The National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) is a cooperative federal program first authorized in 1980 to coordinate acid rain research and report the findings to Congress. The research, monitoring, and assessment efforts by NAPAP and others in the 1980s culminated in Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, also known as the Acid Deposition Control Program. In a bold new approach to environmental protection, Title IV includes a market-based program that provides economic incentives for controlling emissions of sulfur dioxide from electricity generating facilities. (more→)

In 2007, a decision was made by the Air Quality Research Subcommittee of CENR and approved by the Director of CENR to redefine the scope of NAPAP in advance of the next report. Parts of previous NAPAP reports essentially duplicate what is already covered in annual progress reports issued by the Acid Rain Program Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (more→)

As part of the rescoping process for future NAPAP reports, a new Director, Douglas Burns of the U.S. Geological Survey was selected in 2007. Dr. Burns began serving as Director in October 2007. Currently goals for NAPAP include completing an outline of the next report in 2007 with a goal of publishing this report in 2009.