Congressional Research Service Reports - 44 Matching Results

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Air Quality: EPA’s Proposed Ozone Transport Rule, OTAG, and Section 126 Petitions — A Hazy Situation?

Description: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently engaged in a series of regulatory actions to address the transport of ozone pollution in the eastern United States. This report reviews this situation with respect to an EPA-proposed Ozone Transport Rule and other activities.
Date: May 14, 1998
Creator: Parker, Larry & Blodgett, John E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Air Quality: EPA's Ozone Transport Rule, OTAG, and Section 216 Petitions - A Hazy Situation?

Description: The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments provided the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states with new tool to address the problem of interstate transport of air pollutants. This report discusses the actions undertaken as a direct result of this act, additional pollution reduction enforcement measures pursued by the EPA, and actions undertaken by states to reduce offending emissions not in compliance with these measures.
Date: June 15, 1999
Creator: Parker, Larry & Blodgett, John E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Highway Fund Sanctions and Conformity Under the Clean Air Act

Description: This report discusses two Clean Air Act provisions that can result in denial of federal highway funding to local areas: sanctions and the lapse of what is called "conformity." Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is required to impose highway fund or other sanctions on areas that have not submitted or not implemented adequate plans to attain air quality standards. In addition, federal agencies may not provide financial support to transportation impro… more
Date: October 15, 1999
Creator: McCarthy, James E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Air Quality: EPA's Proposed Ozone Transport Rule, OTAG, and Section 216 Petitions - A Hazy Situation?

Description: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently engaged in a series of regulatory actions to address the transport of ozone pollution in the eastern United States. This report reviews this situation with respect to an EPA-proposed Ozone Transport Rule and other activities.
Date: May 14, 1998
Creator: Parker, Larry & Blodgett, John E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The D.C. Circuit Remands the Ozone and Particulate Matter Clean-Air Standards:

Description: On May 14, 1999, in American Trucking Ass'ns v. EPA, a U.S. court of Appeals ruled that deficiencies in EPA's promulgation of new primary and secondary air quality standards required that they be remanded to the agency for further consideration. The decision is controversial, in part because the two-judge majority opinion relied principally on a long-moribund legal doctrine known as the nondelegation doctrine. The decision, if it survives appeal, will thus have implications for all delegations … more
Date: June 10, 1999
Creator: Meltz, Robert & McCarthy, James E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Highway Funding, the States, and New Air Quality Standards

Description: The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), PL. 102-240, set aside $6 billion from FY1992 to FY1997 for the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ) to assist states in complying with federal air quality standards by funding transportation projects that lower emissions.
Date: June 10, 1998
Creator: Bearden, David M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Stratospheric Ozone Depletion: Regulatory Issues

Description: For two decades, scientists have been warning that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and Halons (bromine-containing fluorocarbons) may deplete the stratospheric ozone shield that screens out some of the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays and thus regulates the amounts which reach the Earth's surface. CFCs have been used as refrigerants, solvents, foam blowing agents, and outside the United States as aerosol propellants; Halons are used primarily as firefighting agents. Increased radiation could result in … more
Date: November 4, 1996
Creator: Gushee, David E. & Parker, Larry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Air Quality Standards: The Decisionmaking Process

Description: The decisions by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1997 to revise the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone and particulate matter refocused attention on the criteria and the process by which these decisions are made Tracing the steps of the decision pieces, this report identifies the statutory criteria established by the Congress and summarizes the administrative procedures the Agency follows in setting these standards and in reviewing them ev… more
Date: June 24, 1998
Creator: Blodgett, John E.; Parker, Larry & McCarthy, James E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Air Quality: EPA's Proposed New Ozone and Particulate Matter Standards

Description: This report discusses the contentious issue of enforcing stringent national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone and particulate matter (PM), the opponents of which decry as harmful to the economy. The report discusses actions undertaken by the EPA, President Clinton's support of the NAAQSs, and the criticisms of opponents.
Date: June 27, 1997
Creator: Blodgett, John E.; Parker, Larry & McCarthy, James E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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EPA's Tier 2 Proposal for Stricter Vehicle Emission Standards: A Fact Sheet

Description: The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 established "Tier 1" standards to limit tailpipe emissions from new motor vehicles, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to determine if more stringent requirements are needed to attain or maintain National Ambient Air Quality Standards. EPA also must assess the availability and cost-effectiveness of technologies necessary to control emissions. In a report submitted to Congress in August 1998, EPA concluded that tougher standards are nec… more
Date: June 24, 1999
Creator: Bearden, David M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Air Quality and the New Ozone NAAQS: The OTAG Process

Description: The Ozone Transport Assessment Group (OTAG) represented a cooperative effort between states, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and numerous stakeholders to address teh complex issue of ozone transport. However, opponents of the new ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) argue that the OTAG recommendations are far too vague and ambiguous to be cited by EPA as a basis for implementation. This report provides background on the effort, and summarizes OTAG's assessment and reco… more
Date: July 30, 1998
Creator: Parker, Larry & Blodgett, John E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Climate Change

Description: This report discusses the effect of human activities on global climate change. Human activities, particularly burning of fossil fuels, have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and other trace gases, including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), methane, and nitrous oxide.
Date: December 4, 1996
Creator: Justus, John R. & Morrissey, Wayne A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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A Clean Air Option: Cash for Clunkers

Description: The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 encourage states to pursue market-based approaches to improve air quality. An Accelerated Vehicle Retirement (AVR) program, commonly referred to as "Cash for Clunkers," is designed to provide an economic incentive for the owners of highly polluting vehicles to retire their automobiles permanently from use and to provide greater flexibility for private industry to reduce emissions by sponsoring such a program. The implementation of AVR programs can be controv… more
Date: September 16, 1996
Creator: Bearden, David M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Ethanol and Clean Air: The "Reg-Neg" Controversy and Subsequent Events

Description: The Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA), enacted in 1990, called for cleaner automotive fuels in order to upgrade air quality. This appeared to provide new market potential for ethanol, which is obtained from corn grown in the midwestern United States, and which is already in large-scale use in a blend of ten percent ethanol to ninety percent gasoline. The CAAA left specific details of the clean fuels program to be worked out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in consultation with the in… more
Date: June 22, 1993
Creator: Segal, Migdon
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Air Act Permitting: Status of Implementation

Description: The 1990 Clean Air Act amendments established an operating permit system that is affecting many new and existing sources of air emissions, as well as state and local air pollution control agencies. After delays and early missteps, the operating permit program is moving ahead. All state and local programs have received interim or full approval, and permits are being issued, although at a slower rate than anticipated. However, a number of issues exist. These include the effect of key federal regu… more
Date: May 14, 1999
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Climate Change: A Concise History of Negotiations and Chronology of Major Activities Preceding the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention

Description: This report discusses the ongoing international policy debate regarding Global Climate Change and U.S. involvement in the issue of global climate change.The report provides an historical context of the current debate, which is important in understanding the fundamental issues about global climate change.
Date: May 5, 1998
Creator: Morrissey, Wayne A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Nitrogen Oxides and Electric Utilities: Revising the NSPS

Description: Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from utility boilers, combustion turbines, and combined-cycle units. The current NOx NSPS, set in 1979, does not reflect subsequent advancements in Nox control technology. As a part of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments,
Date: July 25, 1997
Creator: Parker, Larry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Climate Change Policy: Domestic Early Action Credits

Description: This report discusses the global climate change policy and proposals to allow credit for early actions to reduce emissions.
Date: July 23, 1999
Creator: Parker, Larry & Blodgett, John E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Climate Change Treaty: The Kyoto Protocol

Description: Negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) were completed December 11, 1997, committing the industrialized nations to specified, legally binding reductions in emissions of six "greenhouse gases." This report discusses the major provisions of the Kyoto Protocol.
Date: July 31, 1998
Creator: Fletcher, Susan R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Climate Change: Reducing Greenhouse Gases - How Much from What Baseline?

Description: This report discusses the ways to reduce emissions of six greenhouses gases after the Kyoto meeting on Global Climate Change. Projecting the reductions that would be required if the U.S. were to ratify the treaty is difficult. While emissions of CO are fairly well established and account for 2 about 85% of total carbon equivalent emissions, emissions of the other gases, especially N O, are more uncertain.
Date: March 11, 1998
Creator: Parker, Larry & Blodgett, John E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions About the Kyoto Protocol

Description: This report discusses the Kyoto Protocol and whether the United States is now legally bound by the Protocol, the legal implications of signing it, whether it could be implemented as an executive agreement without submission to the Senate, and whether the Protocol could be used as the legal basis for regulation of emissions even prior to ratification.
Date: April 10, 1998
Creator: Ackerman, David M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agriculture and EPA’s New Air Quality Standards for Ozone and Particulates

Description: This report considers the effects of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air quality regulations on agriculture. Moreover, the report summarizes these EPA regulations and what pollutants they target. Specifically, the report discusses the negative effects of these pollutants on agriculture and the benefits of these regulations.
Date: March 24, 1998
Creator: McCarthy, James E. & Zinn, Jeffrey A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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