Legislation, environmental

The environmental aspects of coal use have been a major factor in the various processes, and the see-sawing movement of the fossil fuel base between petroleum, natural gas, and coal increased the need for pollutant control for large, coal-tired power plants. These power plants emit pollutants that, by atmospheric chemical transformations, may become even more harmful secondary pollutants (Moran et al., 1986). 

it has become very apparent over the last three decades that abatement of air pollution needs to be mandatory now and in the future. Four main avenues of action are open to decrease the amount of sulfur dioxide emitted from stacks of power-generating plants (1) bum low-sulfur fuels, (2) desulfurize available fuels, (3) remove SOx from flue gases, or (4) generate power by nuclear reactors. 

Low-sulfur fuels are expensive and not readily available in many areas where population density is the greatest. Desulfurization of fuels is also expensive, and the technology for desulfurizing coal is still in the development stage. A few nuclear power plants are being built today. Safety and health concerns about nuclear facilities make it unlikely that there will be an outburst of building such facilities for some years to come. 

In the past, a certain amount of pollution was recognized as being almost inevitable, perhaps even fashionable. But now, this is not the case. Any industry found guilty of emitting noxious materials can suffer heavy tines. And there is also the possibility of a jail term for the offending executives Pollution of the environment will not be tolerated. 

while industry marches on using many of the same processes that were in use in the early days of the centmy, more stringent methods for cleanup are necessary before any product/by-product can be released to the atmosphere. And this is where gas processing becomes an important aspect of industrial Ufe. Furthermore, gas-cleaning processes are now reqnired to be more efficient than ever before. 

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Gas can be injected into reservoirs to supplement recovery by maintaining reservoir pressure or as a means of disposing of gas which cannot be flared under environmental legislation, and for which no market exists. 

Potential health and safety problems of acryflc polymers occur in their manufacture (159). During manufacture, considerable care is exercised to reduce the potential for violent polymerizations and to reduce exposure to flammable and potentially toxic monomers and solvents. Recent environmental legislation governing air quality has resulted in completely closed ketde processes for most acryflc polymerizations. Acryflc solution polymers are treated as flammable mixtures. Dispersion polymers are nonflammable. 

Economic competitiveness plays a reduced role in commercialisation only when environmental legislation mandates the use of certain fuels such as oxygenates. 

PGM catalyst technology can also be appHed to the control of emissions from stationary internal combustion engines and gas turbines. Catalysts have been designed to treat carbon monoxide, unbumed hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides in the exhaust, which arise as a result of incomplete combustion. To reduce or prevent the formation of NO in the first place, catalytic combustion technology based on platinum or palladium has been developed, which is particularly suitable for appHcation in gas turbines. Environmental legislation enacted in many parts of the world has promoted, and is expected to continue to promote, the use of PGMs in these appHcations. 

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%. 

There has been a tremendous increase in regulatory activities worldwide aimed at achieving safer manufacture, use, and disposal of chemicals, including colorants (380). Table 1 is a summary of important United States, European, and Japanese Environmental Legislation affecting workers, consumers, and the pubhc and environment (381). 

The U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA90) (1) were a revision of the original U.S. Clean Air Act passed in 1963, amended in 1970, and amended again in 1977 (2). It is one of the most significant pieces of environmental legislation ever enacted. Estimates of the yearly economic impacts of CAAA90 range from U.S. 12 billion to U.S. 53 billion in 1995 and from U.S. 25 billion to U.S. 90 billion by 2005. 

This example leads us to a very important observation. While pollution prevention may seem like the obvious thing to do, it is not always cost effective, and investments into re-engineering processes must be carefully scrutinized. In fact, in this example, we see environmental legislation that actually discourages investments into green technologies, which in itself is contrary to national policy under the Pollution Prevention Act. 

Beyond these indirect costs, there are future costs associated with new or more stringent variations of existing environmental legislation. We also need to recognize that all operations, especially those within complex industry sectors like petrochemicals, carry liabilities and exposures to potential catastrophic releases. Systems do fail for a variety of reasons, leading to unplarmed and sometimes innocent mistakes, that may result in third-party exposures for environmental damages or health risk exposures. These costs are related to legal fees, loss in consumer confidence, and subsequent losses in market shares for the products a company sells, as well as the clean-up associated with the spill or release. 

Go to the proper U.S. environmental legislation and obtain the MCLs for the chemicals listed in Table 9. 

The reduction of atmospheric concentrations of the sulfur and nitrogen oxides blamed for acid rain was a major issue in the debate that led to the 1990 Clean Ail-Act Amendments (CAAA). The final legislative action is one of the most complex and comprehensive pieces of environmental legislation ever written. 

Agency (EPA), which was established in 1970, the same year the first Clean Air Act was passed into law. In 1972 the Clean Water Act became law, and in 1973 the Endangered Species Act became law. Other important federal environmental legislation includes the Resource Consei vation and Recoveiy Act, passed in 1976 the Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 the Nuclear Waste Policy Acts of 1982 and 1987 and the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Acts of 1980 and 1985. From 1980 to 2000 these environmental regulations, and the enforcement efforts of the EPA, have had a much greater impact on decisions made in the energy industiy than all the policy initiatives implemented by the DOE. 

CELDS Computer-Environmental Legislative Data System... 

CELDS. 1990. Computer-Environmental Legislative Data Systems. University of Illinois, Urbana, IL. May 15, 1990. 

Canadian enviroOSHLegislation plus Standards is a comprehensive, easy to search compilation of the full text of the Canadian health, safety and environmental legislation, critical guidelines and codes of practice from aU jurisdictions and regular updates, with amendments highlighted. 

Other non-conventional reaction media are also beginning to attract attention as a result of the tightening of environmental legislation regarding conventional organic solvents. These are discussed in more detail in Chapter 4. 

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