The U.S. Congress has passed several pieces of legislation to protect the nation's population from the damaging effects of air pollution. The Clean Air Act of 1963 provided federal authority to address air pollution problems on a nationwide basis. The Clean Air Act was amended in 1970, 1977, and 1990. Each amendment modified the Act and provided additional avenues for addressing air pollution problems. As a result of the Clean Air Act and its Amendments, EPA established air quality standards to protect public health and welfare, gained the ability to designate unhealthy areas that needed to be addressed, and dealt with issues such as acid rain and ozone depletion. All 50 states use the Clean Air Act as the basis for the individual state regulations, some more stringent than others. Individual states have the primary responsibility to ensure compliance to both state and federal regulations.

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