Clean Air Act Enforcement
The Clean Air Act Enforcement refers to the regulatory actions taken to ensure compliance with the Clean Air Act, a federal law aimed at controlling air pollution. Enforcement activities include monitoring, inspections, and penalties for violations. The goal is to protect public health and the environment by holding individuals and organizations accountable for maintaining air quality standards.
7 Key excerpts on "Clean Air Act Enforcement"
eBook - ePubAn Interactive History of the Clean Air Act
Scientific and Policy Perspectives
- Jonathan M Davidson, Joseph M Norbeck(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- Elsevier(Publisher)
...these governments have primary responsibility for the prevention of air pollution from both stationary and mobile sources. 34 27 Clean Air Act, § 101(a)(4). See also Muskie, “NEPA to CERCLA,” note 8. 28 Clean Air Act § 101(c). 29 Clean Air Act § 101(a)(1)–(2). 30 Clean Air Act § 101(a)(2). 31 Clean Air Act § 101(a)(2). 32 Clean Air Act § 101(a)(3). 33 Clean Air Act § 101(a)(1). 34 Clean Air Act § 101(a)(3). 2.3. Allocating Administrative Roles to Meet Clean Air Act Requirements The federal executive branch responded to Clean Air Act requirements by consolidating leadership within the EPA. 35 While it continued the structure of state-based implementation plans, these would now be subject to federal certification for conformance with the NAAQS. States would be required to regulate automobile emissions according to either EPA standards or more to stricter criteria established by the State of California. However, implementation plans could vary requirements for stationary sources provided they meet overall statewide criteria for ambient air quality. In other words, a petrochemical plant in New Jersey might be subject to different requirements than a comparable facility in Oklahoma. Regulations could also vary from location to location within a state based on area-wide pollutant levels. 35 Paul Rogers, “The Clean Air Act of 1970,” EPA Journal (January/February 1990); James E. McCarthy, Clean Air Act: A Summary of the Act and its Major Requirements. Congressional Research Service, May 2005. As initially envisioned by the Clean Air Act and the EPA, SIPs would reach compliance with the NAAQS by 1975. Further, automotive manufacturers would meet emission control standards by this date. New or expanded state agencies would be responsible for monitoring air quality, regulating pollution sources, and communicating directly with representatives for those regulated industries...
eBook - ePubEnvironmental Policy and Public Health
Air Pollution, Global Climate Change, and Wilderness
- William N. Rom(Author)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- Jossey-Bass(Publisher)
...Chapter 1 The Clean Air Act and the National Environmental Policy Act Learning Objectives To understand the history and importance of the Clean Air Act To become familiar with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards and how they are created To know the requirements of State Implementation Plans To understand which air pollutants are hazardous To comprehend efforts to protect vital environmental areas and to regulate new sources of pollution The Clean Air Act is the basic law that frames U.S. environmental policy. This law has seen many versions, beginning in the 1950s with the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) investigation of the Donora, Pennsylvania, air pollution episode. This investigation found that air pollutants from industrial sources became particularly noxious in a cold air inversion, leading to several dozen deaths directly related to the air pollution. The U.S. PHS investigators related deaths both temporally and etiologically to the air pollution, since most were cardiopulmonary deaths among the elderly. The first air pollution laws primarily funded research for health studies but gradually gave way to federal regulatory efforts that encompassed a unique brand of federalism whereby the states were mandated to carry out the federal regulations in a somewhat cooperative manner. The power to regulate interstate commerce gave the federal government its constitutional mandate, which has been consistently upheld in the courts after industry challenge. The Clean Air Act The London Fog and the Donora Fog The Clean Air Act (CAA), first passed in 1970, is a landmark public law born from public pressure to control smog and air pollution in general. Prior to its enactment, the world experienced some major catastrophic episodes brought about by smog...
eBook - ePubAir Pollution Control Engineering for Environmental Engineers
Fundamentals and Applications
- Jeff Kuo, Jeff Kuo(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
...Once a final decision is issued, the final regulation is then codified and incorporated into U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Title 40 (Protection of Environment) of the CFR deals with EPA’s mission of protecting human health and the environment. These regulations are mandatory requirements that can apply to individuals, businesses, state or local governments, non-profit institutions, or others. A summary of the U.S. environmental laws and EOs can be found at https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/laws-and-executive-orders. 3.2 Clean Air Act The Clean Air Act (CAA) of 1970 is the federal law that regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources. One of its early goals was to set and achieve National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in every state by 1975 to address the public health and welfare risks posed by certain widespread air pollutants and to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). The setting of these standards was coupled with directing the states to develop state implementation plans (SIPs), applicable to appropriate industrial sources in the states, so that these standards could be achieved. To set new goals and dates for achieving attainment of NAAQS, the CAA has been amended in 1977 and 1990. There are eleven titles associated with the Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990 (CAAA of 1990) and they are tabulated in Table 3.1. Table 3.1 - Titles of CAAA of 1990 I Nonattainment II Mobile Sources/Clean Fuels III Hazardous Air Pollutants IV Acid Rain V Permits VI Ozone Deletion and Global Warming VII – XI Miscellaneous Research, Enforcement 3.2.1 National ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) The EPA reviews the NAAQS primary and secondary standards periodically to promulgate revisions, if necessary, to protect public health and welfare. These standards establish the maximum allowable pollutant concentration levels in ambient air...
eBook - ePub- Donald J. Rebovich, George E. Curtis(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...§7401[b]). The Act authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and directs the states to establish a State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the reduction of air pollution. The Act further directs the EPA to establish National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP). Essentially, the EPA establishes the national air pollution control standards that states are responsible for enforcing at state and local levels through EPA-approved SIPs. Individuals and entities can violate the CAA in a number of ways: (1) by emitting “criteria pollutants” (carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, ozone, and lead) in violation of standards set forth in state plans; (2) by emitting hazardous air pollutants in violation of NESHAP; (3) by emitting pollutants in violation of the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), which apply to major sources of air pollution; (4) by emitting sulfur dioxide in excess of limiting standards; and (5) by emitting or producing an unauthorized ozone-affecting substance. The criminal violations of the CAA are set forth in 42 U.S.C. §7413(c). Essentially, the Act imposes criminal sanctions upon those who engage in the conduct set forth in the preceding paragraph; interfere with or fail to install EPA monitoring devices; fail to notify or file reports as required by the CAA; make false statements or certifications or who omit material information from any report, plan, or other documents; and those who fail to pay fees that are owed to the United States. Water The Clean Water Act (CWA) was enacted in 1977 with the objective to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters” (33 U.S.C. §1251[a])...
eBook - ePubEnvironmental Health and Hazard Risk Assessment
Principles and Calculations
- Louis Theodore, R. Ryan Dupont(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
...Treasury fund for use by the EPA for compliance and enforcement activities. The following EPA actions represent recent regulations promulgated to implement the requirements of the CAA to achieve significant improvements in air quality, health, and quality of life [ 10 ]: 1. Clean Air Interstate Rule (70 FR 25161, May 12, 2005). The Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) provided states with a solution to the problem of power plant pollution that drifts from one state to another. The rule uses a cap and trade system to reduce the target pollutants by 70%. 2. Mercury Rule (70 FR 28605, May 18, 2005). The EPA issued the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) on March 15, 2005. This rule builds on the CAIR to reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, the largest remaining domestic source of human-caused mercury emissions. Issuance of the CAMR marked the first time EPA regulated mercury emissions from utilities and made the United States the first nation in the world to control emissions from this major source of mercury pollution. 3. Nonroad Diesel Rule (69 FR 38957, May 11, 2004). The Clean Air Nonroad Diesel Rule (NDR) will change the way diesel engines function to remove emissions and the way diesel fuel is refined to remove sulfur. The rule is one of the EPA’s Clean Diesel Programs, which were promulgated to produce significant improvements in air quality. 4. Ozone Rules (see also http://www.epa.gov/ozonedesignations/). The Clean Air Ozone Rules (dealing with 8h ground-level ozone designation and implementation) designated those areas whose air did not meet the health-based standards for ground-level ozone. The ozone rules classified the seriousness of the problem and required states to submit plans for reducing the levels of ozone in areas where the ozone standards were not being met. 5. Fine Particle Rules (see also http://www.epa.gov/pmdesignations/)...
eBook - ePub- Gregor I. McGregor(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
...CHAPTER III: ENFORCEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS Almost all federal and state environmental statutes contain fines or jail sentences, or both, for violations. They also confer jurisdiction on courts to issue injunctions. Some statutes also authorize agencies to impose what are called administrative penalties and the courts to impose what are called civil money penalties. A few statutes contain self-enforcing or indirect sanctions including clouds on property titles, imposition of liens, forfeiture of bonds, or ineligibility for grants and government contracts. Local bylaws and ordinances typically impose criminal fines. In addition to regulatory requirements, traditional principles enunciated by courts, known as the common law, are available to litigants. Concepts such as public and private nuisance, negligence, trespass, and riparian rights are enforced by public or private suits for injunctions, or money damages, or both. Criminal and Civil Court Enforcement Court enforcement of environmental laws may take the form of criminal prosecutions for fines or incarceration, or civil actions for injunctions or civil money penalties. Criminal enforcement is conducted by public agencies. Prosecution of federal law violations is by the United States Attorney within each federal district on behalf of the United States Environmental Protection Agency or other agency in the federal District Court. State law violators are prosecuted by the state Attorney General or the county District Attorney, in the state trial courts, on behalf of state environmental agencies which request enforcement. Local criminal prosecution may occur at the behest of a local code enforcement officer or police department...
eBook - ePub- Susan Wolf, Neil Stanley(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Chapter 2 The Administration and Enforcement of Environmental Law Chapter Contents 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The system of pollution control prior to the Environment Act 1995 2.3 Reasons for change 2.4 The Environment Agency 2.5 The local authorities 2.6 Other bodies concerned with environmental protection 2.7 The role of the courts in the administration and enforcement of environmental law 2.8 A specialist environmental court? 2.9 Online resource centre 2.10 Summary of key points 2.11 Further reading Learning Objectives By the end of this chapter you should have acquired an understanding of: • the roles and responsibilities of the regulators who administer the main pollution control regimes; • the functions, objectives and powers of the regulators; • regulatory enforcement policy; • the main stakeholders/organisations who play a part in developing environmental law and environmental policy. 2.1 Introduction As we noted in the previous chapter, the main vehicle which the government uses to regulate pollution in the UK is the Command and Control regulatory model. To be effective, Command and Control regimes require the creation of administrative organisations capable of fulfilling two essential tasks: (a) the bureaucratic task of processing paperwork relating to the issue of permits to pollute 1 and notices to take action regarding pollution problems identified by the regulator; 2 and (b) ‘policing’ compliance with the relevant permits, notices and other regulatory controls. This latter role involves the regulator in monitoring and enforcement roles. Because of the historically reactive nature of pollution regulation in the UK, where successive governments responded to pollution issues with the creation of layer on layer of Command and Control regimes in the period 1863–1972, UK pollution control laws presented a picture of a fragmented, complex and unwieldy patchwork of separate controls...
