Earth Day 2009

1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
History of Earth Day articles, reports, and documents

In the 1970s
1970Twenty million people celebrate the first Earth Day.
1970President Richard Nixon creates EPA with a mission to protect the environment and public health.
1970Congress amends the Clean Air Act to set national air quality, auto emission, and anti-pollution standards.
1971Congress restricts use of lead-based paint in residences and on cribs and toys.
1972EPA bans DDT, a cancer-causing pesticide, and requires extensive review of all pesticides.
In 1996, the bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list, reflecting its recovery since the 1972 DDT ban.
1972The United States and Canada agree to clean up the Great Lakes, which contain 95 percent of America’s fresh water and supply drinking water for 25 million people.
1972Congress passes the Clean Water Act, limiting raw sewage and other pollutants flowing into rivers, lakes, and streams.
In 1972, only 36 percent of the nation's assessed stream miles were safe for uses such as fishing and swimming: today, about 60 percent are safe for such uses.
1973EPA begins phasing out leaded gasoline.
1973OPEC oil embargo triggers energy crisis, stimulating conservation and research on alternative energy sources.
1973EPA issues its first permit limiting a factory’s polluted discharges into waterways.
1974Congress passes the Safe Drinking Water Act, allowing EPA to regulate the quality of public drinking water.
1975Congress establishes fuel economy standards and sets tail-pipe emission standards for cars, resulting in the introduction of catalytic converters.
1976Congress passes the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, regulating hazardous waste from its production to its disposal.
1976President Gerald Ford signs the Toxic Substances Control Act to reduce environmental and human health risks.
1976EPA begins phase-out of cancer-causing PCB production and use.
1977President Jimmy Carter signs the Clean Air Act Amendments to strengthen air quality standards and protect human health.
1978Residents discover that Love Canal, New York, is contaminated by buried leaking chemical containers.
1978The federal government bans chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as propellants in aerosol cans because CFCs destroy the ozone layer, which protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
1979EPA demonstrates scrubber technology for removing air pollution from coal-fired power plants. This technology is widely adopted in the 1980s.
1979Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, increases awareness and discussion about nuclear power safety. EPA and other agencies monitor radioactive fallout.
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In the 1980s
1980Congress creates Superfund to clean up hazardous waste sites. Polluters are made responsible for cleaning up the most hazardous sites.
1981National Research Council report finds acid rain intensifying in the Northeastern United States and Canada.
1982Congress enacts laws for safe disposal of nuclear waste.
1982Dioxin contamination forces the government to purchase homes in Times Beach, Missouri. The federal government and the responsible polluters share the cleanup costs.
1982A PCB landfill protest in North Carolina begins the environmental justice movement.
1983Cleanup actions begin to rid the Chesapeake Bay of pollution stemming from sewage treatment plants, urban runoff, and farm waste.
1983EPA encourages homeowners to test for radon gas, which causes lung cancer.
To date, more than 18 million homes have been tested for radon. Approximately 575 lives are saved annually due to radon mitigation and radon-resistant new construction.
1985Scientists report that a giant hole in the earth’s ozone layer opens each spring over Antarctica.
1986Congress declares the public has a right to know when toxic chemicals are released into air, land, and water.
1987The United States signs the Montreal Protocol, pledging to phase-out production of CFCs.
1987Medical and other waste washes up on shores, closing beaches in New York and New Jersey.
1988Congress bans ocean dumping of sewage sludge and industrial waste.
1989Exxon Valdez spills 11 million gallons of crude oil in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.
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In the 1990s
1990Congress passes the Clean Air Act Amendments, requiring states to demonstrate progress in improving air quality.
1990EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory tells the public which pollutants are being released from specific facilities in their communities.
The number of chemicals listed in EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory nearly doubled, from 328 in 1990 to 644 in 1999.
1990President George Bush signs the Pollution Prevention Act, emphasizing the importance of preventing—not just correcting—environmental damage.
1990President George Bush signs the National Environmental Education Act, signifying the importance of educating the public to ensure scientifically sound, balanced, and responsible decisions about the environment.
1991Federal agencies begin using recycled content products.
1991EPA launches voluntary industry partnership programs for energy-efficient lighting and for reducing toxic chemical emissions.
1992EPA launches the Energy Star® Program to help consumers identify energy-efficient products.
1993EPA reports secondhand smoke contaminates indoor air, posing serious health risks to nonsmokers.
Today, more than 80 percent of Americans protect their children from secondhand smoke exposure at home.
1993A cryptosporidium outbreak in Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s drinking water sickens 400,000 people and kills more than 100.
1993President Bill Clinton directs the federal government to use its $200 billion annual purchasing power to buy recycled and environmentally preferable products.
1994EPA launches its Brownfields Program to clean up abandoned, contaminated sites to return them to productive community use.
1994EPA issues new standards for chemical plants that will reduce toxic air pollution by more than half a million tons each year— the equivalent of taking 38 million vehicles off the road annually.
1995EPA launches an incentive-based acid rain program to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions.
1995EPA requires municipal incinerators to reduce toxic emissions by 90 percent from 1990 levels.
1996Public drinking water suppliers are required to inform customers about chemicals and microbes in their water, and funding is made available to upgrade water treatment plants.
Today, the vast majority of American households have safe drinking water, and receive annual reports on the quality of their drinking water.
1996EPA requires that home buyers and renters be informed about lead-based paint hazards.
1996President Bill Clinton signs the Food Quality Protection Act to tighten standards for pesticides used to grow food, with special protections to ensure that foods are safe for children to eat.
1997An Executive Order is issued to protect children from environmental health risks, including childhood asthma and lead poisoning.
1997EPA issues tough new air quality standards for smog and soot, an action that would improve air quality for 125 million Americans.
1998President Bill Clinton announces the Clean Water Action Plan to continue making America’s waterways safe for fishing and swimming.
1999President Bill Clinton announces new emissions standards for cars, sport utility vehicles, minivans and trucks, requiring them to be 77 percent to 95 percent cleaner than in 1999.
1999EPA announces new requirements to improve air quality in national parks and wilderness areas.
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In the 2000s
2000EPA establishes regulations requiring more than 90 percent cleaner heavy duty highway diesel engines and fuel.
2002President George W. Bush signs the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act to reclaim and restore thousands of abandoned properties.
2003President George W. Bush signs the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, helping to prevent forest fires and safeguard and preserve the nation’s forests.
2003EPA establishes the Clean School Bus USA program, retrofitting more than 40,000 school buses nationwide, which will remove 200,000 pounds of particulate matter from the air over the next 10 years.
2003Clear Skies legislation and alternative regulations are proposed to create a cap and trade system to reduce SO2 emissions by 70 percent and NOx emissions by 65 percent below current levels.
2004New, more protective, 8-hour ozone and fine particulate standards go into effect across the country.
2004EPA requires cleaner fuels and engines for off-road diesel machinery such as farm or construction equipment.
2005EPA establishes the Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program. Through CARE, 860 local organizations, including non-profits, schools and governments, work together to reduce local releases of toxic pollutants.
2006WaterSense is launched to raise awareness about the importance of water efficiency, ensure the performance of water-efficient products and provide good consumer information.
2006EPA initiated the National Mercury Switch Vehicle Recovery Program, which has removed over one million mercury-containing automotive switches, reducing mercury emissions by one ton.
2007Through the Energy Star program, EPA in 2007 prevented greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 27 million vehicles, while helping Americans save $16 billion on their energy bills. EPA’s climate change efforts have prevented an estimated 500 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions since 2001, the equivalent of taking 55 million cars off the road.
2008EPA issued new rules requiring home improvement contractors to follow work practice standards to reduce potential exposure to dangerous levels of lead during renovation and repair activities.
2008EPA publishes on its Web site a list of fugitives accused of violating environmental laws and evading arrest.
2009The “Change the World, Start with Energy Star” national campaign is launched to help fight climate change through energy efficiency.
2009EPA issues a proposed finding that greenhouse gases contribute to air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare.
2009EPA proposes significantly reducing mercury emissions from Portland cement kilns, the fourth-largest source of mercury air emissions in the U.S.
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EPA's Role in Environmental Progress
EPA opened its doors in Washington, D.C., in December 1970 to consolidate in one agency a variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection.
From regulating auto emissions to banning the use of DDT; from cleaning up toxic waste to protecting the ozone layer; from increasing recycling to revitalizing inner-city brownfields, EPA's achievements over the past 30+ years have resulted in cleaner air, purer water, and better protected land.
Learn more about EPA's history