The City-Level Effects of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments

Abstract

This paper examines whether the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments caused the decline in ambient concentrations of particulate matter (PM₁₀) in California over the 1990–2000 period. Consistent with previous studies, we find that PM₁₀ nonattainment status at the county level is not a significant factor in explaining the reductions in PM₁₀. However, when we allow for spatially heterogeneous treatment effects within nonattainment counties, and incorporate measures of community characteristics, climate, geography, transboundary pollution, and industrial composition and scale, we find that nonattainment designations at the city level account for a 6% reduction in ambient PM₁₀ concentrations. (JEL Q53, Q58)