Clean Air Act of 1970

In the United States, the Clean Air Act of 1970 imposed limitations on composition of new fuels, and as such methanol-containing fuels were required to obtain Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waivers. Upon enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977, EPA set for waiver unleaded fuels containing 2 wt % maximum oxygenates excluding methanol (0.3 vol % maximum). Questions regarding methanol s influence on emissions, water separation, and fuel system components were raised (80). 

Various laws have been passed in the United States to control air pollution. The first law that had any real effect was the Clean Air Act of 1970 (CAA), which was followed by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977. Most recentiy, the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990 (5) further changed and updated the requirements. 

Automotive Catalytic Converter Catalysts. California environmental legislation in the early 1960s stimulated the development of automobile engines with reduced emissions by the mid-1960s, led to enactment of the Federal Clean Air Act of 1970, and resulted in a new industry, the design and manufacture of the automotive catalytic converter (50). Between 1974 and 1989, exhaust hydrocarbons were reduced by 87% and nitrogen oxides by 24%. 

Although considerable federal legislation dealing with air pollution has been enacted since the 1950s, the basic statutory framework now in effect was established by the Clean Air Act of 1970 amended in 1974 to deal with energy-related issues amended in 1977, when a number of amendments containing particularly important provisions associated with the approval of new industrial plants were adopted and amended in 1990 to address toxic air pollutants and ozone nonattainment areas. 

Clean Air Act of 1970 The Clean Air Act of 1970 was founded on the concept of attaining National Ambient Air Quahty Standards (NAAQS). Data were accumulated and analyzed to establish the quality of the air, identify sources of pollution, determine how pollutants disperse and interac t in the ambient air, and define reduc tions and controls necessary to achieve air-quahty objectives. 

Although FGD processes, originally referred to as scrubbing SO, from flue gas, have been available for many years, installations in the United States were quite limited until passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970. Even then, installations were usually limited to new facilities because existing plants were exempt under the law. 

The Clean Air Act of 1970 set new standards that went beyond the capabilities of the then existing technology, and spurred a very intensive research effort. The Clean Air Act also called for a study by the National Academy of Sciences of the technological feasibility of meeting the emission standards. On April 11, 1973 William D. Ruckelshaus, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, announced a delay in enforcing the 1975 standard by one year, to be replaced by an interim standard for California and a more relaxed interim standard for the rest of the forty-nine states. 

In the USA, the Clean Air Act of 1970 established air-quality standards for six major pollutants particulate matter, sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and photochemical oxidants. It also set standards for automobile emissions - the major source of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides. An overview of the major standards is given in Tab. 10.2. The levels of, for example, the European Union (1996) are easily achieved with the present catalysts. The more challenging standards, up to those for the ultralow emission vehicle, are within reach, but zero-emission will probably only be attainable for a hydrogen-powered vehicle. 

The Clean Air Act of 1970 and the 1977 amendments that followed consist of three titles. Title I deals with stationary air emission sonrces. Title 11 deals with mobile air emission sonrces, and Title III inclndes definitions of appropriate terms, provisions for citizen snits, and applicable standards for judicial review. 

Historians tend to agree that Earth Day had a profound effect on the environmental consciousness of public officials and ordinary citizens. The 1970s saw the adoption of a series of environmental programs at both federal and state levels. Two major acts passed during this period were the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Federal Water Pollution Act of 1972. 

The Clean Air Act of 1970 established National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQSs) and set New Source Performance Standards (NSPSs) that regulated the amount of emissions to be permitted from a new source in an area. The act also required individual states to create their own state implementation plans (SIPs), and set stiff fines for violation of clean air regulations and established a clear and specific schedule for compliance with the new legislation. A1977 amendment to the act dealt primarily with motor vehicle emission standards. 

Under the terms of the Clean Air Act of 1970, as amended in 1990, the Environmental Protection Agency is required to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for pollutants considered to be hazardous to public health and the environment. These standards are of two types primary and secondary. Primary standards apply to "sensitive" members of the population, including the elderly, young children, and people who have respiratory disorders. Secondary standards apply to the general public and include risks to other parts of the environment, including visibility, animals, crops, vegetation, and buildings. 

The Clean Air Act of 1970 declared beryllium, mercury, and asbestos as hazardous elements. Of the three, mercury is of particular interest to coal technologists. Other elements that exist as trace metals in coal and are suspected to be potentially detrimental to the environment include Pb, As, Sb, Zn, Se, Mo, Co, Li, V, Cr, Mn, Ni, etc. It is not the purpose of this book to create villains out of these elements, but to illustrate analytical techniques to determine how and in what amounts they are released in coal conversion processes. 

Only recently have electric utility power plant emissions been included on the US Environmental Protection Agency s (USEPA) Toxic Release Inventory which reported that electric utilities ranked highest for industrial toxic air emissions in 1998. These emissions were likely to be an important component of toxic air releases in the past, particularly prior to the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970. 

---