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>EPA Cleaning
the Air
EPA's Program
for Air Pollution
Control
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-------
U.S. Envlror
:y.
-------
i/hat Is Air
'Dilution?
"he air around us has never
seen completely pure. It has
always contained some
natural pollution: windblown
dust, smoke from forest
ires, salt particles from the
oceans, gases generated by
the decay of plant and
animal life, and occasional
torrents of gases and dust
particles from volcanic erup-
tions.
For millions of years,
scientists believe, nature's
own air conditioning system
kept the air fairly clean.
Winds mixed and dispersed
the pollutants. Rain and
snow washed some of them
to the ground. Plants
absorbed carbon dioxide
from the air and contributed
fresh oxygen. The system
ran itself.
With the coming of the
industrial age and the vast
increase in population, our
ability to pollute began to
overtake nature's ability to
purify. The effects were first
felt in areas of heavy in-
dustry, where thousands of
factory smokestacks poured
soot and sulfurous gases in
the air. When stagnant
weather conditions kept
these pollutants close to the
ground in one area for days
on end, there were out-
breaks of respiratory disease
and increased deaths from
lung and heart ailments.
From the middle of the 19th
century such episodes
occurred with disturbing fre-
quency in the industrial
cities of Europe and
America, accompanied each
time with sharp rises in
sickness and mortality.
The first air pollution con-
trol ordinance in the United
States was enacted in Pitts-
burgh around 1815.
Other industrial cities
also passed local ordinances
to limit factory fumes and
reduce smoke from the
burning of coal and to con-
trol such smelly operations
as glue factories and render-
ing plants. (Odor was re-
garded as a public nuisance
rather than a health hazard.)
Smoke controls often
seemed to be effective in
improving the appearance
and general cleanliness of
cities, but much of this im-
provement was probably
due to a widespread shift in
fuels after World War II:
from coal to oil and gas for
electric power production,
industrial and home heating;
and from coal to diesel oil
for railroads. Pittsburgh and
St. Louis became noticeably
less smokey in the 1950's,
and household cleaning and
maintenance costs were
reduced. In London, after soft
coal heating fires were banned
early in the next decade, the
traditional "peasoup" fogs
disappeared; landmark
buildings were cleaned of
centuries of grime and
stayed clean.
Despite scattered suc-
cesses in smoke and soot
cleanup after the war, air
pollution continued to in-
crease and its nature began
to change. Pollution
episodes occurred in cities
like Los Angeles that had lit-
tle heavy industry but lots of
automobiles. The smoke-
and-sulfur type of pollution,
though still widespread, was
no longer dominant. The
principal pollutant was
"photochemical smog," a
complex assortment of
gases that were formed in
the air itself. Prof. A.J.
Haagen-Smit of the Califor-
nia Institute of Technology
-------
in Pasadena was the first to
demonstrate (in 1951) that
photochemical smog was a
product of the action of
sunlight upon automobile
exhausts primarily, plus
gaseous wastes from in-
dustry, refineries, and in-
cinerators.
Today there are more
than two and a half times as
many motor vehicles in the
country as there were when
Dr. Haagen-Smit pointed
the finger at them as a
major source of modern air
pollution.
Two-Thirds of
One-Tenth
of One Percent
To understand the air pollu-
tion problem, we must
realize that all pollution
makes up a very small frac-
tion of the air itself. The air
that is near the earth's sur-
face is called the
troposphere. It is about 30
kilometers (1X8 miles) thick
and is kept pretty
thoroughly mixed by winds
and convection currents.
This is the air we breathe.
What is it made up of?
' Seventy-eight percent is
nitrogen, a gaseous element
that is very hard to burn,
that is, it doesn't unite
readily with oxygen.
Twenty-one percent is ox-
ygen, a gaseous element
whose ability to unite with
other elements, like carbon,
releasing energy in the form
of heat, constitutes the
engine that runs all animal
life and almost all plant life.
These two gases make up
99 percent of the air we
breathe. Only one percent is
left. Nine-tenths of this one
percent is argon, a very inert
gas, which is simply there.
Industrial pollutants frequently
dim the air for nearby residents.
It never does anything.
Now we have only one-
tenth of one percent for all
the other ingredients of air
and all the pollution. What's
in this 1/10 of 1 percent, or
1,000 parts per million?
Carbon dioxide (C02) is
about a third of it, 330 parts
per million. This seems like a
small amount for such an
important constituent of the
atmosphere. All green plants
-------
that make food for them-
selves and for animals by
photosynthesis depend on
this carbon dioxide. And
carbon dioxide helps to keep
the earth warm by being
transparent to the sun's
visible-light radiation and
opaque to the infrared, or
heat, energy radiating from
the earth. Carbon dioxide is
the earth's greenhouse win-
dow.
The last two-thirds of
one-tenth of one percent
contains all the remaining
ingredients of dry air: neon,
helium, and krypton (all
inert gases like argon) plus
all the pollutants: ozone (a
form of oxygen), carbon
monoxide, hydrocarbons,
and particles of solid or
liquid substances so small
that they float around
suspended in air.
All these percentages are
for "dry" air, ignoring the
water vapor which is so im-
portant in Nature's weather
machine. The water content
can vary a thousandfold,
from about half again as
much as argon (9/10ths of 1
percent, 900 ppm) to 0.9
ppm. Air that is saturated
with water vapor, all the
water it can hold, never has
much more than 1 percent
water.
We are concerned,
therefore, with a tiny frac-
tion of the atmosphere, a
thin, chemical soup that is
constantly changing in a
complex of actions and
reactions, influenced by the
energy of sunlight and the
presence or absence of
water vapor.
Sulfur oxide gases can
combine with some of the
water to form particles of
sulfur acids and salts.
Oxides of nitrogen combine
with hydrocarbons to form
ozone and other
photochemical oxidants.
Carbon monoxide seems to
disappear in ways not yet
understood; probably it con-
verts to carbon dioxide. Par-
ticles are lifted into the air
by the wind.
Most of the chemical
reactions in air are rever-
sible, and Nature tends to
maintain a rough balance,
an equilibrium, which may
vary with the hour of the
day, the season of the year,
and with weather condi-
tions: air temperature, pres-
sure, and humidity.
Small
Percentages,
Big Amounts
When air pollution is con-
sidered as a fraction of all
the air, it seems very small,
but the total amounts of
pollution in the air over the
United States at any given
time add up to hundreds of
millions of tons.
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
and its predecessor, the
National Air Pollution Con-
trol Administration, have
been keeping track of man-
made pollutant emissions for
more than a decade.
The total pollution figures
are estimates, of course, but
they are based on careful
and conservative accounting
of fuel consumption,
records of industrial produc-
tion, and similar official
statistics related to pollutant
emissions. Table 1, shows
total emissions over a seven-
year period. Notice that the
figures are in millions of
metric tons (a metric ton is
1,000 kilograms or about
2,200 pounds). The five
most pervasive pollutants
spewed into the air each
year in the United States
totalled from 175 million to
more than 200 million metric
tons, nearly a ton for every
-------
man, woman, and child in
the country.
Table 2 shows emission
estimates for 1977, the
latest year for which the
figures are available, accord-
ing to where the pollution
came from. Internal com-
bustion engines
(automobiles and trucks)
account for 80 percent of
the carbon monoxide and 51
percent of total emissions.
Stationary fuel burning pro-
duced 23 percent of total
emissions, and industrial
processes 16 percent.
But total emissions are of
little use in planning and
carrying out the reductiion
of emissioins. Adding partic-
ulates and nitrogen oxides
and carbon monoxide is a
little like adding apples and
newspapers and brake
shoes; the total is essentially
meaningless. Reducing
emissions depends on ac-
tions that can be taken with
each type of pollutant; each
requires different methods
of control.
A glance at the separate
columns in Table 2 will
show that certain types of
sources predominate for dif-
ferent types of pollution.
Stationary fuel burning and
industrial processes account
for 81 percent of particle
emissions, fuel burning for
82 percent for sulfur oxides,
transportation and fuel burn-
ing for 96 percent of nitro-
gen oxides, transportation
and industrial processing for
72 percent of hydrocarbons,
and transportation for 80
percent of carbon monoxide.
Therefore, measures taken
to reduce emissions from
principal sources — auto-
mobiles, for instance, or
electric power plants — pre-
sumably could bring about
substantial reductions in the
levels in ambient air of
several kinds of pollution.
That's a key aspect of EPA's
pollution control strategy.
Emissions are estimated
by carefully noting the
Statistics of automotive
mileage driven and fuel con-
sumption, industrial fuel
consumption and the pro-
Table 1. Estimated pollutant emissions in the United States
1970 through 1977 (millions of metric tons)
Year
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
Suspended
Particles
22.2
20.9
19.6
19.2
170
13.7
13.2
12.4
11%
10%
10%
10%
9%
7%
7%
6%
Sulfur
Oxides
29.8
28.3
29.6
302
28.4
26.1
27.2
27.4
15%
14%
14%
14%
15%
14%
14%
14%
Nitrogen
Oxides
19.6
20.2
21 6
22.3
21.7
21.0
22.8
23.1
9%
10%
11%
11%
11%
11%
11%
12%
Hydro-
carbons *
29 5
29.1
29.6
297
28.6
269
28.7
283
15%
15%
14%
14%
15%
15%
15%
15%
Carbon
Monoxide
102.2
102.5
103.8
103.5
99.7
96.9
102.9
1027
50%
51%
51%
51%
50%
53%
53%
53%
Total
203.3
201.0
204.2
204.9
195.4
184.6
193.8
193.9
*Volatile hydrocarbons only; methane and other nonreactive compounds omitted so far as possible.
Natiottai Atr Qtidiity, Monitoring, and Emission Trends Report, 7977 EPA. December 1978
-------
Table 2. Estimated pollutant emissions by source, 1977
(millions of metric tons)
Source
Transportation
(autos, trucks)
Combustion
(power, heating)
Industrial processes
Solid Waste
(incinerators)
Miscellaneous
(fires, solvents)
Total
Suspended Sulfur
Panicles Oxides
Vola tile
Nigrogen Hydro- Carbon
Oxides carbons Monoxide
48 39%
5.4 43%
0 4 3%
0.7 6%
12.4
08 3% 9.2 40% 11,5 41% 85.7 83%
22.4 82% 13.0 56% 1.5 5% 1.2 1%
42 15% 0.7 4% 10.1 36% 8.3 8%
27.4
0.1
0.1
23.1
0 7 2% 2 6 3%
4.5 16% 4.9 5%
28.3 102.7
National Air Quality, Monilonnq and Emissions Trends Report, 1977 EPA December 1978
duction figures for various
industries — steelmaking
and other metal smelting,
cement plants, petro-
chemical plants, etc., all the
principal stationary sources
of various pollutants — the
numbers and output figures
of incinerators, burning
dumps; and records of
windstorms; fires, both ac-
cidental and natural; and
volcanic eruptions.
The amounts of pollution
known to be emitted by
such sources are not always
reflected in the pollution
levels found in ambient air
measurements. The dis-
crepancy is due to several
factors. First, measurement
methods are not perfect,
, V"
either for monitoring the air
or for estimating emissions.
Second, changing weather
conditions can vary the rates
at which pollutants are
transported from one area
to another and dispersed.
Third, certain important
pollutants — ozone and
other photochemical ox-
idants — are not emitted
directly by human activities;
they are formed in air when
sunlight spurs chemical
combinations among two
kinds of emitted pollutants:
hydrocarbons and nitrogen
oxides.
Smoke from brush fires can add
to pollution problems.
-------
Principal
Air Pollutants,
Their Sources and
Effects
Particulates
These are solid particles or
liquid droplets small enough
to remain suspended in air.
They range widely in size,
from particles visible as soot
or smoke to those too small
to detect except with an
electron microscope.
Smaller sizes may remain
suspended for a long time
and be carried great
distances by winds. Par-
ticulates are produced
primarily by industrial pro-
cess (47 percent) and com-
bustion (34 percent). About
7 percent come from
natural, and largely uncon-
trollable, sources such as
windblown dust, forest fires,
volcanoes, etc.
The health hazard of
particulates may be
physical, from the clog-
ging of the lung sacs by
the particles, or chemical,
from reactions of the
body to very small sub-
stances that can pass
through the lung mem-
branes into the blood and
thence to other body
organs. Many kinds of
particles are hazardous in
themselves: asbestos,
certain metal salts and
acids, and some complex
organic compounds.
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Sulfur Dioxide
This is a corrosive and
poisonous gas produced
mainly from the burning of
sulfur-containing fuel (82
percent) and from certain in-
dustrial processes (15 per-
cent). Most sulfurous coal
and oil is burned in urban
areas, where population and
industry are concentrated,
but sources that produce
several hundred tons of the
gases each year may be
located in rural areas also.
Sulfur dioxide affects
human breathing in direct
relation to the amount of
the gas in the air breathed.
Many types of respiratory
disease, such as coughs and
colds, asthma and bron-
chitis, are associated with
sulfur pollution. Sulfur diox-
ide and particulates often
occur together, and the two
pollutants combined have a
greatly increased effect on
the body.
Carbon Monoxide
This is a colorless, odorless,
poison gas produced by the
incomplete burning of the
carbon in fuels (carbon be-
ing the element supplying
most of the energy from
combustion). About 80 per-
cent of the carbon monox-
ide put into the air is from
gasoline and diesel engines,
i.e., autos and trucks. It is
by far the most plentiful air
pollutant: more than 87
million tons per year in the
United States. Fortunately it
usually disperses and ap-
parently is slowly converted
or absorbed by natural pro-
cesses. Its danger comes
from localized concentra-
tions, as in traffic-filled city
streets.
Carbon monoxide replaces
oxygen in the red blood
cells, reducing the amount
of oxygen that can reach
the body cells and maintain
life. Continued lack of ox-
ygen affects the brain and
the heart, in that order, and
death can result from deep
or prolonged inhalation of
carbon monoxide.
Hydrocarbons
These gases, like carbon
monoxide, represent un-
burned and wasted fuel.
They come from incomplete
combustion of gasoline and
from evaporation of
petroleum fuels, industrial
solvents, painting and dry
cleaning.
Although some individual
hydrocarbons are
poisonous, most are not.
Their harm comes from the
ozone and other oxidants
they help to form by reac-
ting with nitrogen oxides in
sunlight.
Nitrogen Dioxide
This poisonous and highly
reactive gas is produced
when fuel is burned at high
temperatures, about 650°C
(1200°F), causing some of
the abundant nitrogen in the
air to burn also. Most emis-
sions come from industries
(52 percent) and autos (44
percent). Control depends
on careful adjustment of the
combustion process.
Nitrogen irritates and
causes structural and chemi-
cal changes in the lungs. It
lowers the body's resistance
to respiratory infections like
influenza. Its principal
harm, however, comes from
the ozone that it helps to
-------
form by reacting in sunlit air
with hydrocarbons.
Ozone
It is the principal constituent
of modern smog and serves
as an indicator of all the
other photochemical ox-
idants — peroxyacetal
nitrates (PAN), for-
maldehydes, and other or-
ganic compounds of
nitrogen. Ozone is a poison-
ous form of oxygen that irri-
tates the mucous mem-
branes of the breathing
system, causing coughing,
choking, and impaired lung
function. It aggravates
chronic respiratory diseases
like asthma and bronchitis.
Ozone causes structural
and chemical changes in the
lungs and some alterations
of blood components. PAN
and other photochemical ox-
idants that accompany
ozone are powerful eye ir-
ritants. All oxidants are
formed in the air, by chemi-
cal combination of nitrogen
oxides and hydrocarbons,
using the energy of sunlight.
They are almost never
emitted by human activities
and sources.
Lead
An ambient standard for
lead in air was adopted by
EPA in 1978, seven years
after the other six. Lead is a
poison when ingested or in-
haled. It accumulates in the
body, in bone and soft
tissue, and affects the
bloodforming organs, the
kidneys, and the nervous
system. About 90 percent of
Emissions from both industry
and automobiles obscure the
skyline of many urban areas.
airborne lead (in particles of
lead salts and other com-
pounds, not the pure metal)
comes from lead-containing
anti-knock agents in
gasoline. The rest comes
from industries that smelt or
process the metal.
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The Strategy
for Reducing Air
Pollution
The national strategy for
reducing pollution and im-
proving air quality is set by
Congress in considerable
detail. There is not much
room for discretion or
choice of action by EPA in
carrying out the Congres-
sional mandates.
These mandates are em-
bodied in legislation origi-
nally passed in 1955 and
strengthened in 1963, 1965,
1967. Strong national con-
trol legislation came with
the 1970 and 1977 amend-
ments to tha Clean Air Act.
Before 1970 the Act pro-
vided for national control of
motor vehicle emissions
studies of the air pollution
problem, for nationwide
planning of possible control
methods, and for States to
set pollution control goals.
Funds were appropriated to
help the various States ac-
complish these tasks and for
Federal oversight, research,
and technical assistance.
ceeded for the protection of
public health and welfare.
EPA formally adopted the
first ambient air quality stan-
dards in the summer of
1971. (They are listed in
Table 3.)
Air Quality Control
Regions
In the late 1960's, the study
and planning efforts had
been based on individual air
quality regions, on the sen-
sible presumption that air
pollution problems (and their
solutions) would vary from
place to place throughout
the country. An air quality
region was defined as an
area with definite pollution
problems, common pollution
sources, and characteristic
weather. Though the
geographical boundaries
were seldom as exact as for
water sheds, the air quality
regions were useful units for
management and control;
each region had individual
problems and individual
characteristics.
The regional concept is
still in use in the planning
and control measures being
carried out by EPA and the
various States, and the 1977
amendments require the
States to rate each region
for its attainment of each air
quality standard.
Emissions of a/I new car models
are tested in EPA's Ann Arbor
testing facility
Nationwide
Standards
The 1970 amendments re-
quired the Federal govern-
ment to set standards for
ambient air quality, that is,
to define the principal types
of pollution and the levels of
each that should not be ex-
-------
10
Table 3. National Quality Standards for Ambient Air
(in micrograms or milligrams per cubic meter — ug/m3 and mg/m3 —
and in parts per million — ppm)
Pollutant
Participates
Sulfur dioxide
Carbon monoxide
Hydrocarbons
(nonmethane)
Nitrogen dioxide
Ozone
Lead
Averaging
T/me
annual
24-hour
annual
24-hour
3-hour
8-hour
1-hour
3-hour
(6-9 am)
annual
1-hour
3-rnonth
Primary Standards
1 health 1
75 ug/m3
260 ug/m3
80 ug/rn3
(.03 ppm)
365 ug/m3
( 14 ppm)
10 mg/m3
(9 ppm)
40 mg/m3
(35 ppm)
160 ug/m3
(.24 ppm)
100 ug/m3
(.05 ppm)
240 ug/m3
(.12 ppm)
1 .5 ug/m3
( 006 ppm)
Secondary Standards
(welfare, materials)
60 ug/m3
150 ug/m3
1300 ug/m3
( 5 ppml
same as primary
same as primary
same as primary
same as primary
State
Implementation
Plans
Under the 1977 amendments
each State is required to
draw up specific plans for
bringing each non-attain-
ment region up to the stan-
dards and for maintaining
the purity of the air
in regions that already meet
the standards.
The implementation plans
are ambitious and rather for-
midable. The law specifies
what each plan should con-
tain:
• An "inventory" of pollu-
tion sources: each power
plant, factory, or other sta-
tionary source of pollutant
emissions, with careful
estimates of how much of
each kind of pollutant is
emitted each year.
• Data on "mobile sources"
— i.e., motor vehicles — in-
cluding the number of
vehicles, miles traveled, and
-------
11
emission estimates per year
based on these studies.
• Specific enforceable pro-
posals for reducing both sta-
tionary and mobile emis-
sions according to a reason-
able schedule, with target
dates for attaining each
stage of reduction.
• Assurance that the State
has the legal power to carry
out the plan through local
legislation and enforcement
authority.
EPA's Guidance
and Back-up
Functions
As the central Federal agen-
cy charged with carrying out
the Clean Air Act, EPA
assists the States in the
technical work of pollution
measurement, planning, and
control, and EPA distributes
the Federal funds ap-
propriated by Congress to
help the States make and
carry out their pollution
plans.
The law requires that, if a
State fails to implement and
enforce the Act, EPA must
step in and do it. This is the
pattern of many Federal
laws, in which Congress
seeks to preserve and
enhance the authority of
State and local governments,
while setting specific
requirements for State ac-
tions.
Reduction of
Automotive
Pollution
Early in the environmental
movement Congress recog-
nized the importance of
automotive pollution. The
1965 amendments to the
Clean Air Act required
manufacturers to reduce the
pollution emitted by all new
cars and trucks. Federal
regulations set 1968 as the
model year for the first con-
trols. Later amendments in-
creased the reductions re-
quired for later-model cars.
By 1978 all new cars sold in
the United States were pro-
ducing less than 17 percent
as much carbon monoxide
and hydrocarbons as did the
average 1967 car, and nitro-
gen oxides had been cut to
less than 53 percent.
The reduction levels are
set by law and enforced by
EPA, which tests prototype
models of all new cars and
trucks and certifies that they
do not exceed the legal
standards. Only models
meeting legal standards may
be manufactured.
Neither the law nor any
EPA regulation says how
these reductions are to be
achieved. That is up to the
auto manufacturers, who
have used two general ap-
proaches.
• Designing and tuning the
engine so that it produces
less pollution. This includes
carburetor and cylinder com-
pression adjustments to
assure more complete com-
bustion of fuel, with cor-
responding reductions in the
output of carbon monoxide
and hydrocarbons, and the
routing of crankcase oil
vapor through the engine or
through an afterburner.
• Adding devices to the ex-
haust system to remove
pollutants from the exhaust
gases before discharging
them to the air. These in-
clude afterburners and
catalytic converters which
change unburned fuel in the
exhaust stream (carbon
monoxide and hydrocabons)
to harmless carbon dioxide
and water vapor.
Most manufacturers
employ more than one
method in combination to
achieve pollution control.
-------
Stationary
Sources
Power plant and factory
smokestacks, industrial
vents for gases and dust,
coke ovens, incinerators and
burning dumps, and all large
furnaces are typical sta-
tionary sources of air pollu-
tion. The control of existing
stationary sources is primar-
ily under State control; each
State's implementation plan
must inventory these
sources and determine how
they should be reduced to
bring the region into con-
formance with the ambient
Air pollution is not solely an
urban problem, small towns
such as this one in Maine
suffer similar problems.
air quality standards. Each
State's plan is tailored to
the region's needs and to
the technical and economic
feasibility of controlling the
emissions.
For selected categories of
new industrial plants and foi |
those that are substantially
modified, the law makes
EPA set emission limits for
certain designated pollu-
tants. EPA is to set stan-
dards for all major stationan
new sources by 1981.
These limits — called
"new source performance
standards," not to be con-
fused with ambient air quali
ty standards — are specific
to each industry. They set
the maximum amounts of
each kind of pollutant
(sulfur dioxide, particulates
hydrocarbons, etc.) that ca
be emitted from that new
plant's stacks for each unit
of the plant's production:
heat input for a power sta-
tion, tons of cement for a
cement mill, and so on. TP
limits are based on the bes
engineering knowledge of
the industry's processing
methods.
Having nationwide stan-
dards for new sources help
to discourage an industrial
plant from moving to a
State with less stringent
regulations; the industry
would have to build a new
plant, under the Federal
standard.
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13
Hazardous
>ollutants
Local Rules and
Schedules
All air pollutants are hazar-
dous to some degree, but
some are so dangerous to
health that they are limited
individually, under a
separate section of the law.
Any discharges of asbestos,
beryllium, mercury, and
vinyl chloride have been so
limited, and EPA is con-
sidering adding others, in-
cluding benzene and coke
oven emissions.
While the ambient air stan-
ards apply uniformly to all
areas of the country, the
specific strategies for
achieving the standards in
individual States and
localities depend on local
conditions: the types and
levels of pollution existing
and projections of future
problems. The more severe
the pollution in a certain
area, the more stringent the
abatement program must
be.
In the 1977 amendments
Congress strengthened
efforts to maintain air quali-
ty in regions where the air is
already clean. There cannot
be any "significant
deterioration" of air quality
in such regions. The law
specifies how sulfur oxides
and particulates will first be
regulated in clean-air
regions, and anticipates later
regulation of other
pollutants.
Controls added to industrial
facilities are effective in reducing
harmful emissions.
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14
Research and
Development
Three kinds of clean-air
regions are defined. Class I
must include all national
parks and wilderness areas
and may include further
areas named by the States
to remain unsullied; no
major additional sulfur or
paniculate sources permit-
ted. Class II areas can have
some industrial develop-
ment, up to specified levels.
Class III areas can have
about twice as much pollu-
tion from additional new
sources, sometimes up to
the minimum federal stan-
dards.
Any potential pollution
source — factory, power
plant, or other — that is
proposed must first obtain a
permit and meet a number
of conditions, which include
using the best available con-
trol methods for the new
source.
Industrial development is
also permitted in polluted
regions as long as offsetting
reductions are made in that
region's existing sources. A
new tire factory, for in-
stance, although it meets
the new source performance
standards for the rubber in-
dustry, would still add more
pollution to the region.
Under the new amend-
ments, a factory can be built
if existing sources reduce
their emissions more than
enough to compensate for
the new plant. This innova-
tive approach is working:
local citizens and officials,
wanting the economic
stimulus of a new employer,
arrange for the reduction, or
the new employer himself
may help pay for them. An
example is Oklahoma City,
where several oil firms
agreed to put floating tops
on large storage tanks to
reduce hydrocarbon emis-
sions in that area so General
Motors can build an auto-
painting plant there.
A large portion of EPA's
research and development
funds go to support the air
pollution control program.
About $334 million is being
spent annually for research,
both in the Agency's own
laboratories and in those of
other Federal agencies, uni-
versities, and private institu-
tions.
Of this sum, more than
$53 million annually goes for
air pollution research: the
effects on human health of
pollutants like particulates,
ozone, and nitrogen dioxide;
development of methods for
controlling emissions, in-
cluding auto exhausts,
nitrogen oxides, and coke-
oven dusts; and studies of
better ways to measure
pollutants in air.
Other EPA research — in
energy use and toxic
substances, for instance —
is indirectly related to air
pollution control.
The Agency's research
and development program
provides scientific and
technical support for deter-
mining EPA regulations, and
it supplies basic information
needed for State and local
enforcement efforts.
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Evidences of
Improvements
15
Although there is still much
to be done, and a great ma-
jority of the Nation's air
quality control regions have
not achieved the EPA stan-
dards, there has been en-
couraging progress. Some
| highlights:
There has been a general
long-term improvement in
paniculate pollution (dust,
soot, and smoke), although
some areas had increased
particulates in 1976 probably
due to wind-blown dust in
areas of drought.
• There has been a marked
improvement in the average
number of days in the year
when people in the Los
Angeles Basin were exposed
to high oxidant levels: from
176 days in the late 1960's
to 112 days in recent years.
• Sulfur dioxide levels
decreased dramatically in
the first four years of this
decade and have become
fairly stable, with most
violations confined to areas
near specific sources of
sulfur pollution.
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16
Public
Participation
Summing Up
The control of air pollution
depends, ultimately, upon
people. Ordinary people
must be aware of the pro-
blem and accept the
methods developed to solve
it. Public interest in clean air
led Congress to pass the
Clean Air Act and its
amendments, and Congress
built into the law provisions
for citizens to take part in
making the decisions and
setting the rules to carry out
the law.
Hearings must be held on
all new regulations before
they are formally adopted.
The public is encouraged to
attend such hearings,
along with the local officials,
business groups, and
organizations directly af-
fected.
EPA officials welcome
public participation in all
phases of the clean air pro-
gram. The Agency sponsors
many conferences,
workshops, and similar
meetings to gather citizens
criticism and suggestions.
The advisory committees
and review groups ap-
pointed to help determine
EPA policies include
members representing the
public as well as members
chosen for their scientific
and technical competence.
EPA also develops infor-
mation programs to help
make all people aware of air
pollution hazards, the law's
requirements, actions and
trends in pollution control,
and ways in which in-
dividuals can help solve air
pollution problems. This in-
volves making as clear as
possible the scientific basis
for the clean air program,
the effects on health and on
the economy, the benefits,
and the costs.
All photographs in this publication from
EPA's Documenca collection
The basic objective of EPA's
air pollution control program
is to achieve, nationwide,
the standards for air quality
set under the Clean Air Act
to protect public health and
welfare.
Controlling pollutant emis-
sions so these standards can
be achieved is being carried
out in two ways:
• By State plans and en-
forcement that limit specific
kinds of pollution from
specific polluting activities,
and
• By Federal regulation of
new motor vehicles, new in-
dustrial sources, and any
sources of extremely hazar-
dous pollutant substances.
Implementation plans
have been developed by all
the States with funding sup-
port from EPA, and the fur-
ther requirement that EPA
must approve, in detail, the
State plans for pollution
control.
Each plan for each region
must have a definite
timetable for accomplish-
ment in step-by-step
fashion.
Whenever a State fails to
take action, or when
especially difficult problems
are encountered, the law re-
quires that EPA step in and
handle the planning,
regulating, and enforcing.
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: I98I - 720-OI6/5986 REGION 3-I
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EPA is charged by Congress to protect the Nation's land, air and water systems Under a mandate
of national environmental laws focused on air and water quality, solid waste management and the
control of toxic substances, pesticides, noise and radiation, the Agency strives to formulate and
implement actions which lead to a compatible balance between human activities and the ability of
natural systems to support and nurture life.
If you have suggestions, questions
or requests for further information, they
may be directed to your nearest
EPA Regional public information office
EPA Region 1 • JFK
Federal Bldg. • Boston
MA 02203 • Connec-
ticut, Maine, Massachu-
setts, New Hampshire,
Rhode Island, Vermont •
617-223-7223
EPA Region 2*26
Federal Plaza • New
York NY 10007. New
Jersey, New York, Puer-
to Rico, Virgin Islands •
212-264-2515
EPA Region 3 • 6th
and Walnut Streets •
Philadelphia PA 19106
• Delaware, Maryland,
Pennsylvania, Virginia,
West Virginia, District of
Columbia • 21 5-597- 4081
EPA Region 4 • 345
Courtland Street NE •
Atlanta GA 30308 .
Alabama, Georgia,
Florida, Mississippi,
North Carolina, South
Carolina, Tennessee,
Kentucky. 404-881-3004
EPA Reg ion 5 *230S.
Dearborn • Chicago IL
60604* Illinois, Indiana,
Ohio, Michigan, Wiscon-
sin, Minnesota •
312-353-2072
EPA Region 6 * 1201
Elm Street * Dallas TX
75270 • Arkansas, Loui-
siana, Oklahoma, Texas,
New Mexico •
214-767-2630
EPA Region 7 • 324
East 11th Street.
Kansas City MO
64106* Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri, Nebraska «
816-374-6201
EPA Region 8*1860
Lincoln Street •
Denver CO 80295 * Col
orado, Utah, Wyoming,
Montana, North Dakota,
South Dakota •
303-837-3878
EPA Region 9* 215
Fremont Street • San
Francisco CA 94105 •
Arizona, California, Hawa
Nevada, Pacific Islands
.415-556-1840
EPA Region 10. 1200
Sixth Avenue • Seattle
WA98101 .Alaska,
Idaho, Oregon, Washing-
ton • 206-442-1203
o
o
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