Ozone Standard: How Much Will Compliance Cost?
- This report briefly discusses upcoming changes in climate policy and cost associated with them. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is under a court order to complete a review of its ambient air quality standard for ozone (the "ozone NAAQS") by October 1, 2015. The agency must propose any change to the standard by December 1 of [2014].
- Ozone Air Quality Standards: EPA's 2015 Revision
- This report discusses the standard-setting process, the specifics of the most recent reviews, and issues raised by the final rulemaking for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone. The rule sets more stringent standards, lowering both the primary (health-based) and secondary (welfare-based) standards from 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 70 ppb.
- Air Quality Standards and Sound Science: What Role for CASAC?
- This report discusses the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which are standards that define what EPA considers to be clean air. Their importance stems from the long and complicated implementation process that is set in motion by their establishment.
- Air Quality Standards and Sound Science: What Role for CASAC?
- This report discusses the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which are standards that define what EPA considers to be clean air. Their importance stems from the long and complicated implementation process that is set in motion by their establishment.
- Air Quality Standards and Sound Science: What Role for CASAC?
- This report discusses the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which are standards that define what EPA considers to be clean air. Their importance stems from the long and complicated implementation process that is set in motion by their establishment.
- Air Quality Standards and Sound Science: What Role for CASAC?
- This report discusses the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which are standards that define what EPA considers to be clean air. Their importance stems from the long and complicated implementation process that is set in motion by their establishment.
- 2006 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5): Designating Nonattainment Areas
- This report focuses primarily on the NAAQS implementation process for designating geographical nonattainment areas with respect to the tightening of the PM2.5 standards under the 2006 particulates NAAQS, including comparisons with the final designations under the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS. Also included is a brief overview of states' subsequent obligations for developing and submitting implementation plans (SIPs) for attaining or maintaining compliance with the NAAQS.
- Climate Change and Existing Law: A Survey of Legal Issues Past, Present, and Future
- Report that surveys existing law for legal issues that have arisen, or may arise in the future, on account of climate change and government responses thereto.
- Clean Air Issues in the 112th Congress
- Report providing a brief overview of the climate change, power plant, and air quality standard issues, as well as information on other Clean Air Act issues that the 112th Congress has addressed.
- Clean Air Permitting: Status of Implementation and Issues
- This report describes the statutory background of the Title V program and the status of implementation, in terms of federal approval of state and local permitting authorities and permit issuance. It also discusses broad policy issues identified by various stakeholders, including program complexity and costs, and inconsistencies due to a lack of sufficient federal guidance.
- Global Environment Facility (GEF): Overview
- The report provides an overview regarding the establishment and the role of Global Environment Facility (GEF).
- Federal Pollution Control Laws: How Are They Enforced?
- This report provides an overview of the statutory framework, key players, infrastructure, resources, tools, and operations associated with enforcement and compliance of the major pollution control laws and regulations administered by EPA. It also outlines the roles of federal (including regional offices) and state regulators, as well as the regulated community.
- Air Quality: EPA’s 2006 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- In order to better understand EPA’s actions, this report provides an analysis of the agency’s final 2006 revisions to the particulates NAAQS, and the estimated costs and benefits of the new standards and of a more stringent alternatives analyzed. The report concludes by highlighting concerns and issues raised regarding the revisions to the particulates standards, including those of the science advisory committee (Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, or CASAC), and actions in Congress.
- Air Quality and Emissions Trading: A Primer
- This report briefly discusses the extent to which emissions trading has been used in the United States, explains how trading programs work, analyzes factors that can influence the effectiveness of trading, and examines some of the principal arguments related to the use of trading to control air pollution.
- Key Historical Court Decisions Shaping EPA’s Program Under the Clean Air Act
- This report provides a selective overview of court decisions that historically have most shaped EPA’s program under the Clean Air Act (CAA).
- Air Quality: EPA’s 2006 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- In order to better understand EPA’s actions, this report provides an analysis of the agency’s final 2006 revisions to the particulates NAAQS, and the estimated costs and benefits of the new standards and of a more stringent alternatives analyzed. The report concludes by highlighting concerns and issues raised regarding the revisions to the particulates standards, including those of the science advisory committee (Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, or CASAC), and actions in Congress.
- Air Quality: EPA's 2006 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- On October 17, 2006,3 the EPA published its revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulates to provide protection against potential health effects associated with short- and long-term exposure to particulate matter (including chronic respiratory disease and premature mortality). In order to better understand EPA's actions, this report provides an analysis of the agency's final 2006 revisions to the particulates NAAQS, and the estimated costs and benefits of the new standards and of more stringent alternatives analyzed.
- Federal Pollution Control Laws: How Are They Enforced?
- This report provides an overview of the statutory framework, key players, infrastructure, resources, tools, and operations associated with enforcement and compliance of the major pollution control laws and regulations administered by EPA. It also outlines the roles of federal (including regional offices) and state regulators, as well as the regulated community.
- Clean Air Permitting: Status of Implementation and Issues
- This report describes the statutory background of the Title V program and the status of implementation, in terms of federal approval of state and local permitting authorities and permit issuance. It also discusses broad policy issues identified by various stakeholders, including program complexity and costs, and inconsistencies due to a lack of sufficient federal guidance.
- Global Environment Facility (GEF): Overview
- This report discusses the Global Environment Facility (GEF), serves as a primary source of funding for several major international environmental concerns. It was designed to provide incremental additional funding for development projects, in order to allow incorporation of environmental considerations in four specified areas: climate change, ozone depletion, biological diversity, and international waters. In recent years, land degradation and persistent organic pollutants have been added to its agenda. The GEF has provided funding to more than 1,300 projects in 140 nations. Although the United States has participated in the GEF since its inception, its level of contributions to the GEF has varied widely, from $30 million in 1994 to a high of $167 million in 1999, and to $80 million in 2006.
- Air Quality: EPA’s 2006 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- In order to better understand EPA’s actions, this report provides an analysis of the agency’s final 2006 revisions to the particulates NAAQS, and the estimated costs and benefits of the new standards and of a more stringent alternatives analyzed. The report concludes by highlighting concerns and issues raised regarding the revisions to the particulates standards, including those of the science advisory committee (Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, or CASAC), and actions in Congress.
- Air Quality: EPA’s 2006 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- In order to better understand EPA’s actions, this report provides an analysis of the agency’s final 2006 revisions to the particulates NAAQS, and the estimated costs and benefits of the new standards and of a more stringent alternatives analyzed. The report concludes by highlighting concerns and issues raised regarding the revisions to the particulates standards, including those of the science advisory committee (Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, or CASAC), and actions in Congress.
- Air Quality: EPA’s Proposed Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- This report summarizes the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) proposed changes to the particulate matter (PM) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) and includes comparisons with previous (1997) and current promulgated and proposed standards.
- Air Quality: EPA’s 2012 Proposed Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- This report summarizes the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) June 2012 proposed changes to the particulate matter (PM) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) and includes comparisons with previous (1997) and current (2006) promulgated and proposed standards. Key actions leading up to the June 2012 proposal, and potential issues and concerns associated with the proposal to strengthen the PM2.5 annual standard, are also highlighted.
- Air Quality: EPA’s 2006 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- In order to better understand EPA’s actions, this report provides an analysis of the agency’s final 2006 revisions to the particulates NAAQS, and the estimated costs and benefits of the new standards and of a more stringent alternatives analyzed. The report concludes by highlighting concerns and issues raised regarding the revisions to the particulates standards, including those of the science advisory committee (Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, or CASAC), and actions in Congress.
- Air Quality: EPA’s 2006 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- In order to better understand EPA’s actions, this report provides an analysis of the agency’s final 2006 revisions to the particulates NAAQS, and the estimated costs and benefits of the new standards and of a more stringent alternatives analyzed. The report concludes by highlighting concerns and issues raised regarding the revisions to the particulates standards, including those of the science advisory committee (Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, or CASAC), and actions in Congress.
- Air Quality: EPA’s 2006 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- In order to better understand EPA’s actions, this report provides an analysis of the agency’s final 2006 revisions to the particulates NAAQS, and the estimated costs and benefits of the new standards and of a more stringent alternatives analyzed. The report concludes by highlighting concerns and issues raised regarding the revisions to the particulates standards, including those of the science advisory committee (Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, or CASAC), and actions in Congress.
- Key Historical Court Decisions Shaping EPA's Program Under the Clean Air Act
- This report provides a selective overview of court decisions that historically have most shaped the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) program under the Clean Air Act (CAA).
- Federal Citations to the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases
- This report compiles a table of Federal Register notices related to federal regulatory actions that specifically cite the social cost of carbon (SC-CO2), SC-CH4 (social cost of methane), SC-N2O (social cost of nitrous oxide), or SC-GHG (social cost of greehnouse gases).
- The Global Climate Change Initiative (GCCI): Budget Authority and Request, FY2010-FY2013
- The United States supports international financial assistance for global climate change initiatives in developing countries. The Global Climate Change Initiative (GCCI) aims to integrate climate change considerations into U.S. foreign assistance through a full range of bilateral, multilateral, and private sector mechanisms to foster low-carbon growth, promote sustainable and climate-resilient societies, and reduce emissions from deforestation and land degradation. The GCCI is implemented through programs at three "core" agencies—the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)—and is funded through the Administration's Executive Budget, Function 150 account, for State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. As Congress considers potential authorizations and/or appropriations for activities administered through the GCCI, it may have questions concerning U.S. agency initiatives and current bilateral and multilateral programs that address global climate change.
- Air Quality: EPA's 2012 Proposed Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- This report summarizes the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) June 2012 proposed changes to the particulate matter (PM) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) and includes comparisons with previous (1997) and current (2006) promulgated and proposed standards. Key actions leading up to the June 2012 proposal, and potential issues and concerns associated with the proposal to strengthen the PM2.5 annual standard, are also highlighted.
- Federal Agency Actions Following the Supreme Court's Climate Change Decision: A Chronology
- This report presents a chronology of major federal agency actions, mainly by the Environmental Protection Agencey (EPA), in the wake of Massachusetts v. EPA. In this case, the Court held that greenhouse gases (GHGs), widely viewed as contributing to climate change, constitute “air pollutants” as that phrase is used in the Clean Air Act (CAA). As a result, said the Court, the U.S. EPA had improperly denied a petition seeking CAA regulation of GHGs from new motor vehicles by saying the agency lacked authority over such emissions.
- Federal Agency Actions Following the Supreme Court's Climate Change Decision: A Chronology
- On April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court rendered one of its most important environmental decisions of all time. In Massachusetts v. EPA, the Court held that greenhouse gases (GHGs), widely viewed as contributing to climate change, constitute "air pollutants" as that phrase is used in the Clean Air Act (CAA). As a result, said the Court, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had improperly denied a petition seeking CAA regulation of GHGs from new motor vehicles by saying the agency lacked authority over such emissions. This report presents a chronology of major federal agency actions, mainly by EPA, in the wake of Massachusetts v. EPA.
- Air Quality: EPA’s 2013 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- This report summarizes the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed changes to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) and includes comparisons with previous (1997 and 2006) promulgated and proposed standards.
- Air Quality: EPA's 2013 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- This report summarizes the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) January 15, 2013, final and June 2012 proposed changes to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) and includes comparisons with previous (1997 and 2006) promulgated and proposed standards. Key actions leading up to the agency's determination, and potential issues and concerns associated with changing the Particulate Matter annual standard, are also highlighted.
- Air Quality: EPA's 2013 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- This report summarizes Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) January 15, 2013, final and June 2012 proposed changes to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) and includes comparisons with previous (1997 and 2006) promulgated and proposed standards. Key actions leading up to the agency's determination, and potential issues and concerns associated with changing the Particulate Matter annual standard, are also highlighted.
- Air Quality: EPA's 2013 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- This report summarizes the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed changes to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) and includes comparisons with previous (1997 and 2006) promulgated and proposed standards.
- Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS)
- This report discusses carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), but not other types of carbon sequestration activities whereby CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and stored in vegetation, soils, or oceans.
- Greenhouse Gas Reduction: Cap-and-Trade Bills in the 110th Congress
- This report discusses the Cap-and-Trade Bills in the 110th Congress which are meant to advance market-based greenhouse gas reduction programs, similar to the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. The report presents a side-by-side comparison of the major provision in each of the bills and includes a glossary of common terms.
- Ozone Air Quality Standards: EPA's 2007 Proposed Changes
- This report provides background on the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), the process used to establish them, the existing ozone standard, and EPA's proposal, as well as information regarding the potential effects of any revision to the standard.
- Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements
- This report summarizes the Clean Air Act and its major regulatory requirements. It describes the Act's major provisions and provides tables listing all major amendments, with the year of enactment and Public Law number, and crossreferencing sections of the Act with the major U.S. Code sections of the codified statute.
- The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative: Lessons Learned and Issues for Policy Makers
- The first section of this report provides an overview of the RGGI cap-and-trade program and the participating RGGI states. The subsequent sections discuss selected issues raised by RGGI that may be of interest to policy makers. The final section provides some final observations that may be instructive to policy makers.
- Market-Based Greenhouse Gas Control: Selected Proposals in the 111th Congress
- This report discusses several legislative proposals that would control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The proposals offered to date would employ market-based approaches--either a cap-and-trade or carbon tax system, or some combination thereof--to reduce GHG emissions.
- Climate Change: Potential Regulation of Stationary Greenhouse Gas Sources Under the Clean Air Act
- This report discusses the EPA's authority to control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from stationary sources under the Clean Air Act, and the various options that EPA could exercise.
- Costs and Benefits of Clear Skies: EPA's Analysis of Multi-Pollutant Clean Air Bills
- This report examines EPA's analysis and adjusts some of its assumptions to reflect current regulations. The most important adjustment is the choice of baseline. The agency’s analysis assumes as a baseline that, in the absence of new federal legislation, EPA and the states will take no additional action to control SO2, NOx, Hg, or CO2 emissions beyond those actions finalized by mid-2004. This baseline is put forth despite three rules recently promulgated by EPA that limit SO2, NOx, and Hg emissions on a timeframe similar to that proposed by the Clear Skies legislation.