An official website of the United States government.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

General Duty Clause under the Clean Air Act Section 112(r)(1)

In the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, Congress enacted Section 112(r)(1), also known as the General Duty Clause (GDC). It applies to any facility where extremely hazardous substances are present. GDC is a performance based authority recognizing that owners and operators have a general duty and responsibility to prevent and mitigate the consequences of chemical accidents.

Facilities have been required to comply with GDC since November 1990.