ems lecture

Environmental Management Systems

National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

• Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has developed NAAQS for Emission under the statutory powers of the Air Act, 1981

Objectives of NAAQS are

1. To indicate levels of air quality objectives / standards with an adequate margin of safety to protect public health, vegetation & property

2. To assist in establishing priorities for abatement & control of pollutant level

3. To provide uniform yardstick for assessing air quality at national level

4. To indicate the need & extent of monitoring program


National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

What NAAQS does?

1. Guidelines for declaration of sensitive areas

2. Long-term standards (annual average) are designed to protect – the population from regular exposure to high levels of pollution

3. Short-term standards (1/8/24 hours average) are also prescribed to control acute effects– which result when very high levels of pollution persist for short

periods


Important Features of NAAQS

• Different sets of standards are prescribed for– (i) industrial areas– (ii) rural and other areas– (iii) sensitive areas, which are based on the land use pattern

• The monitoring of pollutants is carried out for 24 hours – 4-hourly sampling for gaseous pollutants– 8-hourly sampling for particulate matter with a frequency of twice

a week to have 104 observations in a year

• World Health Organization (WHO) classifies SO2, NO2, CO, O3, SPM, and lead as key pollutants

• The same pollutants are called “criteria” pollutants by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)


Important Features of NAAQS

• Annual and 24-hourly average standards are fixed for SO2, NOx, SPM, respirable particulate matter, Pb, NH3

• One and eight hourly standards are fixed for CO

• Time Weighted Average (TWA)

– The average exposure to a contaminant or condition (such as noise) to which workers may be exposed without adverse effect over a period such as 8-hour day or 40-hour week.


Important Features of NAAQSPollutants Time-weighted

averageConcentration in ambient air Method of measurement

Industrial Areas Residential, Rural & other

Areas

Sensitive Areas

SulphurDioxide (SO2) Annual Average

80 µg/m3 60 µg/m3 15 µg/m3 - Improved West and Geake Method- Ultraviolet Fluorescence

24 hours 120 µg/m3 80 µg/m3 30 µg/m3

Oxides ofNitrogen as(NOx)

Annual Average

80 µg/m3 60 µg/m3 15 µg/m3 - Jacob & Hochheiser Modified (Na-Arsenite) Method

24 hours 120 µg/m3 80 µg/m3 30 µg/m3 - Gas Phase Chemiluminescence

Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM)

Annual Average*

360 µg/m3 140 µg/m3 70 µg/m3 - High Volume Sampling, (Average flow rate not less than 1.1 m3/minute).

24 hours 500 µg/m3 200 µg/m3 100 µg/m3

RespirableParticulate Matter (RPM) (size less than 10 microns)

Annual Average

120 µg/m3 60 µg/m3 50 µg/m3 - Respirable particulate matter sampler

24 hours 150 µg/m3 100 µg/m3 75 µg/m3

Lead (Pb) Annual Average

1.0 µg/m3 0.75 µg/m3 0.50 µg/m3 - ASS Method after samplingusing EPM 2000 or equivalentFilter paper

24 hours 1.5 µg/m3 1.00 µg/m3 0.75 µg/m3 .

Ammonia1 Annual Average

0.1 mg/ m3 0.1 mg/ m3 0.1 mg/m3 .

24 hourse 0.4 mg/ m3 0.4 mg/m3 0.4 mg/m3 .

CarbonMonoxide (CO) 8 hours 5.0 mg/m3 2.0 mg/m3 1.0 mg/ m3 - Non Dispersive Infra Red (NDIR)

1 hour 10.0 mg/m3 4.0 mg/m3 2.0 mg/m3 Spectroscopy


Environmental Legislation in USA

• The Clean Air Act is a comprehensive act designed to regulate air emissions from stationary and mobile sources

• Major federal clean air legislation includes the – Air Quality Act of 1967– the Clean Air Act Amendment of 1970– the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977– most recently the Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments of 1990

• The 1990 Amendments dramatically changed the regulations of air pollution and required EPA to promulgate hundreds of new regulation


Key Concepts of Clean Air Act

• Mobile Sources

– Clean Air Act has regulated air emissions from mobile sources primarily motor vehicles for decades

– Most common mobile sources of air pollution are motor vehicles• but airplanes, ships, construction equipment and

lawn mowers also produce significant amounts of pollutants

– EPA regulates the air pollution produced by these sources



• Mobile Sources

– These provisions of the Act apply almost exclusively to vehicle makers and fuel manufacturers

– The 1990 Amendments to the Act required vehicle manufacturers to further reduce emissions and fuel refiners to develop new and reformed fuels to achieve emissions reductions



• Stationary sources

– Stationary sources emit both criteria pollutants and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs)

– Air pollution from stationary sources is produced by two primary activities



• Stationary sources– Activities are

• stationary combustion of fuel such as coal and oil at power generating facilities,

• and the pollutant losses from industrial processes

• Industrial processes include refineries, chemical manufacturing facilities, and smelters.



• Ambient Air Quality Standards

– One of the first steps towards improving the air quality in USA was

• the EPA establishment of ambient air quality standards

– The standards are stated in terms of annual concentration levels or annual mean measurement for the air



• Clean Air Act establishes two types of national air quality standards

– Primary standards set limits to protect public health, including the health of "sensitive" populations such as asthmatics, children, and the elderly.

– Secondary standards set limits to protect public welfare, including protection against decreased visibility, damage to animals, crops, vegetation, and buildings



• State Implementation Plans (SIPs)

– National air quality regulations are applied to individual sources through SIPs

– A SIP is an extensive detailed document that contains elements such as

• emission inventories• monitoring programs• attainment plans • enforcement programs

– which is revised by the state environmental agency – If a state fails to adopt an acceptable SIP, EPA is directed to

formulate and enforce one for that state



• New Source Performance Standards (NSPS)– NSPS are established at the national level in order to prevent

states from becoming “pollution havens” – attracting industry with their lenient emission standards

• NSPS are oriented to particular sources of pollutants rather than to air quality in general

• NSPS are typically numeric standards that relate to the level of pollution control achieved by installing the best demonstrated technology



• New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) sources

– The Federal NSPS apply to nearly 80 air source categories and include most major industrial sources

– NSPS requirements are normally expressed as emission limitations and are specific to process emissions from a particular source

– August 9, 2006 - EPA proposed to help protect air quality in areas under tribal jurisdiction, without slowing the areas’ economic growth

– These facilities have not previously been subject to air permitting requirements in Indian country



• Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD)

– Program is designed to prevent significant deterioration of air quality in regions where the air is already cleaner than mandated by ambient standards

– To implement the regulatory program for PSD all air quality control regions are designed by class for the purpose of specifying the amount or “increment” of air pollution that can be permitted in each area



• Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs)

– Section 112 of Clean Air Act is EPA’s mandate to control hazardous pollutants discharged into the nation’s air

– EPA is required under the amendments to promulgate technology-based limitations for industrial source categories and issue standards for each category

– In addition to a new HAPs program, • a comprehensive program for accidental hazardous

substance release prevention, reporting, and investigation has been established



• Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs)

– The owners/operators of stationary sources have a general duty to identify the hazards of accidental releases• take steps necessary to prevent releases, and

minimize the consequence of accidental release



• Visibility Protection For Federal Class I Areas

– Section 169 A of the Clean Air Act requires visibility protection for mandatory class I federal areas • where it has been determined that visibility is an

important value



• Acid Rain Control Program

– The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments established another new program for the abatement of Acids present in the atmosphere

– The overall goal of the Acid Rain Program is to achieve significant environmental and public health benefits through reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides• the primary causes of acid rain



• Stratospheric Ozone Protection– Title VI of the clean air act creates the framework to regulate and

eventually phase out the production of all chemicals that deplete the ozone layer

– EPA’s Clean Air Ozone Rules target ground level ozone– On April 15, 2004, EPA fulfilled its legal obligation under the

Clean Air Act to issue final designations for all areas of the country stating that they either meet or do not meet the more protective 8-hour ozone standards

– EPA also issued a classification rule for non attainment areas– The rule classifies

• the seriousness of the problem and • indicates the required actions that areas must take



• National Emission Standards for Air Pollutants– Under the auspices of the CAA and its amendments, EPA

measures, evaluates and reports emissions data with the goal of improving air quality

– EPA also plays an important role in researching new methods of assessing the impact of air pollution emissions on the environment

– Developing new ways to curb these emissions from specific criteria pollutants

– Management of air issues requires a working knowledge of the technology-based national emission standards for both criteria and hazardous air pollutants



• National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP)– The 1990 Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments established a new

and fairly complex program

• to regulate emissions of 188 hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from particular industrial sources

• to regulate emissions of these HAPs by developing and promulgating technology-based standards based on the best-performing similar facilities in operation

– NESHAPs established by USEPA are commonly called maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards



• MACT Determinations– The purpose of the MACT is to protect the public health by

reducing discharges of HAPs from air emission sources – When developing a MACT standard for a particular source

category,

• USEPA looks at the current level of emissions achieved by best-performing similar sources through clean processes, control devices, work practices, or other methods

• These emissions levels set a baseline, often referred to as the "MACT floor" for the new standard



• At a minimum, a MACT standard must achieve, throughout the industry, a level of emissions control that is at least equivalent to the MACT floor



– The MACT floor differs for existing sources and new sources– Major sources are sources that emit

– 10 tons per year of any of the listed HAPs, – or 25 tons per year of a mixture of HAPS

• These sources may release HAPs from equipment leaks, when materials are transferred from one location to another, or during discharge through emission stacks or vents

– Area sources are sources that emit

• less than 10 tons per year of a single HAP, or less than 25 tons per year of a combination of HAPs



– MACT standards are designed to reduce HAP emissions to a maximum achievable degree, taking into consideration the cost of reductions and other factors

– The MACT category of controls establishes emissions standards based on technology achievement



– For existing sources, MACT floor must equal that if there are 30 or more existing sources

• average current emissions limitations achieved by the best-performing 12% of sources in the source category,

– If there are fewer than 30 existing sources

• the MACT floor must equal the average current emissions limitation achieved by the best-performing five sources in the category

– For new sources, the MACT floor must equal the current level of emissions control achieved by the best-controlled similar source



– Wherever feasible, USEPA writes the final MACT standard as an emissions limit-a percent reduction in emissions or a concentration limit that regulated sources must achieve

– Emissions limits provide flexibility for industries to determine the most effective ways to comply with the standards

– This limitation will become more stringent over time as control technology improves



• MACT Implementation– The Clean Air Act required USEPA to develop MACT standards

for all major source categories of HAPs according to a schedule listed in the Act

– The schedule is divided into four groups: 2-year, 4-year, 7-year, and 10-year standards

– The2-year group must include at least 40 source categories (1992promulgation)

– the 4-year group must include source categories to bring the total to 25 percent of the list (1994 promulgation)

– the 7-year group must include an additional 25 percent (1997 promulgation)

– the 10-year group must include the remaining 50 percent 2000promulgation)

– All of the 2-year and 4 year standards have been promulgated on schedule


Summary of Clean Water Regulations

• Water quality standards especially those for drinking water are set by the – Indian Council of Medical Research

• The discharge of industrial effluent is regulated by the– Indian Standard Codes and water quality standards



• Legislations to control water pollution are listed below– The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977,

amended 1992 : (http://www.envfor.nic.in/legis/water/water7.html)

– The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess (Amendment) Act, 2003.

http://www.envfor.nic.in/legis/water/wc_act_03.doc– The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974,

amended 1988

http://www.envfor.nic.in/legis/water/wat1.html– The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Rules,

1978

http://www.envfor.nic.in/legis/water/water8.html


http://www.envfor.nic.in/legis/water/wc_act_03.doc

http://www.envfor.nic.in/legis/water/wat1.html




– The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Rules, 1975

http://www.envfor.nic.in/legis/water/water2.html– Central Board for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution

(Procedure for Transaction of Business) Rules, 1975 amended 1976


• Full Information about Acts, Rules, and notification for water pollution is given in following website

http://www.envfor.nic.in/legis/legis.html#A



http://www.envfor.nic.in/legis/legis.html

ems lecture

Documents