Prior to 1945, there were few environmental regulations, and those were mostly concerned with resource conservation, such as the Yellowstone Act in 1872, the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, though the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was a first step into regulation of things which threatened human health.

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     The Federal Government left it to the States and local governments to deal with environmental issues.

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     In 1948 the Water Quality Act was passed followed in the 1950's with a five year study on air pollution which led to the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955.

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     The publishing of Silent Spring in The New Yorker in  1962 made the world aware of the harm caused by the pesticide DDT and the modern environmental movement was born making industry a focus of regulation.

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     This lead to the passing in 1963 of the landmark Clean Air Act (CAA), the Wilderness Act of 1964, and the paradigm forging 1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which required government to consider the impact on the environment of all future government actions. NEPA required Environmental Assessments (EA's) and Environmental Impact Statements (EIS's).

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     The culmination of this movement was marked in 1970 by the first Earth Day in April and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in December. 

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     A slew of legislation followed with the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (aka The Clean Water Act [CWA]) and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act (Ocean Dumping Act) in 1972, The Endangered Species Act in 1972, the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) in 1974, The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in 1976, and ultimately to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) in 1980. 

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