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Clean Air Act

A car's exhaust emits a cloud of smoke, with the words "CLEAN AIR" prominently displayed above it, symbolizing the Clean Air Act's impact on vehicle emissions.

US federal legislation, first passed in 1963 and substantially rewritten in 1970, that imposed sharp limits on vehicle exhaust emissions. The 1970 amendments set targets so aggressive that no existing technology could meet them, which is what forced American automakers to adopt catalytic converters by 1975. Similar laws followed in Japan and across Europe. Urban air over American cities now contains a fraction of the carbon monoxide it did fifty years ago, despite three times as many cars on the road.

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