History
See also: Timeline of major U.S. environmental and occupational health regulation| Year | Law | Year | Law |
| 1899 | Refuse Act | 1975 | Hazardous Materials Transportation Act |
| 1918 | Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 | 1976 | Resource Conservation and Recovery Act |
| 1948 | Federal Water Pollution Control Act | 1976 | Solid Waste Disposal Act |
| 1955 | Air Pollution Control Act | 1976 | Toxic Substances Control Act |
| 1963 | Clean Air Act (1963) | 1977 | Clean Air Act Amendments |
| 1965 | Solid Waste Disposal Act | 1977 | Clean Water Act Amendments |
| 1965 | Water Quality Act | 1980 | CERCLA (Superfund) |
| 1967 | Air Quality Act | 1984 | Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Amendments |
| 1969 | National Environmental Policy Act | 1986 | Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments |
| 1970 | Clean Air Act (1970) | 1986 | Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act |
| 1970 | Occupational Safety and Health Act | 1986 | Emergency Wetlands Resources Act |
| 1972 | Consumer Product Safety Act | 1987 | Clean Water Act Reauthorization |
| 1972 | Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act | 1990 | Oil Pollution Act |
| 1972 | Clean Water Act | 1990 | Clean Air Act (1990) |
| 1972 | Noise Control Act | 1993 | North American Free Trade Agreement |
| 1973 | Endangered Species Act | 2003 | Healthy Forests Initiative |
| 1974 | Safe Drinking Water Act |
There are many more environmental laws in the United States, both at the federal and state levels. The common law of property and takings also play an important role in environmental issues. In addition, the law of standing, relating to who has a right to bring a lawsuit, is an important issue in environmental law in the United States.
Read more about this topic: Environmental Policy Of The United States
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The only history is a mere question of one’s struggle inside oneself. But that is the joy of it. One need neither discover Americas nor conquer nations, and yet one has as great a work as Columbus or Alexander, to do.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)
“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)