Clean Air Amendment

The U.S. Clean Air Amendments of 1977 define two kinds of air quality standards primary standards, levels that will protect health but not necessarily prevent the other adverse effects of air pollution, and secondary standards, levels that will prevent all the other adverse effects of air pollution (Table 22-7). The amendments also define air quality levels that cannot be exceeded in specified geographic areas for "prevention of significant deterioration" (PSD) of the air of those areas. Although they are called "increments" over "baseline air quality" in the law, they are in effect tertiary standards, which are set at lower ambient levels than either the primary or secondary standards (Table 22-8). 

U.S. Congress. 1990. Clean air amendments. Title III, Hazardous Air Pollutants, Section 112(b), Hazardous Air Pollutants as Amended, October 26, 1990. One Hundred and First Congress of the United States of America, 2nd Session Report 101-952. 

Conference Report 95-564, 95th Congress, Clean Air Amendments of 1977, Section 313, p 109-110. 

The Clean Air Amendment was passed. This is described earlier in this chapter. It was strengthened in 1977 and 1990. 

The Clean Air Amendments to the Air Quality Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments were enacted to protect the environment. They have directly affected the operations of chemical firms, particularly those of research and development. 

Despite the important implications of the 1970 Clean Air Amendments and of the Air Quality Standards to the purpose of this symposium, for the most part the cogency of the program was unaffected. The five papers presented at this symposium that were selected for inclusion in this volume address themselves to significant aspects of the photochemical smog problem. Hopefully, this volume will stimulate a broader interest of the scientific community in the quantitative aspects of air pollution. 

The Clean Air Amendments of 1970 and the accompanying regulation have intensified the demand for clean fuels and control devices on a nationwide basis. These control measures must be in operation by 1975, or in some instances, 1977. 

The Alternative Motor Fuel Act of 1988 was the first major federal law in the United States to address alternative transportation fuel use. It was followed by the Clean Air Amendments Act of 1990 and the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which greatly expanded alternative fuel use mandates and fuel quality specifications. Over the past decade, transportation fuel and vehicle providers have struggled to comply with a bewildering array of federal government requirements. Despite some considerable successes and the presence of over 400,000 alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) on U.S. roads, their population remains at less than one half of one percent of the total motor vehicle fleet. Thus, the country remains nearly as far today from diversifying its transportation fuel and vehicle mix as it was 15 years ago. 

Environmental protection agency (EPA) n. Charged by the clean air amendments of 1970 to the air quality act of 1967 with establishing minimum air quality standards which must be incorporated in regional state standards. These standards are essentially similar to those first promulgated by the Los Angeles region of California in their Rule 66. 

National Environmental Protection Act 1969 Clean Air Amendments 1970 Water Pollution Control Act 1972 Safe Drinking Water Act 1974... 

A third problem associated with fossil fuel combustion is acid rain. The nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides emitted into air make rain acidic. This acidic rain falls into lakes and streams and makes them acidic as well (see Section 14.11). Some species of aquatic life cannot tolerate the increased acidity and die. Acid rain also affects forests and building materials. Again, good legislation— specificaUy the Clean Air Amendments of 1990— have addressed add rain, and sulfur oxide emissions have been decreasing in the United States over the past 20 years. We can expect to see the positive effects of these reductions in lakes and streams in the coming years. 

The CSB is not an enforcement or regulatory body, but functions as a scientific investigatory organization. It is a five-member board modeled after the NTSB. The CSB was established under Section 112 (r)(6)(G) of the Clean Air Amendments of 1990 42 USC 7412, but it did not begin operations until January 1998. Incidents meeting CSB investigation criteria are those where ... 

---