U S. Clean Air

Although the majority of molecules in cmde oils and refined products are hydrocarbons, the U.S. Clean Air Act amendment of 1990 mandated the addition of oxygenated compounds to gasoline in many parts of the United States. The requirement is usually that 2% (w/w) of the fuel be oxygen, which... 

Because of its low sulfur content, lignite is becoming mote important. The U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 have resulted in economic premiums fotlow sulfur coal corresponding to 10/t for emission allowances at 500/t of SO2 (32). 

The 1990 Amendments to the U.S. Clean Air Act require a 50% reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions by the year 2000. Electric power stations are beheved to be the source of 70% of all sulfur dioxide emissions (see Power generation). As of the mid-1990s, no utiUties were recovering commercial quantities of elemental sulfur ia the United States. Two projects had been aimounced Tampa Electric Company s plan to recover 75,000—90,000 metric tons of sulfuric acid (25,000—30,000 metric tons sulfur equivalent) aimuaHy at its power plant ia Polk County, Elorida, and a full-scale sulfur recovery system to be iastaHed at PSl Energy s Wabash River generating station ia Terre Haute, Indiana. Completed ia 1995, the Terre Haute plant should recover about 14,000 t/yr of elemental sulfur. 

U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments, PubHc Law 101-549, Tide 3, Hazardous Air Pollutants, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1990. 

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). 

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. 

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. 

Antidegeneration clause A term used in the U.S. Clean Air Acts implying not only that air quality standards must be achieved, but also that nowhere should air quality be allowed to worsen, even if standards are exceeded. 

U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, 21 832 U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, 18 566. See also Clean Air Act entries United States entries U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 12 30. See also Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)... 

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