CLEAN AIR FREQUENTLY ASK QUESTIONS
Q: What is Air Pollution?
A:
Air Pollution is any substance in the air that could,
in high enough concentration, harm people, animals,
vegetation, or physical structures. Air pollution
may be in the form of solid particles, liquid droplets,
gases, or any combination thereof. Generally, air
pollution falls into two main groups: (1) air pollution
emitted directly from identifiable sources; and (2)
air pollution produced in the air by interaction between
two or more primary pollutants, or by reaction with
normal atmospheric constituents, with or without photoactivation.
Q: What are the National Ambient Air Quality Standards?
A:
The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
are standards established by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) that apply for outdoor air
throughout the country.
Q: What is an Attainment Area?
A:
An
attainment area is any region of the country considered
to have air quality as good as or better than the
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) as
defined in the Clean Air Act. An area may be an attainment
area for one pollutant and a non-attainment area for
other pollutants.
Q: What is a Non-Attainment Area?
A:
A
non-attainment area is a region of the country that
does not meet one or more of the national ambient
air quality standards (NAAQS) for the criteria pollutants
designated in the Clean Air Act.
Q: What are
Nitrogen Oxides?
A:
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) is the generic term for a group
of reactive gases, all of which contain varying amounts
of nitrogen and oxygen. NOx are formed
when fossil fuels, like coal and oil, are burned at
high temperatures. NOx contributes to the
formation of fine particulate matter pollution, which
aggravates respiratory illness and causes premature
death in the elderly and infants. NOx plays
a major role in the formation of ground-level ozone
(smog) pollution, which causes wide-ranging damage
to human health and the environment.
Q: What is
Sulfur dioxide (SO2)?
A:
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) is a highly toxic
air contaminant that is formed when fuels containing
sulfur, like coal and oil, are burned and released
to the air. Once released, SO2 is easily
converted to sulfuric acid, which is the major component
in acid rain, and to sulfate particles, which contribute
to tens of thousands of premature deaths each year.
SO2 can be carried in the wind for hundreds
of miles and often crosses state and international
borders. Sulfuric acid and sulfate particles are extremely
harmful to both public health and the environment.
Q: What is
Mercury?
A:
Mercury (Hg) is a hazardous air pollutant that causes
serious adverse health effects. It is released into
the environment primarily by the combustion of mercury-containing
materials, such as coal and solid waste. Mercury emissions
are transported through the air, sometimes for thousands
of miles, eventually depositing to water and land.
In the aquatic ecosystem, mercury enters the food
chain, thereby exposing humans and wildlife when contaminated
fish are consumed. Exposure to high levels of mercury
has been associated with serious neurological and
developmental damage to humans. Depending on the dose,
the effects range from subtle losses of sensory or
cognitive ability, delays in developmental milestones
(e.g. walking, talking), to birth defects, tremors,
convulsions and even death.
Q: What is
Carbon dioxide (CO2)?
A:
CO2
is a byproduct of the combustion of fossil fuels such
as coal and oil. It also occurs naturally, and plays
an important role in regulating the Earth’s temperature.
A layer of water vapor, CO2, and other
compounds covers the Earth’s atmosphere. Similar to
the glass of a greenhouse, this layer helps regulate
the Earth’s climate by balancing the planet’s absorption
of heat from the sun and its capacity to re-radiate
heat back into space. However, too much CO2 causes
excess heat to be trapped in the atmosphere, forcing
global temperatures upward, the phenomenon known as
"global warming."
Q: What is
Acid Rain?
A:
Acid rain is one of the ways in which acidic compounds
in the atmosphere are deposited on the ground. Acidic
compounds are formed when emissions of sulfur and
nitrogen compounds and other substances are transformed
by chemical processes in the atmosphere, often far
from the original sources, and then deposited on earth
in either wet or dry form. The wet forms, popularly
called "acid rain," can fall to earth as
rain, snow, or fog. The dry forms are acidic gases
or particulates, such as sulfates.
Q: What is
Particulate Matter Pollution?
A:
Particulate matter pollution consists of suspended
particulate matter found in the atmosphere as solid
particles or liquid droplets. Chemical composition
of particulates varies widely, depending on location
and time of year. Sources of airborne particulates
include: dust, emissions from industrial processes,
combustion products from the burning of wood and coal,
combustion products associated with motor vehicle
or non-road engine exhausts, and reactions to gases
in the atmosphere.
Q: What is the
Greenhouse Effect?
A:
The greenhouse effect is the warming of the Earth's
atmosphere attributed to a buildup of carbon dioxide
and other gases. A layer of water vapor, carbon dioxide,
and other compounds covers the Earth’s atmosphere.
Similar to the glass of a greenhouse, this layer helps
regulate the Earth’s climate by balancing the planet’s
absorption of heat from the sun and its capacity to
re-radiate heat back into space. However, too much
carbon dioxide traps too much heat and causes atmospheric
temperatures to rise.
Q: What is
Global Warming?
A:
Global warming is an increase in the near surface
temperature of the Earth. Global warming has occurred
in the distant past as the result of natural influences,
but the term is most often used to refer to the warming
predicted to occur as a result of increased emissions
of man-made greenhouse gases. Scientists generally
agree that the Earth's surface has warmed by about
1 degree Fahrenheit in the past 140 years. The Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently concluded
that increased concentrations of man-made greenhouse
gases are causing an increase in the Earth's surface
temperature.
Q: Why Should I be Concerned About
Power Plant Pollution?
A:
In
terms of volume and variety of contaminants emitted,
no other single pollution source comes close to matching
the negative impact from electric power plants. Nationally,
annual power plant emissions are responsible for 36
percent of carbon dioxide (2 billion tons), 64 percent
of sulfur dioxide (13 million tons), 26 percent of
nitrogen oxides (6 million tons) and 52 tons of mercury.
Among power plants, the dirty and old coal-fired facilities
produce the most pollution. 56 percent of power plant
boilers in operation in the
U.S.
are fueled by coal. However, they account for over
93 percent of nitrogen oxides, over 96 percent of
sulfur dioxide, over 88 percent of carbon dioxide,
and 99 percent of mercury emissions for the entire
electric industry. Each of these pollutants causes
massive damage to human health and the environment.
Sulfur dioxide causes acid rain and respiratory disease.
Nitrogen oxides are the primary cause of ozone pollution
(smog) that harms millions of Americans each summer.
Carbon dioxide is the "greenhouse" gas most
directly linked to global warming. And mercury poisons
many lakes and rivers throughout the US, causing their
fish to be unfit for human consumption.
Q: What is the "Grandfather Loophole"?
A:
Today the vast majority of coal- and oil-fired power
plants are not required to meet the most protective
air emissions standards. When the Clean Air Act was
enacted in 1970 and amended in 1977 and 1990, it exempted
– or "grandfathered" – existing power plants
from new emissions regulations. The power industry
argued that this grandfather loophole was justified
because its older power plants would be retired and
replaced by cleaner, new power plants. However, for
a variety of reasons, most of these plants have not
retired. Because of this grandfather loophole, most
coal-fired power plants fail to meet modern pollution
standards for nitrogen oxides (NOx) and
sulfur dioxide (SO2). This special treatment
for grandfathered power plants permits these facilities
to pollute at rates up to 10 times that of modern
coal plants. Their special treatment also means that
power plants are the only major source of mercury
to escape pollution control.
Q: What is Soot?
A:
Soot is carbon dust formed by incomplete combustion,
usually of coal.
Q: What is a State Implementation Plan (SIP)?
A: A
SIP is an EPA-approved state plan for the establishment,
regulation, and enforcement of air pollution standards.
Q: What is a SIP Call?
A: A
SIP call is an EPA action requiring a state to resubmit
all or part of its State Implementation Plan (SIP)
to demonstrate attainment of the required national
ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) within a statutory
deadline. A SIP revision is a modification of a SIP
at the request of U.S. EPA or on a state's initiative.
Q: What is Emissions Trading?
A:
Emissions trading is the exchange that takes place
when one pollution source reduces its air pollution
emissions beyond the level required by law, and another
pollution source uses this "surplus" to
meet its pollution reduction requirements. This allows
one source to increase emissions when another source
reduces them, maintaining an overall constant emission
level. Facilities that reduce emissions substantially
may "bank" their "credits" or
sell them to other facilities or industries.
|
