CLEAN AIR ACT By Mugaishudeen.G Assistant Professor Department of Chemical Engineering 19-Jul-20 THE CLEAN AIR ACT • The Clean Air Act defines the national policy for air pollution abatement and control in the United States • It establishes goals for protecting health and natural resources, and delineates what is expected of federal, state, and local governments to achieve those goals • The Clean Air Act, which was initially enacted as the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955, has undergone several revisions over the years to meet the ever-challenging needs and conditions of the nation’s air quality • On November 15, 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed the most recent amendments to the Clean Air Act, referred to as the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments • Encouraged the use of market-based principles and other innovative approaches similar to performance-based standards plus emission banking and trading • Promoted the use of clean low-sulfur coal and natural gas, as well as innovative technologies to clean high-sulfur coal through the acid rain program • Reduced energy waste and creates enough of a market for clean fuels derived from grain and natural gas to cut/reduce dependence on oil imports by one million barrels/day • Promoted energy conservation through an acid rain program that gave utilities flexibility to obtain needed emission reductions through programs that encouraged customers to conserve energy Provisions of the 1990 Act Provisions of the 1990 Act • The Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990, created a more balanced strategy for the nation to address the problem of urban smog • It required the federal government to reduce emission from cars, trucks, and buses; from consumer products such as hairspray and window-washing compounds; and, from ships and barges during loading and unloading of petroleum products • The Clean Air Act addresses the urban air pollution problems of ozone (smog), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter (PM). Specifically, it clarifies how areas are designated and redesignated “attainment”. • It also allows the EPA to define the boundaries of “nonattainment” areas— geographic areas whose air quality does not meet federal air quality standards designed to protect public health Provisions of the 1990 Act • The EPA assigns each nonattainment areas (one of these categories: marginal, moderate, serious, severe, and extreme) thus triggering varying requirements that area must comply with in order to meet the ozone standard. • Nonattainment areas have to implement different control measures, depending on their classification. • The Clean Air Act also established similar programs for areas that do not meet the federal health standards for carbon monoxide and particulate matter • Depending on the degree to which they exceed the carbon monoxide standard, areas are then required to implement programs introducing oxygenated fuels and/or enhanced emission inspection programs, among other measures Provisions of the 1990 Act • Depending on their classification, areas exceeding the particulate matter standard have to implement either reasonably available control measures (RACMs) or best available control measures (BACMs), among other requirements • To summarize, the NAAQS represents a maximum concentration or “threshold level” of a pollutant in the air above which humans or the environment may experience some adverse effects. The actual threshold levels are based on years of epidemiological, health, and environmental effects research conducted by the EPA • If monitoring indicates that the concentration of a pollutant exceeds the NAAQS in any area of the country, that area (as noted earlier) is labeled a nonattainment area for that pollutant, meaning that the area is not meeting the ambient standard, if area in which the concentration of a criteria pollutant is below the NAAQS is labeled an attainment area Provisions of the 1990 Act • The NAAQS provide target levels of concentrations of pollutants in the atmosphere, but do not set pollutant emission limitations for individual pollution sources • There are four key federal regulations that govern emissions from individual sources, each of which is described below • Prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permitting program • Nonattainment new source review (NA-NSR) permitting program • New source performance standards (NSPS) • Maximum achievable control technology (MACT) for hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) Provisions of the 1990 Act • The NAAQS provide target levels of concentrations of pollutants in the atmosphere, but do not set pollutant emission limitations for individual pollution sources • There are four key federal regulations that govern emissions from individual sources, each of which is described below • Prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permitting program • Nonattainment new source review (NA-NSR) permitting program • New source performance standards (NSPS) • Maximum achievable control technology (MACT) for hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) Provisions Relating to Enforcement • The Clean Air Act contains provisions for a broad array of authorities to make the law readily enforceable. EPA has authority to 1. Issue administrative penalty orders up to $200,000 and field citations up to $5000 2. Obtain civil judicial penalties 3. Secure criminal penalties for knowing violations and for knowing and negligent endangerment 4. Require sources to certify compliance 5. Issue administrative subpoenas for compliance data 6. Issue compliance orders with compliance schedules of up to one year Provisions Relating to Enforcement • The following EPA actions represent recent regulations promulgated to implement the requirements of the Clean Air Act 1. Clean Air Interstate Rule published on May 12, 2005 (70 FR 25161) amends requirements for State Implementation Plans and for provisions for Acid Rain Program 2. Mercury Rules published on May 18, 2005 (20 FR 28605) amends New Source Performance Standards for electric utility steam generating units and some pro-visions of the Acid Rain Program 3. Non-road Diesel Rule published on May 11, 2004 (69 FR 38957) amends pro-visions for mobile sources and for highway vehicles and engines 4. Ozone Rules identified those areas that are designated as not attaining the ambient air quality standards for ozone 5. Fine Particle Rules identified those areas that are designated as not attaining the ambient air quality standards for particulate matter
