Enviromental
1982 – 1988 – Signed 43 bills designating more than 10 million acres of wilderness areas in 27 states. The wilderness areas established during Reagan’s presidency account for nearly 10 percent of the National Wilderness Preservation System at its current extent. President Reagan signed more wilderness bills than any other president since the Wilderness Act was enacted in 1964.



1982 – Signed legislation establishing 110,000-acre Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in southwestern Washington State for research, recreation, and public education.



1983 – President Reagan’s EPA Administrator, William Ruckelshaus, banned the use of ethylene dibromide, a suspected carcinogen, as an agricultural soil fumigant.



1985 – President Reagan’s EPA Administrator, Lee Thomas, ordered a 90 percent reduction in lead in gasoline.



1986 – Signed legislation establishing Great Basin National Park, covering 77,000 acres featuring bristlecone pine forests, glacial moraines, and cave formations in eastern Nevada.



1986 – Signed the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act, which increased funding and strengthened the federal program to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous waste.



1986 – Signed Safe Drinking Water Act amendments requiring stronger controls on drinking water contaminants and protection of source aquifers.



1987 – Signed legislation establishing El Malpais National Monument, covering more than 114,000 acres featuring lava tubes, cinder cones, and archaeological treasures in western New Mexico.



1987 – Signed into law the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act, which established efficiency standards for 12 types of residential appliances.



1987 - Signed into law Clean Water Act amendments of 1987, which broadened the Clean Water Act’s reach to cover non-point source pollution and stormwater. The amendments established National Estuary Program to protect nationally significant estuaries, which now number 28, including Long Island Sound, Albemarle-Pamlico Sounds, Tampa Bay, San Francisco Bay, and Puget Sound.



1987 - Ordered U.S. diplomats to negotiate a strong treaty to begin phasing out ozone-depleting chemicals. The resulting Montreal Protocol was ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1988 and entered into force in 1989. The Montreal Protocol, which President Reagan called a “monumental achievement,” has resulted in a 95 percent decline in production of the targeted chemicals. The atmosphere’s protective ozone layer has begun to recover.