Transcript Environmental Rules in the United States

Environmental Rules in the
United States
National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA)
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Enacted January 1,
1970
Set a national
environmental policy
Required all federal
agencies to consider
environmental impacts
before undertaking
major actions
It was a procedural
statute
National Environmental Goals
1. Fulfill each generation's
responsibilities as a
trustee of the
environment for each
succeeding generation.
2. Assure for all Americans
safe, healthful,
productive and
aesthetically and
culturally pleasing
surrounding.
National Environmental Goals
3. Attain widest range of beneficial uses
of the environment without
degradation, risk to health or safety, or
other undesirable and unintended
consequences.
4. preserve important historic, cultural
and natural aspects of our national
heritage
National Environmental Goals
5. Achieve a balance between
population and resource use which will
permit high standards of living and a
wide sharing of life's amenities.
 6. Enhance the quality of renewable
resources and approach the maximum
attainable recycling of depletable
resources
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Federal Rule Making
Statute
 Rule and Orders
 Formal and Informal Rulemaking
 Pre-Enforcement Review
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EPA Annual Rule Creation
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About 130 substantive regulations that apply nation wide
5-to-10 impose cumulative costs of more than $100 million per
year
900 proposed regulations, technical corrections to existing
regulations, State Implementation Plans and enforcement rules
Clean Air Act (CAA)
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Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970
– Authorized National Ambient Air Quality
Standards (NAAQS)
– Authorized new source performance
standards
– authorized national hazardous air pollutant
standards
– authorized federal civil and criminal
enforcement authority
NAAQS
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Primary standards protect against adverse
health affects
– short term for acute, long term for chronic
– sensitive populations (asthmatics, children and
elderly
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Secondary standards protect against welfare
affects
– damage to animals, crops, vegetation and
buildings
Primary Standards
Pollutant
Carbon
Monoxide
Lead
Nitrogen
Dioxide
Particulate
Matter (PM10)
Level
Averaging
Time
Secondary
Standards
Averaging
Level
Time
9 ppm
8-hour (1)
(10 mg/m3)
35 ppm
1-hour (1)
(40 mg/m3)
Rolling 30.15 µg/m3
Month
(2)
Average
Annual
53 ppb (3)
(Arithmetic
Average)
100 ppb
1-hour (4)
Same as Primary
150 µg/m3
Same as Primary
24-hour (5)
None
Same as Primary
None
Primary Standards
Pollutant
Level
Particulate
Matter
(PM2.5)
15.0 µg/m3
0.075 ppm
(2008 std)
0.08 ppm
(1997 std)
0.12 ppm
Sulfur
Dioxide
Averaging
Time
Level
Annual (6)
35 µg/m3
Ozone
Averaging
Time
Secondary Standards
(Arithmetic
Average)
Same as Primary
24-hour (7)
Same as Primary
8-hour (8)
Same as Primary
8-hour (9)
Same as Primary
1-hour (10)
Same as Primary
Annual
0.03 ppm
(Arithmetic
Average)
0.14 ppm
24-hour (1)
75 ppb (11)
1-hour
0.5 ppm
None
3-hour (1)
Pollutant Emissions have Decreased as
a Result of Regulation
Percent Change in Air Quality in the U.S.
0
-10
Carbon
Monoxide
(CO)
Ozone (O3)
(8-hr)
Lead (Pb)
Nitrogen
Dioxide
(NO2)
PM10 (24hr)
PM2.5
(annual)
PM2.5 (24hr)
Sulfur
Dioxide
(SO2)
-20
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-80
-90
-100
1980 vs 2008
1990 vs 2008
Comparison of Growth Areas and Emissions, 1980-2009
CAA 1977 Amendments
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Provision to prevent deterioration of air
quality in areas that the air is better
than the NAAQS (PSD)
CAA 1990 Amendments
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187 air toxics
annual fee an any
regulated pollutant
phase-out of O3depleting compounds
expands federal
authority
creates two new federal
crimes
– knowingly or negligently
releasing hazardous
pollutant and putting
another person in
imminent danger
Title V Permit to Operate
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All Major Sources of air
pollution must have a
permit
Permit requirements
must be followed
– emission limits
– emission monitoring
– operations and
maintenance plans
– record requirements
– reporting requirements
– training
Rules to Reduce Air Toxics
from Industrial Boilers
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Air toxic-known or suspected to cause cancer or
other serious health affects in humans
– Mercury adversely affects developing brains
– Cadmium, dioxins, furans, formaldehyde and HCl
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Many can build in environment
– Cause harm to environment
– Can build in food chain
Rules to Reduce Air Toxics
from Industrial Boilers
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Promulgated 2/21/2011
A major source
– emits or has the potential to
emit 10 tpy or more of any
single HAP or 25 tpy or more of
any combination of HAP.
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An area source
– a HAP-emitting stationary
source that is not an major
source
Rules to Reduce Air Toxics
from Industrial Boilers
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Major source numerical limits
–
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Mercury (MACT)
Particulate matter (surrogate for
non-mercury metals) (MACT)
Dioxin (MACT)
Carbon monoxide (for non-dioxin
organic toxics) (MACT)
Hydrogen Chloride (for acid gases)
(MACT)
Area Source Limits
– Mercury (MACT)
– Particulate matter (new boilers
only) (GACT)
– Carbon monoxide (MACT)
Clean Water Acts
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Original Goals (1972)
1. Restore and maintain the
chemical, physical and
biological integrity of the
national waters
2. Provide for the protection
and propagation of fish,
shellfish and wildlife and
recreation in and on the
waters.
3. Eliminate the discharge
of pollutants by 1985
1977 Amendments CWA
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Established the basic structure for regulating pollutants discharges into
the waters of the United States.
Gave EPA the authority to implement pollution control programs such
as setting wastewater standards for industry.
Maintained existing requirements to set water quality standards for all
contaminants in surface waters.
Made it unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutant from a point
source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained under its
provisions.
Funded the construction of sewage treatment plants under the
construction grants program.
Recognized the need for planning to address the critical problems
posed by nonpoint source pollution.
Evolution of the CWA
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more holistic watershed-based
strategies.
equal emphasis on protecting
healthy waters and restoring
impaired ones.
Involvement of stakeholder
groups
Three Elements of Water
Quality Standards
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Designated Use of the
Water (drinking
swimming and fishing)
Criteria to protect those
uses (such as chemicalspecific threshold)
Anti-degradation policy
to keep waters that
currently meet the
standards from
deteriorating
Water Quality of Rivers in the
United States
Water Uses
Aquatic Life Support
Drinking Water
Fish Consumption
Shell Fish Harvesting
Swimming
Recreation
Agriculture
Ground Water Recharge
Wildlife Habitat
Culture
Solid and Hazardous Wastes
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Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act
(RCRA) 1976
Comprehensive
Environmental
Response,
Compensation and
Liability Act (CERCLA)
1980
Hazardous and Solid
Waste Amendments
(HSWA) 1984
Superfund Amendments
and Reauthorization Act
(SARA) 1986
Purpose of RCRA
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Regulation of solid and
hazardous waste
management
Focuses on the
prevention of releases
of hazardous wastes
CERCLA and SARA
focused on cleaning up
sites created by past
waste disposal practices
and spills of hazardous
substances
Exclusions
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residues in containers
domestic sewage,
industrial wastewater
regulated under CWA
household wastes
residue from fossil fuel
combustion
mining wastes
oil and gas refining
wastes
used oil (if it is
unmixed)
All Hazardous Waste
Generators are Regulated
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Any person or site
whose act or process
produces hazardous
waste
generators may
accumulate only 90
days of hazardous
waste
– if longer they need to get
a hazardous waste
storage site permit.
Others Regulated by RCRA
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Transporting
treating
storing
disposing
Toxic Substance Control Act
TSCA
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Identify and control
toxic chemicals
state a U.S. policy on
toxic chemicals
applies to manufactures
and processors of
chemical substances
regulates radon,
asbestos and leadbased paint (ammonia?)
Emergency Planning and
Community Right to Know Act
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Encourages and
supports emergency
planning at state
and local levels
informs communities
of the nature and
amounts of
hazardous
substances in their
area
EPCRA-Emergency Planning
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Requires state and local
emergency response
committees (SERC’s and
LERC’s)
facilities having
hazardous substances
must coordinate
emergency response
plans
emergency notification
of chemical releases
– extremely hazardous
substances or CERCLA
hazardous substances
must be reported
immediately
EPCRA-Community Right-toKnow
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Have MSDS for all
hazardous materials
inventories of
hazardous materials
must be reported to
LERC SERC and local
fire departments
Toxic Release Reporting
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annual report of
toxic chemical
release
– ammonia, HCl,
nitrate, lead, dioxin,
acetaldehyde, H2S
Questions?