Final answer:
Since the 1940s, U.S. environmental regulations have undergone significant development, including the formation of the EPA, and the enactment of the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, although challenges to command-and-control regulations exist.
Step-by-step explanation:
Environmental regulations have significantly evolved since the 1940s. The pivotal year of 1970 saw the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which was tasked with overseeing all environmental laws. Concurrently, Congress enacted the Clean Air Act, designed to tackle air pollution, and later the Clean Water Act of 1972, a comprehensive legislation aimed at water pollution issues. These command-and-control regulations mandated specific pollution limits and required the adoption of pollution-control technologies, leading to measurably cleaner air and water. However, challenges such as inflexibility, high compliance costs, and potential stifling of innovative solutions have been pointed out regarding this regulatory approach. Despite these concerns, the command-and-control framework has contributed to the large-scale environmental improvements seen in the United States over the past decades.