Acid Rain Program

E31505

The Acid Rain Program is a U.S. federal regulatory initiative that uses a cap-and-trade system to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants in order to combat acid rain and improve air quality.


Statements (46)
Predicate Object
instanceOf cap-and-trade program
environmental regulatory program
administeredBy United States Environmental Protection Agency
aimsTo protect public health from air pollution
protect sensitive ecosystems from acidification
appliesTo electric power plants
complianceMechanism emissions allowance surrender
financial penalties for non-compliance
country United States
enforcedBy United States Environmental Protection Agency
environmentalIssueAddressed acid deposition
regional air pollution
transboundary air pollution
establishedBy United States Congress
focusesOn coal-fired power plants
geographicScope contiguous United States
goal improve air quality
hasComponent NOx emission rate limits
SO2 allowance trading system
hasOutcome decrease in acid deposition in the United States
reduction in NOx emissions from power plants
substantial reduction in SO2 emissions from power plants
hasReportingRequirement allowance tracking
annual emissions reporting
implementedBy federal government of the United States
influenced design of later cap-and-trade programs
legalBasis Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990
monitors power plant emissions
partOf Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990
policyType command-and-control plus trading hybrid
market-based environmental policy
primaryGoal reduce acid rain
regulatesEmissionOf nitrogen oxides
sulfur dioxide
regulatoryMechanism emissions cap-and-trade
relatedTo Clean Air Interstate Rule
Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
requires continuous emissions monitoring systems
sector electricity generation
startTime 1995
targetPollutant NOx
SO2
timePeriod post-1990 U.S. air quality regulation era
usesInstrument emission allowances
emissions trading
usesSystem EPA Allowance Tracking System

Referenced by (4)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Clean Air Act
authorizes
Clean Air Act
establishes
Acid Rain Program ("Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990")
legalBasis
Clean Air Act ("Title IV – Acid Deposition Control")
section

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