Today EPA released a report estimating that the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act will result in approximately $2 trillion in benefits for the American people by the year 2020, and prevent 230,000 premature deaths in that year alone.

“The Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act from 1990 to 2020” charts the widespread impacts of implementing Clean Air Act amendments passed with bipartisan support by Congress in 1990. Those impacts range from the health benefits of preventing of asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature deaths, to the economic benefits of reducing sick days for employees and students. Taken together, benefits far exceed the costs of compliance with the 1990 amendments.

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Clean Air Act in 2010, Administrator Jackson called it “law that has proved to be one of the most important and beneficial pieces of legislation in our nation’s history,” and “one of the most cost-effective things the American people have done for themselves in the last half century.” Last year alone, the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments prevented more than 160,000 cases of premature death, 130,000 heart attacks, 13 million lost work days and 1.7 million asthma attacks. These numbers are projected to rise dramatically by 2020, when clean air protections are expected to prevent as many as 230,000 premature deaths, 200,000 heart attacks, 17 million lost work days and 2.4 million asthma attacks.

Read the report and learn more about how the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments benefit Americans each day.