Clean Air Act standards

The US Environmental Protection Agency recently announced its intention to develop and implement new Clean Air Act Standards for industrial coatings operations within the next year. These emission standards will eventually require companies involved in fabric printing, coating and dyeing operations to comply with Maximum Achievable Control standards. The Hazardous Air Pollutants emission limits that will apply to facilities and the impact on fabric coating operations are discussed. USA... 

One of the Clean Air Act standards limits the amount of nitrogen oxides that a car can emit. These compounds react with oxygen to form another harmful chemical, ozone, O3. 

A Linden, NJ commercial laboratory was fined 1 million in 2001 for doctoring the laboratory reports that showed that they met EPA s Clean Air Act standards for cleaner burning fuels. The company was also put on probation for three years, and its former president was convicted of fi aud. 

A Guide for Determining Compliance with the Clean Air Act Standards for Radionuclide Emissions from... 

Criteria pollutant Any of the six airborne substances for which National Ambient Air Quality Standards have been established by the Clean Air Act, standards which the Environmental Protection Agency has the responsibility to enforce. At present, the six substances are CO (carbon monoxide), SO2 (sulfur dioxide), PM-10 (particulate matter with diameter <10 /u.m), lead, NO2 (nitrogen dioxide), and O3 (ozone). 

There has been considerable improvement, especially in industrial areas, in U.S. air quaUty since the adoption of the Clean Air Act of 1972. Appreciable reductions in particulate emissions and in SO2 levels ate especially evident. In 1990, however, almost every metropoUtan area was in nonattainment status on o2one air quaUty standards 50 metropoUtan areas exceeded the CO standard and between 50 and 100 exceeded the PM q standard for particulate level (29). 

The benefits of alcohol fuels include increased energy diversification in the transportation sector, accompanied by some energy security and balance of payments benefits, and potential air quaUty improvements as a result of the reduced emissions of photochemically reactive products (see Air POLLUTION). The Clean Air Act of 1990 and emission standards set out by the State of California may serve to encourage the substantial use of alcohol fuels, unless gasoline and diesel technologies can be developed that offer comparable advantages. 

The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments Hst 189 hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) that the EPA must regulate to enforce maximum achievable control technology (MACT) to standards which are to be set by the year 2000. The 33/50 project calls for reduction of emissions of 17 specified solvents to predetermined levels by 1995. The SARA statute provides a mechanism by which the community can be informed of the existence, quantities, and releases of toxic chemicals, and requires that anyone releasing specific toxic chemicals above a threshold level to annually submit a toxic chemical release form to the EPA. The status of various ketones under these regulations is shown in Table 4. 

Clean Air Act and its amendments ia 1970, 1977, and 1990 1967 Air Quahty Standards and National Air Pollution Acts and 1970 National Environmental PoHcy Act) (2) better waste disposal practices (1965 SoHd Waste Disposal Act 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) (see Wastes, industrial Waste treatment, hazardous wastes) (i) reduced noise levels (1972 Noise Control Act) (4) improved control of the manufacture and use of toxic materials (1976 Toxic Substances Control Act) and (5) assignment of responsibiUty to manufacturers for product safety (1972 Consumer Product Safety Act) (15,16). 

In the United States, the Clean Air Act of 1990 requires plants to reduce emissions of 189 toxic and carcinogenic substances such as chlorine, chloroform, and 2,3,7,8-TCDD (dioxin) by 90% over the 1990s. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working to develop standards based on maximum achievable control technologies and the industry has invested bUHons of doUars in capital investments to retrofit or rebuUd plant equipment to meet these measures. 

National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Under the Clean Air Act, six criterion pollutants, ie, pollutants of special concern, have been estabhshed by the EPA sulfur oxides (SO ), particulates, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO ), o2one (photochemical oxidants), and lead. National Ambient Air QuaUty Standards (NAAQS) were developed by EPA based on threshold levels of air pollution below which no adverse effects could be experienced on human health or the environment. 

Glean Air Act as Amended in 1990. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 represent a mote recent effort by the U.S. Congress to address clean air concerns. The first Clean Air Act, passed ia 1967, provided authority to estabUsh air quaUty standards. Further legislation passed ia 1970, 1974, and 1977 extended and modified the original act. The seven tides of the 1990 Act not only extended previous measures, but also broke new conceptual ground. 

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. 

Finally, Sec. 112 of the Clean Air Act required that EPA pronml-gate National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs). Between 1970 and 1989, standards were promulgated for asbestos, beiylhum, mercuiy, vinyl chloride, benzene, arsenic, radionuclides, and coke-oven emissions. 

Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) Of aU the federal laws placing environmental controls on industiy (and, in particular, on new plants), perhaps the most confusing and restrictive are the limits imposed for the prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) of air quahty. These limits apply to areas of the countiy that are already cleaner than required by ambient air-quality standards. This regula-toiy framework evolved from judicial and administrative ac tion under the 1970 Clean Air Act and subsequently was given full statutoiy foundation by the 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments. 

Sources Subject to Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) Sources subject to PSD regulations (40 CFR, Sec. 52.21, Aug. 7, 1980) are major stationary sources and major modifications located in attainment areas and unclassified areas. A major stationaiy source was defined as any source hsted in Table 25-4 with the potential to emit 100 tons per year or more of any pollutant regulated under the Clean Air Act (CAA) or any other source with the potential to emit 250 tons per year or more of any CAA pollutant. The potential to emit is defined as the maximum capacity to emit the pollutant under apphcable emission standards and permit conditions (after apphcation of any air pollution control equipment) excluding secondaiy emissions. A major modification is defined as any physical or operational change of a major stationaiy source producing a significant net emissions increase of any CAA pollutant (see Table 25-5). 

Public Law 101-549, 101st Congress. November 15, 1990, an Act, to amend the Clean Air Act to provide for attainment and maintenance of health protective national ambient ait quality standards, and for other purposes. 

CAAA90 is a technology-based program rather than the health-based program used in the original Clean Air Act. The standards and emission limits are based on maximum achievable control technology. The final emission lirnits will be set forth in permits issued by the individual states. 

The Clean Air Act of 1990 establishes tighter pollution standards for emissions from automobiles and trucks. These standards will reduce tailpipe emissions of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides on a phased-in basis beginning in model year 1994. Automobile manufacturers will also be required to reduce vehicle emissions resulting from the evaporation of gasoline during refueling. 

Some variants of best practicable means are spelled out in the U.S. Clean Air Act of 1977. One is the requirement that best available control technology (BACT) for a specific pollutant be employed on new "major sources" that are to be located in an area that has attained the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for that pollutant. BACT is also required for pollutants for which there is no NAAQS [e.g., total reduced sulfur (TRS), for which emission limits are specified by a Federal New Source Performance Standard (NSPS)]. BACT must be at least as stringent as NSPS but is determined on a case-by-case basis. 

Before the U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (3), hazardous air pollutants were regulated through federal promulgation of the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS). The EPA listed only eight hazardous air pollutants under NESHAPS. 

The emission control requirements set for municipal incinerators by the U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (1) are extensive and complex. Many of the final standards have not been established as of the date of publication of this book. A thorough study of the regulations is necessary for any person dealing with incinerator technology and control. 

---