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“Emission Reductions Regulation Trends in the United States”, Japanese Automotive Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan 1995.
“Managing Sustainable Growth and GHG Reductions”. New York City Bar Association, NY, NY, 1998.
“Emissions Trading in California”. GRI, Chicago, IL. 1995.
“Emissions Trade of SoCal NGV SuperShuttle Taxi-Cabs”, SoCal Gas, Los Angeles, CA. 1994.
“Emissions Reductions for Enhanced Inspection and Maintenance Programs”, University of Minnesota Air Quality Conference, Minneapolis, MN, July 1994.
“Planning for the Massachusetts Enhanced I/M Program,” Keating Technologies, Boston. MA 1997.
“Route 3 South Corridor Analysis,” MassHighway, Boston, MA. April 1996.
Legislation and Regulations of the Clean Air Act, GRI, Chicago, IL. January 1995.
“Clean Fuel Fleet Regulations Under the Clean Air Act & EPACT”, TRB/A&WMA, Washington, DC. January 1994.
“Reformulated Gasoline and Enhanced I/M Options for Maryland”, Governor's Office, Annapolis, MD. December 1993.
“Reformulated Gasoline and Enhanced I/M Options for St. Louis”, Governor's Office, Jefferson City, MO. May 1993.
“Enhanced I/M RFP for Pennsylvania”, PENNDOT, Harrisburg, PA. July 1993.
“Transportation Conformity Rule”, PENNDOT, Harrisburg, PA, March 1993.
“Locomotive Emissions Rule”, US EPA, Washington, DC, August 1992.
“Baseline Emissions Inventory for 1990 for Massachusetts”, MA DEP, Boston, MA, November 1991.
What are the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)? Air pollution control programs in the United States depend on the attainment status of the metropolitan area. Areas that are in attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) do not require air quality control programs. Areas not meeting the NAAQS are non-attainment areas and must adopt control programs depending on the regions severity of pollution.
The NAAQS are set for “criteria” pollutant: ground level ozone (O2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (S02), lead (Pb), and particulate matter smaller than 10.0 microns and 2.5 microns. There are primary standards (health based) and secondary standards (property damage). Standards are measured over averaging times in concentrations expressed as parts per million (ppm) or microns ug/m3.
Under Section 109 of the Clean Air Act, EPA must set standards to protect public health. This includes sensitive populations such as children, the elderly, outdoor workers, asthmatics and people with cardio-pulmonary heart disease. The standard for ozone was tightened from 0.12 ppm to 8 ppm for a maximum one hour average, but the Bush Administration relaxed the standard back. Obama re-adopted the new, more protective standard.
Particulate matter has a bi-modal distribution with a peak at 10 microns (micro meters) and 2.5 microns. PM10 is filtered naturally by the body, for instance sand. PM2.5 is fine particulate that air toxics like toluene and benzene adhere causing breast and lung cancer pre-maturely.
Lead was removed from gasoline in the 1980's Pb NAAQS violations are rare. Carbon monoxide is also much less of a problem as most areas are now in a Maintenance of CO NAAQS status now thanks to the success of the Federal Tier 1 program and other Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA 90) mobile source control programs.
Even acidic precipitation is decreasing thanks to the success SOx emissions trading rule and the newer Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) allowing the trading of NOx. Air toxics and Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) are not criteria pollutants and do not have NAAQS set for them. GHGs include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH6), nitrogen dioxide (N20), sulfur hexafluoride (SHF) and chloroflorcarhydrocarbons (CFC). Carbon dioxide's half life is several hundred years half life. The half life of Methane is months.
What are Volatile Organic Compounds? We heard about the volatility of petroleum in the BP Deepwater Gulf Oil Spill of Summer 2010. Volatility is quite simple to understand. It is a paradox of petroleum and a metaphor for our reliance on oil for convenience and ease at a fairly affordable price. Volatile oil means if it heats too quickly it explodes and injures property and health. That’s clearly well known.
Less known is the pervasive, passive threat of its silent sister, evaporation of oil. Yes, oil evaporates. Technically it is called Reid Vapor Pressure or RVP after the engineer who discovered the physical characteristic in the early days of oil research. Controlling RVP is valuable for a range of consumer product ease of use, cost and longevity. Yet, the bummer, like the hazy poor air quality, heat advisory days of ground level ozone laden dog days of summer (definitely rest if you are having breathing difficulties this week) coming up this week in the Northeast (the beach is the best place to be, the breeze and cooler water is good for the lungs and mobility) is that it is unhealthy to lung function.
RVP and the slow evaporative nature of petroleum products before reformulation by Government and Industry in 1993 made cheaper store products, but both agreed to re-engineer for a few pennies cost for better lung function of the vulnerable young, elderly outdoor worker, heart lung impaired and asthmatics,(75% of the populace as luck would have it). Now gas in your car oil tank evaporates more slowly, if you have a well functioning gas cap. Tanks were re-built with re-capture of the air born oil and combusted. Simple. Oil evaporation too quick is explosive. Oil evaporation when too slow is managed and less of a concern today.
Are Carbon and Greenhouse Gases Covered by the Clean Air Act 101? This is a very good question. No and yes. The answer may be clarified by Congress in the Energy Bill. Under the original Clean Air Act of 1970, and its subsequent amendments in 1977 and 1990, carbon and Greenhouse Gases are not Criteria Pollutants subject to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards protecting public health and property rights.
However, a Supreme Court ruling in July 2007 appears to change this substantially. Massachusetts sued EPA over the issue of whether carbon and Greenhouse Gases are subject to the Clean Air Act. The Court ruled in favor of Massachusetts, clearing the way for EPA to begin the rule making process to control Greenhouse Gases. Already an Emissions Inventory rule has been proposed counting the number of tons of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous dioxide and a few other Greenhouse Gases. EPA has yet to propose a Cap and Trade rule, but clearly has the legal authority to do so as it did with precedent for Acid Rain with sulfur dioxides (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), although industry lawsuits will ensue for years.
Environmental protection is neglected amid job loss, war and renewed terror threats. Many Federal environmental protection acts have expired in the last 2 decades. Voluntary monitoring and reporting and lack of enforcement have removed environmental compliance from corporate budgeting, and are only used for public relations. Environmental protection, the biggest government success story of this generation, is now viewed as obsolete and the realm of Intellectuals. The Middle Class dose not value public health protection from environmental law. Environmental law is now a state responsibility, with local government barely able to respond to the episodic HazMat incident. Lives saved and jobs created from environmental protection at the national level are the last thing analyzed by EPA, Interior and OSHA due to funding cuts, State government does not have the manpower or resources to evaluate public and economic benefit of environmental protection.
Particulate Matter Deadlier Than Thought Fine particulate matter is found to be verified as very much so deadlier than thought. The Health Effects Institute of Cambridge, MA released a study showing the impacts of fine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns is deadlier than thought and requires more regulation. The EPA has been regulating PM2.5 since 1997, but under the Bush Administration declined to review new studies. The current EPA under Lisa Jackson is examining whether a new PM standard is needed. Many studies show the threshold should be set at around 20 nanometers, a bout a 30th the size of a human hair.
In 116 cities around the country, heart attack risks increased from 12% to 24% in areas with elevated fine PM. The analysis covers 350,000 people over 18 years, with another 150,000 added in recent years. The study was undertaken by the University of Ottawa for the Health Effects Institute. Fine PM or soot comes from coal power plants, diesel and gasoline, car tires and oil refineries.
Micro fine PM penetrates the lungs deeply. Micro fine particulate matter 30 times that of a human hair adhere very small micro fine air toxics, or carcinogens, into the body. PM also causes asthma in both urban and suburban areas. It elevates the risk of pre-mature death from those suffering cardiopulmonary hearth disease and lung problems. It is a problem for the young, the elderly, outdoor works, people with asthma, and people with heart and lung disease. The government values the life of a person at $6 million. The cost of preventing pre-mature mortality is cost effective and has prevented hundreds of thousands of pre-mature fatalities.
What is Climate Change? My son barely old enough to speak recently asked me, “Dad, what is climate?” I said, “Well, Jake, it always has and always will change.” You can talk to scientists, Al Gore, and other political leaders across the world and none will agree on what climate is. All we know is that rainfall and food harvest patterns have led to massive migrations, wars, and civilizations, every single one’s, end. All of the world’s great world civilizations, cultures and people end with famine, starvation and a culture in ruins. Technology always changes faster than culture can adapt to control the technology that first creates them and in the end kills them off one by one. Let us call it Introductory Anthropology 101.
No ax to grind here. I did not even search the SEO types of things for a definition of climate. Why? Is it because I believe we simply do not know what climate is? Perhaps this may hold a partial truth and partial misrepresentation. All we know is that the archeological record shows mass migration, mass civilization rise, and mass civilization fall all due to one thing, changing food harvest yields related to Earth’s omnipresent climatic variations.
Can we control climate? Can we control Starving? Housing needs? Warfare? Gambling? Prostitution? Drinking? And Smoking?
No.
We are not God. We are not Mother Earth, whatever your faith. Many civilizations from the Egyptians of the Nile, to Aztecs of Lake Texcoco, to the Indus River Valley, the Tigris and Euphrates and the great high altitude low oxygen Incas, have adapted and risen and fallen. All civilization has fallen due to changing climate patterns that first lead to their technology advantage of domination through intellect and war and then through starvation, conquest and servitude.
What are mere mortals to do?
Well, I suggest we continue to spread the wealth through literacy, shared trade, education health, sanitation, nutrition and municipal needs of local self governed peoples. That is always the way of the Big Men and Big Women of great world local cultures. You can not Google this topic.
As a computer modeling forecaster on complex automobile exhaust and evaporative emissions from decades of empirical research in the 1990’s, I felt confident telling elected and appointed officials, “You think my smoking will cause me cancer? Do you think power plant and transportation pollution causes breast, lung and prostate cancer in earlier and earlier age groups? You tell me, they are your constituents and your family, your children. You roll the dice. What are the odds? You decide. I merely provide what we know through observation and testing through statistics. Some smokers live to 110, some marathoners die in their 30’s. Are you God? “
