262 / Department of the Environment Maryland Manual 1996-1997

Baltimore City. The Legislature followed Commission advice in 1950, authorizing an annual appropriation
of up to $100,000, but, in 1951, only $10,000 was appropriated (Chapter 20, Acts of 1950).

Killer smogs, episodes in which weather conditions combine with industrial pollution to produce
sudden serious illness or death in susceptible persons, occurred in London in 1952, and New York in
1953. As Congress urged federal funding for research and prevention, questions of jurisdiction immedi-
ately arose. Air pollution was perceived as a local problem, stemming from stationary localized sources.
Consequently, the first major federal legislation to curb air pollution did not pass until 1955, and limited
federal involvement to research and assistance to the states and educational institutions (P.L. 84-159).

In December 1962, another killer smog in London highlighted the urgent need for an enforcement
framework against air polluters. Maryland legislators passed the State's first air pollution law about six months
before enactment of the federal Clean Air Act of 1963. Maryland's law created an Air Pollution Control Council
to recommend regulations to the State Board of Health and Mental Hygiene and advise the Board on air
pollution. The Board, in turn, was to adopt rules and regulations, disseminate information, consult with industries
and political subdivisions, encourage and conduct research, and administer federal funds for air pollution control.
Meanwhile, the State Department of Health enforced the law, giving due notice, followed by a hearing, followed
by a fine. Maryland's first statement of air pollution policy was designed not to antagonize business:

It is hereby determined and declared to be the policy of the State of Maryland to maintain such
reasonable degree of purity of the air resources of the State as shall be technically feasible,
economically reasonable, and necessary for the protection of the health, the general welfare and the
property of the people of the State. The measures for the accomplishment of this purpose shall not
unreasonably obstruct the operation, development and expansion of business, industry and
commerce within the State, but shall be technically feasible and economically reasonable. Such
purposes, moreover, shall at all times be sought to be effectuated by a maximum of conference,
cooperation and persuasion (Chapter 806, Acts of 1963).

In December 1963, Congress passed the federal Clean Air Act. Its enforcement framework allowed
the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to hold a public hearing, then a conference, and,
in case of interstate pollution or if requested by a state, sue in federal court. The Clean Air Act specified,
however, that primary responsibility for air pollution control and abatement rested with state and local
governments, with $95 million in federal funds appropriated over three years. Congress then turned its
attention to regulating auto emissions, which back in 1951 had been determined to cause Los Angeles
smog. Despite heavy lobbying by the auto industry, the federal Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act
passed in 1965. It regulated emissions from new automobiles and funded emissions research.

Anticipating imminent passage of a federal law that required states to monitor, set standards for, and enforce
air pollution controls, the Maryland legislature in 1967 enacted a law of its own. The law gave the State
Department of Health jurisdiction over monitoring and enforcing, replaced the Air Pollution Control Council
with the Air Quality Control Advisory Council, which was to adopt standards for emissions and ambient air
quality, and divided the State into six air quality control areas (Chapter 143, Acts of 1967). This time, policy
was unambiguous "to maintain that degree of purity of the air resources of the State which will protect the
health, general welfare and property of the people of the State." Maryland's work to stop air pollution fell to
the State Department of Health, specifically its Bureau of Sanitary Engineering, which sometime between its
creation in 1910 and 1951 acquired a vague supervisory interest in aerial pollution. The Bureau was reformed
as the Bureau of Environmental Hygiene in 1951 (Chapter 75, Acts of 1951). Under the Bureau was the
Division of Industrial Health and Air Pollution. When the Department of Health was reorganized in 1966,
Environmental Health Services was created with a Bureau of Resources Protection overseeing water supply,
sewage disposal, air quality, and solid waste disposal, while the Bureau of Consumer Protection was responsible
for drug control, radiological health, and general sanitation. The Division of Air Quality Control came under
the Bureau of Resources Protection. The Division monitored air quality statewide and implemented Maryland's
1967 Air Quality Control Act (Chapter 143, Acts of 1967).

In 1969, the National Environmental Policy Act created the federal Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). That law represented a major shift in policy, making preservation of the environment a federal
priority, and approached the problem within a cohesive ecological framework. The law required environ-
mental impact statements for federal projects, and the EPA began reviewing state plans and setting
standards for air and water pollution, radiation, and solid and hazardous waste disposal. Passage of the
federal act led to a flurry of state lawmaking to strengthen enforcement, set more stringent standards,
and ensure eligibility for federal aid. Maryland was no exception. In 1970, at least sixteen environmental
bills were passed to protect State wetlands, create the Maryland Environmental Service, revise pollution
abatement under the Water Resources Law, and strengthen enforcement of air quality controls. By 1973,