Showing papers on "Air quality index published in 1968"

Incentives to Air Pollution Control

Abstract: "Should it be the carrot or the stick?" That is the metaphorical question economists often ask about pollution abatement programs. In the debate which has ensued between economists, legislators, administrators, and businessmen, adversaries have cloaked the substantive issues in a shroud of public rhetoric. It is the purpose of this article to help cut away this shroud, and to lay out the basic policy alternatives available to those who would control air pollution.

A Guide to the Air Quality Act of 1967

Abstract: On November 21, 1967 the President signed into law the Air Quality Act of I967,1 the most important step to date in organizing government's response to the nation's growing air pollution problems. The new law builds on earlier legislation going back as far as 1955 and is in form an amendment of the Clean Air Act of I963.2 Nevertheless, it sets forth a better defined approach to air pollution control than had yet emerged in either federal, state, or local legislation and begins to indicate the shape of the coordinated federal-state-local regulatory effort that air pollution control requires. For the first time the federal government has decreed that regulation shall be undertaken by the states and has prescribed both a broad timetable for its coming into being and a basis for measuring the adequacy of that regulation. By recognizing health requirements, economic and technological realities, and the necessity for a flexible approach, the Air Quality Act provides a framework for an active government-industry partnership directed toward achieving the goal of clean air. This article attempts to delineate the act's scope and ultimate effects in controlling air pollution attributable to stationary sources of contaminants. The act's provisions on automotive vehicle emissions are outside of the scope we have elected to adopt.3

Application of Gas-Aerosol Adsorption Data to the Selection of Air Quality Standards

Abstract: A quantitative approach is presented for selecting air quality standards which take into account pollutant gas-aerosol synergistic effects. These synergistic health effects have been postulated to be due to the adsorption or absorption of the pollutant gas by the aerosol particles. The approach presented in this paper assumes that the synergistic toxic agent is the adsorbed pollutant gas. Therefore, limiting the concentration of the adsorbed pollutant gas limits the magnitude of the synergistic effects. The concentration of the adsorbed pollutant gas is related to the concentrations of the gaseous phase pollutant gas and the atmospheric aerosol using the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. An example is presented of the selection of air quality standards for sulfur dioxide and the atmospheric aerosol using concentration data for these two pollutants along with health effect data.

Air pollution and health.

Abstract: AIR POLLUTION is undoubtedly the major cause of disease of the lung today. Air pollution not only JL ’ncludes urban air pollution from domestic fires, factories, automobiles, etc., but also the air pollution which is under our personal control, that is smoking and especially the smoking of cigarettes. Chronic bronchitis has been called the &dquo;English disease&dquo; and it is highly associated with air pollution-in fact the problem of urban air pollution is at its worst in the United Kingdom. I was surprised to find, for instance, in my study of lung cancer and bronchitis in Northern Ireland that bronchitis was mentioned as the cause of death, either as the primary

Controlling metropolitan pollution through regional airsheds: administrative requirements and political problems.

Abstract: This is an evaluation of the regional approach to controlling air pollution, in the light of the New York metropolitan experience, and recent federal and state legislative developments. Regional airsheds are defined and their administrative advantages delineated. The political difficulties involved in establishing and managing regional control districts, such as jurisdictional and regulatory problems, are also discussed. This paper touches upon the extent and adequacy of present day coordination and cooperation between agencies in the New York metropolitan area, as illustrated by the failure of the alert system during the Thanksgiving 1966 air pollution “episode.” The conflicting approaches of regional air quality commissions and the Mid-Atlantic States Air Pollution Control Compact are stressed. The desirability of such federal and state legislative proposals, and the advantages and drawbacks of special districts and other institutional arrangements to solve regional problems are also evaluated.

Legal Boundaries of Air Pollution Contol-State and Local Legislative Purpose and Techniques

Abstract: The Air Quality Act of I9671 has once again directed the nation's attention to the dangers of ever-increasing levels of air pollution. The new legislation, while increasing the role of the federal government, did not change the basic congressional findings of the I963 Clean Air Act "that the prevention and control of air pollution at its source is the primary responsibility of States and local governments."2 One of the designated purposes for the passage of the 1963 act was:

Deficiencies in the Air Quality Act of 1967

Abstract: In i955, the Eighty-fourth Congress enacted Public Law I59.1 This first federal legislation dealing with air pollution control stated "that the prevention and control of air pollution at its source is the primary responsibility of states and local governments." Public Law I59 authorized the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) to provide technical support for state and local programs, and to conduct research. This I955 federal law officially recognized the presence of a nationwide air pollution problem and provided for a study of the problem. It did not take positive steps to control air pollution. Studies fostered by Public Law I59 revealed the imminent threat of air pollution. Meanwhile, the situation grew worse. Awareness of the inadequacy of then existing control efforts led to adoption of the Clean Air Act of 1963.2 The Clean Air Act launched an attack on air pollution. Federal activities were greatly expanded and federal grant funds were made available to state and local air pollution control agencies for the first time. The availability of grants for air pollution control did much to stimulate abatement activity. Not all state and local control programs initiated under the Clean Air Act of I963 were sufficiently vigorous, however; and more sophisticated understanding of the complexities of air pollution and its control demonstrated the need for further legislation at the federal level. In November of I967, Senate Bill 780, cited as the Air Quality Act of I967, was signed into law.8

Definition of Air Quality Control Regions:approach and experience to date

Abstract: Section 107. (a) (2) of the Clean Air Act, as amended by the Air Quality Act of 1967, directs the Secretary, HEW, to designate Air Quality Control Regions for the purpose of establishing ambient air quality standards required in subsequent sections of the Act. The Section stipulates that the Regions are to be designated on the basis of jurisdictional boundaries, urban-industrial concentrations, and other factors necessary to provide adequate implementation of air quality standards, and further that, to the extent feasible, the designations are to be completed within 18 months of enactment. In view of the direct impact that region designations will have on state and local control programs, this paper gives a status report on the steps taken by the National Air Control Administration to implement this Section in the 7 months since the Air Quality Act was signed. It discusses the procedural aspects of the Administration's approach, emphasizing Administration's policy and the involvement of state and local entities in the development of region designations. The designation of Air Quality Control Regions is related to other steps required by the Act, especially those involving state and local governments.

Another Look at New York City’s Air Pollution Problem

Abstract: An analysis of the ambient air quality in New York City over the past several years has been made. The various sources of the contaminants are identified and evaluated as to their effects on ambient air quality. Meteorological data have been analyzed to develop insight into the influence of weather conditions upon ground level pollution concentrations. The results of these analyses are employed to indicate the approaches that will be most effective in improving air quality.

Air quality and characteristic community parameters.

Abstract: Statistical correlations between all pairs of 16 selected air quality measurements and 13 selected community parameters for 66 standard metropolitan statistical areas have been calculated, tested for significance, and reviewed for meaningful relationships. Some of the more meaningful relationships are presented in this paper. Of special interest are the correlations between the sulfate fraction of suspended particulate matter and the use of sulfur-containing fuels (r = 0.66), between ambient sulfur dioxide and the use of sulfur-containing fuels (r = 0.85), between the lead fraction of suspended particulates and annual purchases of gasoline (r = 0.71), and between vanadium in suspended particulates and the percent residual fuel oil used in a community (r = 0.69). Several of these relationships are given more definitive description with mathematical equations that describe how the ambient pollutant concentration varies as a function of a related community parameter. The geographic distribution of high and low pollutant levels is also discussed. Intricate cause-and-effect relationships prevail between the environment and the life cycles of living organisms. If facets of the environment begin to differ markedly from their accustomed range, the survival of certain organisms may be in peril. Man has developed the ability to isolate himself from the consequences of many shortterm stresses in the environment, such as temperature extremes, and food and water deficiencies. In exercising this unique adaptability, however, man has begun to modify the environment of Messrs. McMullen, Fensterstock, Faoro, and Smith are associated with the Air Quality and Emission Data Program, National Air Pollution Control Administration, Consumer Protection and Environmental Health Service, Cincinnati, Ohio 45227. many areas by introducing into them by-products of his activities. When the environment cannot assimilate these by-products as rapidly as they are produced, they begin to accumulate and thus disturb the existing equilibrium. Analyses of the soil, water, and air begin to show the presence of abnormal quantities of these substances or their effects, which now assume the character of pollutants. This paper presents the results of an investigation into the relationships between 16 air quality measurements and 13 community parameters that primarily characterize human activities, and also includes two meteorological factors. Only some of the more meaningful relationships are presented in this paper. These 29 variables, inventoried for 66 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas that contain 46 percent of the nation's population, were paired in 357 combinations, and simple correlation coefficients were calculated. Selected relationships between air quality measurements and community parameters and between pairs of air quality measurements presented herein permit a quantitative estimate of the effect on one parameter from changes in the other parameter. The air quality data used in this study come from the Public Health Service's National Air Surveillance Networks. These networks usually consist of one sampling site per city. A single sampling site does not provide a complete picture of city-wide air quality; however, for assessing relative pollutant levels from community to community, data from a single centrally located sampling site do in fact provide a meaningful index of air quality. They in

Air Quality Criteria for Pennsylvania

Abstract: In late 1965 the Pennsylvania Air Pollution Commission appointed a Council of Technical Advisors to develop air quality criteria. Recently, this Council set forth its recommendations for ten pollutants. The philosophy of the Council is expressed. The major difficulties and rational are mentioned. The recommendations are given and the potential use of the criterion is also explained.

The Economics of Air Pollution: Central Problems

Abstract: Afflicting damage and distress upon human, animal, and plant life, polluted air blankets most populated areas of the globe The salient economic consequence of this is that pure or relatively unpolluted air is no longer a free good; it costs money to go where air is relatively cleaner, it costs money to trap pollutants before they escape into the air Yet, by and large, those who are responsible for pollution do not bear the cost of the pollution they create; it is an "external" cost of production and consumption Born of this condition, the economics of air pollution is largely directed to two broad areas, both difficult assignments: (i) measuring the costs to individuals and society at large of the diffusive despoiling of the atmosphere (and the corresponding benefits of cleaning it up) and (2) determining economic measures to stimulate and/or coerce polluters to eliminate or at least cut down their emissions of destructive gases and particulate matter Air pollution-smoke and other airborne particles-has accompanied the growth of industrialization since its early days However, in the last two decades overwhelming evidence has begun to accumulate that polluted air is a serious threat to the quality of life, even to man's continued existence itself; projections of economic growth and population expansion to the year 2000 pose the threat of a vast increase in the already high level of air pollution unless effective measures are taken to control it It is in recognition of both the present and potential costs to society that increased importance has been given to the devising of means to detect, control and abate air pollution It is also becoming clear that because of the damage to life and property, expenditures on air pollution control and abatement are as essential to society, if not to individual polluters, as investment in education, urban renewal, and other investment in social capital In a basic sense, is not investment in air pollution control also investment in human resources?l The primary purpose of this paper is to survey and evaluate the state of the art in the two broad areas of interest outlined above I hope, in describing the nature of the difficulties and dilemmas that confront public and private efforts to devise

Study of air quality and contaminant analysis for work under compressed air.

Abstract: The quality of air in a tunnel being constructed under pressures varying from 0 to 30 psig was monitored for a period of 24 months. Except for an electrical fire and an oxygen deficiency incident, the tunneling was completed without hazardous levels of air contaminants being encountered. The compressor facilities and sampling and analytical procedures are described.