American Lung Association

Milestones in Air Pollution History

1948	Air pollution inversion (cool air trapped by warm air above it keeps pollution from dispersing) in Donora, Pennsylvania, kills 20 people and makes 40 percent of the town's 14,000 inhabitants ill.
1949	Cleaner Air Week is started by the Air Pollution Control Association to commemorate the Donora air inversion.
1952	Sulfur-laden smog covers London and is responsible for 4,000 deaths over a two-week period.
1960	Respiratory Disease Committee of the National Tuberculosis Association recommends that tuberculosis associations consider air pollution problems in their respective areas and form local control committees if needed.
1961	The national board of the National Tuberculosis Association adopts a resolution expressing major concern about all environmental health hazards, urging prompt and vigorous action be taken through a national program under the leadership of the United States Public Health Service.
1963	Air pollution inversion in New York leads to 405 deaths.
1966	National Air Conservation Commission formed by the American Lung Association to address air conservation issues and develop lung association positions on these issues.
1966	Air pollution inversion in New York leads to 168 deaths.
1967	Air Quality Control Act passed by Congress, setting timetables for states to establish their own air quality standards.
1968	American Lung Association sponsors national conference on air pollution programs.
1970	Congress passes the Clean Air Act, allowing the newly created Environmental Protection Agency to set national air quality standards. Also allowed states to establish their own stricter standards, which California did.
1972	American Lung Association becomes a sponsor of Clean Air Week.
1975	Catalytic converter developed and used on auto emissions systems. Cuts hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions by 96 percent and nitrogen oxides by 75 percent.
1977	Revised Clean Air Act Amendments passed by Congress, providing more time for areas with more serious air quality problems to comply with standards.
1981	American Lung Association expands air conservation program to include indoor air pollution.
1987	Indoor Air Quality Act first introduced into Congress to address the pervasive problem of indoor air pollution.
1988	EPA establishes Indoor Air Division of the Office of Air and Radiation to address indoor air quality issues.
1988	Congress approves Indoor Radon Abatement Act to assess extent of indoor radon problem, educate public on hazards of exposure and improve testing and repair technology.
1990	American Lung Association and EPA designate second week of October as National Radon Action Week to educate the public on the hazards of radon exposure and subsequent precautions.
1990	National ban on smoking aboard domestic flights enacted, protecting passengers from the dangers of secondhand smoke.
1990	Further revisions to Clean Air Act Amendments are passed by Congress, this time providing more time to comply with standards but requiring that cities implement specific air pollution control measures.
1991	American Lung Association sues EPA to force review of ozone air quality standard. By law, the standards were to be reviewed every five years, but have not been reviewed since 1979.
1992	In the American Lung Association v. EPA, the court rules in favor of the ALA.
1992	The American Lung Association sues EPA to force review of the sulfer dioxide standard; court rules in favor of the ALA in 1993.
1993	EPA reviews ozone standard, but chooses not to revise it.
1993	EPA classifies secondhand smoke as a group A carcinogen, responsible for an estimated 3,000 cases of lung cancer in nonsmokers and 150,000 to 300,000 cases of lower respiratory tract infections in children under 18 months of age each year.
1993	American Lung Association files a lawsuit seeking to force the EPA to revise the federal air quality standard for ozone air pollution. This challenges EPA's decision not to revise the air quality standard for ozone air pollution. In 1994, EPA agrees to review the decision not to revise the ozone standard, but 1997 deadline remains.
1993	American Lung Association testifies before Congress that the current federal standard for ozone air pollution does not protect public health and should be changed.
1993	American Lung Association sues EPA for failing to review the adequacy of federal health-based standards for particulate matter air pollution. Court rules in favor of the ALA in 1994.
1994	American Lung Association files a lawsuit to compel EPA to speed up review of the ozone standard.
1997	EPA strengthens the standard for particulate matter air pollution.
1999	Clinton Administration announces federal plan that would for the first time require all private passenger vehicles - including sport-utility vehicles and diesel-powered vehicles - to meet the same tough clean air standards.
2000	EPA passes new rule for diesel, capping sulfur levels in diesel fuel at 15 parts per million by 2007.
2001	Supreme Court supports health-based air pollution standards when it rejects challenges to the new standard for particulate matter.
2002	Landmark legislation (AB 1493) was passed in California that requires automakers to reduce greenhouse gases from motor vehicles.
2002	California adopts more stringent particulate matter standards for PM10 and PM2.5.
2003	California adopts more stringent particulate matter standards for PM10 and PM2.5
2003	California passes landmark legislation (SB 700) requiring agricultural operations to obtain state and federal air quality permits for the first time ever.
2003	California requires state and local air districts to make progress toward meeting air quality standards for particulate matter air pollution.
2003	California passes legislation (SB 288) restoring the Clean Air Act “New Source Review” regulations.