Indoor Air Quality and Inclusivity: The Insufficiency of the Clean Air Act for Americans with Disabilities

/ American with Disabilities Act, Healthcare / By

Julia LaGrange1

I. Introduction

There are currently no federal regulations specifically targeting indoor air quality in the United States.2 The only existing federal law addressing air quality, the Clean Air Act (CAA), is limited to regulating emissions released into ambient (outdoor) air, despite citing the general protection of public health as its purpose.3 In Massachusetts et al. v Environmental Protection Agency (2007), the Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to regulate greenhouse gasses as they contribute to the detriment of public health and the worsening of climate change.4 This case demonstrates that the EPA has both the power and the responsibility to regulate emissions, which strengthens the idea that there is no legal roadblock to regulating indoor air quality as opposed to solely ambient air. Another legal standard, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), provides further motivation to pass such a change because of the Act’s commitment to providing equal access to participation for people with disabilities. For some individuals, uncontrolled indoor air pollutants limit safe participation. This Note will provide a brief history of the CAA and the ADA and will discuss how the outcome of Massachusetts informs the EPA’s ability to manage emissions for the benefit of public health. This Note argues that the CAA should be expanded because it is insufficient in protecting citizens from polluted air. The ADA’s section barring denial of participation based on disability status strengthens the argument for an expansion. The CAA should be amended to specifically include indoor air pollution regulations, as low-quality indoor air precludes participation in public spaces for many Americans with disabilities.

II. The Clean Air Act

The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the only federal law in the United States that addresses air quality. Found under Title 42 of the U.S. Code, it outlines the EPA’s obligations for managing outdoor air pollution.5 The original version of the CAA was signed into law by President Johnson in 1963, but President Nixon signed the version known today in 1970 to “foster the growth of a strong American economy and industry while improving human health and the environment.”6 It has undergone several amendments since its enactment in 1970, such as the creation of programs to regulate acid deposition and decrease acid rain.7 Its greatest public health protection achievement is the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which identify hazardous outdoor air pollutants and set limits on how long each pollutant is allowed in the air.8 Since the adoption of the NAAQS in 1971, the CAA has not made progress in specifically regulating indoor air quality, which has led to a focus only on outdoor air emissions.9 One portion of Title 42, titled “Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality,” contains the sections relevant to maintaining clean air.10 It spans from Section 7470 to Section 7479.

A. Section 7470

Section 7470 of the CAA, the Congressional Declaration of Purpose, details the purpose of protecting public health from harmful effects, whether these effects are potential threats for the future or presently observable.11 The EPA, referred to as “The Administrator,” determines the risk of harm, and the cause of the harmful effects must be pollutants emitted into ambient air.12 An example of this would be carbon monoxide emissions resulting in harm to human health, meaning the CAA requires the substance to be regulated.

The declaration of purpose describes the goal of protecting public health from air pollution in the form of emissions into ambient air. The term “ambient air” has undergone multiple reassessments over the decades. In a memorandum to regional administrators from the EPA on December 2, 2019, the agency redefined “ambient air” as “‘that portion of the atmosphere, external to buildings, to which the general public has access.’”13 The definition’s clarification of ambient as being “external to buildings” accounts for the focus on outdoor air quality with no regulations dedicated to indoor air.14 Section 7470 adequately outlines how the EPA is responsible for protecting citizens from exposure to emissions in ambient air, but the law neglects the serious effects of indoor pollution.

III. The Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, is designed to protect people with disabilities in the United States from all forms of discrimination.15 Established under Title 42 of the United States Code, the ADA describes different forms of discrimination from which people with disabilities are protected.16 Examples include retention of job benefits and refusing to make appropriate accommodations.17 In other words, the ADA ensures that people with disabilities are legally protected from discrimination.

One portion of §12182 prohibits denial of participation based on disability. It declares that it is illegal to deny individuals the opportunity to “[…] participate in or benefit from the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of an entity” based on disability.18 In citing “goods, services, facilities, etc.,” the ADA covers the range of publicly available opportunities to which the law guarantees access regardless of disability status. For example, a service included is public transit.19 It is mandatory to provide people with disabilities the ability to use public transportation systems. Despite this guarantee, some people may not be able to safely access certain opportunities because of hazardous indoor air quality. 

Many disabilities are caused or exacerbated by air pollution found both indoors and outdoors. For example, asthma is a disability under the ADA that causes an individual’s airways to become inflamed and constricted.20 Poor air quality is a known contributor that worsens asthma.21 In 2000, a woman from Idaho named Marsha Mason suffered a severe asthma attack, which was later determined to be caused by air pollution. She passed away as a direct result of the attack, which prompted the investigation by the EPA into the smoke and pollutant levels of the region in which she lived.22 Mason’s case highlights the dangers of unregulated pollutants to people with disabilities that are triggered by poor air quality.

Another instance is a case filed in April 2024, in which Donna Jones, a grade school teacher, was unable to secure sufficient workplace accommodations for her respiratory disability.23 Jones was diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease, which has similar symptoms to asthma.24 The case exemplifies how the same health risks found in outdoor air pollution are also present in indoor air and should thus be managed accordingly.25 While cases like Jones’s may seem rare, asthma alone affects almost 28 million Americans, and the total number of individuals managing respiratory conditions exceeds that number.26 The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) directly recognizes air pollution as a common trigger of asthma attacks.27

A. Expanding the CAA

The Clean Air Act must be expanded because it excludes specific indoor air quality regulations and does not sufficiently protect individuals from harmful indoor air pollutants. This is especially important for people with disabilities under the ADA, who are sometimes prevented from participating in public spaces due to the unaddressed health risks associated with polluted indoor air. The ADA ensures that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in programs and enjoy goods and services available to everyone, but dangerous indoor air quality can substantially limit an individual’s ability to safely participate.28 Because many disabilities are connected to poor indoor air quality, it is important to address this concern and provide safe access to public goods, services, and programs for all. Limits on the amount of harmful substances allowed indoors would provide environments that can be enjoyed equally by all people with and without disabilities. One way to achieve this would be by monitoring indoor air quality and regulating pollutant levels using air filtration and ventilation.

IV. Massachusetts et al. v Environmental Protection Agency (2007)

es insight into how the EPA may be held accountable for protecting public health. In 2007, a group of organizations created a petition claiming the EPA had refused to carry out its responsibility under the CAA of regulating four types of greenhouse gas emissions.29 The EPA initially rejected the petition, arguing that “(1) the Act does not authorize it to issue mandatory regulations to address global climate change, and (2) even if it had the authority to set greenhouse gas emission standards, it would have been unwise to do so at that time because a causal link between greenhouse gases and the increase in global surface air temperatures was not unequivocally established.”30 The case was ultimately taken to the Supreme Court for a decision.

A. Case Outcome and Relevance

In a five-to-four decision, the Supreme Court decided that Massachusetts had legal standing, reversing the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision.31 The Court decided that there was a sufficient link between regulating greenhouse gasses and protecting human health.32 The specific grounds on which this conclusion was based were that “[…] greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide had played a key role in global warming.”33 This decision dictated that the EPA has the ability to regulate greenhouse gasses. It further determined that policy is an insufficient reason not to use the authority granted over regulating such gasses, setting a precedent for the EPA’s ability to regulate air quality.34 The EPA has been established as the appropriate agency to regulate air quality to protect human health, as it does with greenhouse gasses. Therefore, the EPA can reasonably be held accountable for the regulation of indoor air quality insofar as it is done to protect public health.

Multiple studies have indicated a link between clean indoor air quality and lower risks of health problems.35 For example, maintaining indoor air filtration systems lowers the risk of coming into contact with harmful airborne matter.36 The definition of “air pollution” is “when air is no longer safe due to contamination,” meaning that, in this context, communicable diseases and matter that cause the deterioration of human health function as indoor air pollution.37 An example of a highly transmissible airborne disease known to cause various forms of disability is COVID-19.38 The World Health Organization (WHO) has released information stating that permanent or long-term symptoms of COVID-19, ranging from lung problems to vascular damage, are possible risks to everyone, regardless of age or the severity of the initial infection.39 Because of this, diseases like COVID-19 are hazardous to everyone, especially people who already have disabilities, and improper indoor air circulation is a potentially fatal risk in communities.40

The EPA has demonstrated the ability to effectively mitigate health risks related to air quality, with the NAAQS serving as evidence. Though the Clean Air Act currently deals only with ambient air, §12182 of the ADA supports the need for greater protection from air pollution, which the EPA can accomplish.

V. Conclusion

Moving forward, the Clean Air Act should be expanded to address §12182 of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Regulating hazardous airborne substances indoors through monitoring, ventilation, and air filtration standards would provide adequate protection for public health. The EPA shows that enforcing standards such as the NAAQS has led to significant improvements in outdoor air quality, with its estimates showing a 71% decrease in the output of the six pollutants the standards target as well as a 182% increase in economic growth between the years of 1980 and 2021.41 Furthermore, there is no substantial reason to believe that a similar strategy for pollution mitigation cannot be implemented to manage indoor air quality. The Clean Air Act should include indoor air pollutant regulations, limiting the concentration of certain air pollutants allowed in public indoor spaces across the country because low-quality indoor air presents a high risk for many Americans with disabilities, preventing their participation in public spaces. The only options currently afforded to groups with disabilities when making decisions about the safety of participation in indoor spaces are to participate despite the risk or to simply not participate at all. Safety measures could feasibly be taken to offer the same level of protection as is afforded to people without disabilities.

  1. Author Biography: B.A. Candidate for Environmental Studies and American Studies on the Pre-Law track with minors in Political Science and Peace & Justice Studies, Fordham College at Lincoln Center, Class of 2026. I am deeply grateful to the FULR Executive Board for the tremendous effort put into providing resources for writers. I’d also like to give special thanks to Kathryn MacMillan and Aidan Hughes for their excellent guidance as my editors. Lastly, I want to thank my family for always supporting my academic endeavors and giving me the confidence to pursue my passion for law.
  2. Nina Prescott et al., The Need For US Indoor Air Quality Guidelines, RMI (Oct. 11, 2023), https://rmi.org/the-need-for-us-indoor-air-quality-guidelines/.
  3. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977, 42 U.S.C. § 7470.
  4. Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497, 533 (2007).
  5. 42 U.S.C §7470.
  6. 40th Anniversary of the Clean Air Act, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2010) https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/40th-anniversary-clean-air-act.
  7. Evolution of the Clean Air Act, U.S.Environmental Protection Agency (Nov. 12, 2024), https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/evolution-clean-air-act.
  8. NAAQS Table, U.S.Environmental Protection Agency (Dec. 16, 2024), https://www.epa.gov/criteria-air-pollutants/naaqs-table.
  9. California Air Resources Board, California Air Resources Board, https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/california-ambient-air-quality-standards.
  10. 42 U.S.C. § 7470.
  11. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977, 42 U.S.C. § 7470.
  12. Id.
  13. Andrew R. Wheeler, EPA, Revised Policy on Exclusions from “Ambient Air” 1 (Dec. 2, 2019).
  14. Ambient and Household Air Pollution and Health: Frequently Asked Questions, Pan American Health Organization (2018), https://www.paho.org/en/topics/air-quality-and-health/ambient-and-household-air-pollution-and-health-frequently-asked.
  15. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101.
  16. Id.
  17. Id.
  18. Id.
  19. Introduction to the Americans with Disabilities Act, U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, https://www.ada.gov/topics/intro-to-ada/.
  20. Asthma Information, Asthma, Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America, https://aafa.org/asthma/.
  21. Id.
  22. Michael S. Heyl, Circumventing Environmental Policy: Does the Americans With Disabilities Act Provide Protection Where Environmental Statutes Don’t?, 18 J. Contemp. Health L. & Pol’y 323, 323 (2002).
  23. Civil Action Complaint at 4, Jones v. Fairfax County School Board., No. 1:23-cv-00359, ( E.D. Va. April 19, 2024).
  24. Id.
  25. Id.
  26. Asthma Information, Asthma, Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America, https://aafa.org/asthma/.
  27. Id.
  28. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101.
  29. Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497, 505 (2007).
  30. Id.
  31. Perry W. Payne & Sara Rosenbaum, Massachusetts et al. V Environmental Protection Agency: Implications for Public Health Policy and Practice, 122 Public Health Rep. 817, 819 (2007).
  32. Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497, 514 (2007).
  33. Id.
  34. Perry W. Payne & Sara Rosenbaum, Massachusetts et al. V Environmental Protection Agency: Implications for Public Health Policy and Practice, 122 Public Health Rep. 817, 819 (2007).
  35. Gonçalo Marques et al., Indoor Air Quality Assessment Using a CO2 Monitoring System Based on Internet of Things, 43 Journal of Medical Systems 1, 1 (2019).
  36. Id.
  37. Air Pollution, BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY (2nd ed. 1995).
  38. Sam Duerksen, Long COVID can affect anyone, Victoria News (Feb. 8, 2024), https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:6B93-FMH1-JD2C-J1G9-00000-00&context=1516831.
  39. Id.
  40. Id.
  41. NAAQS Overview, Environmental & Energy Law Program at Harvard Law School (Aug. 29, 2024), https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/naaqs/.
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