Air Quality Standards : An Analysis Of The Clean Air Act

Before the Clean Air Act (CAA) was passed by Congress, the Air Pollution Act of 1955 and Motor Vehicle Act of 1960 preceded it. The two acts before the CAA did not really do much except jump starting research and throwing plenty of money at the research. When the research was released to Congress from the Motor Vehicle Act, Congress found out that approximately 60% of pollution was coming from vehicles; of the pollutants that were being emitted from vehicles, the most prominent that were found were Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Oxide (NOx), and Hydrocarbons. These findings pushed Congress to pass another bill that would help to slow down pollution, especially from vehicles. However, when the CAA was passed, it did not mandate any reductions

The terms of reference were given by the AENV 2007 which was issued by the Alberta Environment. Under these regulations, the requirements were declared with respect to air quality measures.

since 1970. 40 percent of sulfer dioxide in the air has been reduced, as well

The Supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution establishes that the federal constitution, and federal law generally, take precedence over state laws, and even state constitutions. While in this particular matter, the statutes of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would generally trump the state level regulations of organizations such as the California Air Resources Board (CARB), however the EPA has also mandated that “The setting of these pollutant standards was coupled with directing the states to develop state implementation plans (SIPs), applicable to appropriate industrial sources in the state, in order to achieve these standards.” (EPA, 2015) The standards in questions are called National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

For decades, the air quality in Birmingham did not meet EPA criteria, but crossed the threshold this year. This achievement demonstrates the prominent progress made by the industries and residents to improve air quality.

Although rarely discussed and unknown, the clean air act of 1970 and its amendments has helped the United States and its people greatly in the past 40-plus years. The act was originally created to regulate 6 criteria pollutants: lead, carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and nitrogen dioxide. Then, the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 expanded on these by targeting four other areas: acid rain, urban air pollution, toxic air emissions, and ozone depletion. The United States government enforced these regulations for factories, coal plants and automobiles to not only address air concerns, but address health concerns and environmental concerns.

The clean air act is regulatory act that has a purpose of monitoring and adjusting the emissions from mobile and stationary sources, like vehicles and factories. As a whole and individual states, the clean air act’s purpose in the United States is to keep the air quality clean so people can live in healthy environments with clean air. Each individual state has their own different standards when it comes to air quality. To each of the factories and power plants that follow the clean air act standards are given allowances. The places that switch over to the clean burning systems, solar power, wind power and so on, are also given these

Regional air quality is considerably impacted by flow of air pollutants from long distances; originating from Asia can impact air quality in North America. Pollutants originating from United States are believed to be responsible for high ozone levels in southwestern Ontario. During smog episodes in Ontario, these trans-boundary pollutants can be responsible for almost 90 percent of the ozone in areas like Port Huron and Simcoe (North Lake Erie), Parry Sound (East Lake Huron and Georgian Bay) and Windsor (extreme southwest). To a small extent pollutants originating from Ontario impact air quality in Quebec, Maritime provinces and U.S New England states.

The Clean Air Act requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to classify air pollutants and set air quality standards accordingly, in order to regulate/lower pollution levels. The EPA (defendant) issued a National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) ruling that applied to the lead industry. The Lead Industries Association (plaintiff), disagreed with this action taken by the EPA and filed suit accordingly, arguing that the NAAQS set for lead by the EPA was not justified by conclusive evidence, and therefore was not what the Clean Air Act intended. Because scientific data on lead was actively being collected, the LIA argued that that this NAAQS was based on incomplete studies that had not yet proven the legitimate risk of health

In connection with both projects, Itchee will need to ensure compliance with the Clean Air Act because of the increased emission of particulate matter. Particulate matter is a criteria pollutant under the Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act defined 6 criteria pollutants as indicators of nationwide air quality. Each criteria air pollutant has a maximum concentration limit set by the Clean Air Act, above which dangers to human health are present. These maximum concentration limits are called national ambient air quality standards, or NAAQS for short. Ambient air is the outside air, as opposed to indoor air.

According to National Geographic Magazine, countries around the world have undertaken and implemented measures to combat air pollution. These measures aim to limit emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that contribute to air pollution. The United States of America is one of the hundred and seventy five (175) countries that signed the Paris Agreement to combat climate change which includes air pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of United States of America formulates strategies and enforces laws and regulations such as the Clean Air Act (CAA). The EPA as the enforcing agency stipulated in the clean air act that all stationary sources such as factories and chemical plants “must install pollution control equipment

New York City has a significant air pollution problem that causes death for hundreds of people year round. Researchers at NYU’s medical school have reported that just

In the short term scientist and geologist are most concerned with the exposure to ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, PM2-5, and TRAP as increasing risk to asthma symptoms. You wrote a great article here. However, it appears we are very limited in how to help our communities gain better air quality. Keeping streets clean is one thing, but how does the normal citizen convince

According to Plan Bay Area, the act requires each of the state’s 18 metropolitan areas – including the Bay Area – to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks. Furthermore, the law necessitates that the Bay Area and other California regions develop a Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) - new element implemented by regional transportation plan (RTP) to elaminate greenhouse gas emissions and reach air quality standards set for each region. As Plan Bay Area: Strategy for a Sustainable Region indicates:" The Bay Area’s target is a 7 percent per capita reduction by 2020 and a 15 percent per capita reduction by 2035". Further development plans and strategies designed to maintain enironmental stability in Bay Area region may be find in the source. Moreover, Bay Area Air Quality Management has established rules and regulations published on its official website and continues to inform public of new laws and legal changes on air pollution

In 1990 the Clean Air Act 1990 was created as recent advancements and awareness were aiding people in noticing what impacts greenhouse gasses were contributing to acid rain and noticed that sulfur from coal plants were contributing to this problem. The goal of the policy was to reduce the total national SO2 emissions to half of what they were during 1990. The Clean Air Act allowed companies to produce a certain amount of emission per year, and this number varied as it depended on the amount of energy that the company supplied to their customers.