Question: who regulates the amount of pollution emitted into the environment

title: Environmental policy of the United States
text: During the Carter administration , the United States undertook a risk - averse policy , acting through the EPA and Council on Environmental Quality ( CEQ ) to research and control the pollutants suspected to cause acid deposition even in the face of scientific uncertainty . The Reagan administration was more risk tolerant . It argued that , given the scientific uncertainties about harm and exposure levels , new expenditures should not be undertaken that would curtail energy security and economic growth . During George H.W. Bush 's presidential campaign , he called for new Clean Air Act legislation to curtail sulfur - and nitrogen - dioxide emissions . In 1990 , after he was elected , amendments to the Clean Air Act were finally passed that cut emissions by over 12 million tons per year , set up a market - like system of emissions trading , and set a cap on emissions for the year 2000 . These goals were achieved to some degree by the installation of industrial scrubbers .