Clean Air Program

The importance of good air quality cannot be underestimated as a predictor of public health, the vitality of forests, and even the global climate.  The Center keeps the preservation and improvement of air quality as one of its key priorities. The federal Clean Air Act of 1970, and its amendments in 1977 and 1990, provide a remarkably complex legal framework through which citizens, government regulators, and industry regularly work and often clash in pursuit of their goals.  As with many of the other major environmental laws, the Clean Air Act contains requirements of public notice and participation for significant EPA or state agency decisions that affect air emissions, as well as a citizen suit provision allowing the public to sue the government or polluters for failure to implement or comply with the law. The Clean Air Act, its state counterparts and the regulations under each, provide the tools for the Center’s advocacy.   
 
In MAELC’s air quality protection project, we monitor significant regulatory changes that can affect air quality and we also review permit files for major polluting facilities in the Mid-Atlantic region and take steps to ensure these facilities comply with the law.  In addition the Center may also oppose new facilities that would adversely impact regional air quality.
 
Our recent reviews have identified significant violations at Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland facilities. We provide legal services to environmental groups to bring these facilities into compliance and to improve air permit requirements for other large polluters in the Mid-Atlantic region as well. Find out more about our air quality protection work below: