The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 was the first national policy implemented for environmental protection in the US. It established the Council on Environmental Quality to provide ecological research and required environmental impact statements for major federal actions. The Environmental Protection Agency was also created under Nixon to consolidate various environmental programs. In 1980, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, also known as Superfund, was passed to fund the cleanup of abandoned hazardous waste sites. The Clean Air Act of 1970 and its amendments in 1990 aimed to reduce air pollution by setting emissions standards and reporting requirements. In 2006, California became the first state to pass a law capping greenhouse gas emissions and later established the first cap-and-trade system to reduce these

1. Environmental
Reform
1970 to
present

2. The National Environmental
Policy

3. Signed by President Nixon, the National Environmental Policy
Act was the first national policy implemented for protection of
the environment. The act established a Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) that was to provide ecological
research. Furthermore, it mandated that environmental impact
statements be prepared for major federal actions that would
potentially have a significant effect on the environment. The
main objective was to simply administer more research on the
environment and use this to prevent pollution in the future.
Nixon’s signing of the bill was a testament to the popularity of
the environmental movement because he, as a conservative
Republican, felt compelled to support environmental
legislation in an effort to outmaneuver Democratic rivals, and
appeal to voters (Walkowitz, “The 1990s”). The Environmental
Protection Agency was also created during Nixon’s
Presidency; it brought together fifteen central government
programs so the environmental preservation could be made a
priority by the government ("Environmental History")

4. Nixon signing the NEPA
"President Richard Nixon signed in the National Environment Policy Act of
1969." Environmental Issues: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. Brenda Wilmoth
Lerner and K. Lee Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. Gale U.S. History In Context.
Web. 24 May 2012.

5. The Comprehensive
Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability
Act

6. The Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act, also known as the
“Superfund” legislation was created in 1980. It
mandated that the EPA clean up abandoned toxic
waste dumps in reaction to the discovery of very high
levels of dioxin found in various areas around the
country including Times Beach, a small town in Missouri.
Dioxin is a manufacturing byproduct that had been
linked to cancer, birth defects and liver damage. In this
case, very high exposure resulted when dioxin was
deliberately mixed with waste oil and sprayed on Times
Beach's unpaved roads to control dust. Between 1983
and 1985, the federal government spent $33 million to
buy the homes and property of 2,400 people in Times
Beach. They were relocated and the town was
demolished. The “Superfund” legislation showed that
the EPA was an effective agency because they had
discovered the issue. Furthermore the legislation
demonstrated the great measures the government
would go to protect the citizens and environment from
pollution (“Environmental History”).

7. Clean Air Act amendments

8. The Clean Air Act was originally enacted in
December 17, 1963. It set national policy for air
pollution control. The Clean Air Act, with its along
with its subsequent amendments in 1966 and 1990
(and support by the Air Quality Act of 1967) gave
states the bases to establish air pollution control
programs. The amendments included a pledge to
cut acid rain emissions almost in half, to establish a
national research and development program for the
prevention and control of air pollution among other
environmental conscious provisions. In 1990 an EPA
air pollution report stated that sulfur dioxide emissions
declined by 40% from1970 to 1990. Furthermore, the
report concluded that smog, carbon monoxide and
ozone levels decreased since the enactment of the
Clean Air Act of 1970. (“Environmental History”).

9. President George
Bush signs the
Clean Air Act
Amendments in
July 1990
"George Bush signs the Clean
Air Act Amendments." Image.
George Bush Library. Issues:
Understanding Controversy
and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2012.
Web. 29 May 2012.

10. California imposes a cap on
greenhouse gas emissions

11. On Sept 27 California was the first state to imposed a
cap on greenhouse gas emissions. The bill was signed
into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it
required the states reduce greenhouse gas emissions
to levels that existed in 1990 by the year 2020. In 2011
the state continued to lead the way in terms of
environmental protection legislation as it produced the
United States’ first statewide cap-and-trade system to
reduce emissions. The program will begin in 2013. It
implements the gradually declining limit on green gas
emissions from 600 plants that produce a majority of
the state’s air pollution. It will also set up a policy that is
designed to reward the most efficient companies and
penalize inefficient companies. It is the first bill in the
nation to include all components of the economy, and
is a major landmark in environmentalism reform
("California's Persistence").

12. "Arnold Schwarzenegger, with his wife Maria Shriver, is sworn in as governor of California
by that..." U.S. Immigration and Migration Reference Library. Ed. Lawrence W. Baker, et
al. Vol. 4: Vol. 2: Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2004. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 29
May 2012.