Abstract
In recent decades, the visibility in America's national parks and other class I areas has declined significantly as a result of manmade air pollution. This Comment provides a comprehensive history of visibility regulations in the United States. It also briefly describes the sources and types of visibility impairment in class I areas and the regulatory and statutory framework enacted to address them. The author examines the various lawsuits brought by northeastern states to force the EPA to promulgate stricter visibility regulations for class I areas. Unfortunately, these suits failed to remedy visibility impairment. The author also describes the different arguments and provisions of the Clean Air Act used in these lawsuits and the reasons for their failures. The author opines that the failure of these suits has placed northeastern states between Scylla and Charybdis (the continued impairment of visibility in class I areas and no legal remedy for the problem). To help northeastern states escape this predicament, this Comment suggests possible arguments and legal solutions which can be used in the future to resolve the states' visibility problems. Finally, this Comment describes and analyzes the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act and their effects on the future protection of visibility in class I areas.
Recommended Citation
David R. Everett, The Hazy Future: Are State Attempts to Reduce Visibility Impairment in Class I Areas Caught between Scylla and Charybdis? The Effects of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 on Visibility Protection, 8 Pace Envtl. L. Rev. 115 (1990)DOI: https://doi.org/10.58948/0738-6206.1601
Available at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pelr/vol8/iss1/6