Air Quality Management Quiz

Environmental Economics and Management: Theory, Policy, and Applications 6e

• The book is by Scott J. Callan and Janet M. Thomas
• Slides were created by Janet M. Thomas
• Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning
• All rights reserved
• May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part

Defining Air Quality: The Standard-Setting Process

• This is Chapter 10
• Air quality is defined by standards limiting anthropogenic pollutants.
• Anthropogenic pollutants are contaminants connected to human activities; these are contrasted with natural pollutants which arise from natural processes.

Defining Air Quality

• Air quality standards in the U.S. and other countries limit anthropogenic pollutants.
• Anthropogenic pollutants are contaminants from human activity.
• Natural pollutants originate from natural processes.

Overview of U.S. Air Quality Legislation

• Early U.S. air quality laws developed gradually.
• Air Pollution Control Act of 1955
• Clean Air Act of 1963 established comprehensive legislation.
• Current U.S. Policy: The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments include market-based and command-and-control approaches.
• The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) replaced the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) in 2011.
• The CSAPR aims to reduce SO2 and NOx emissions from power plants, focusing on the Eastern U.S.

Identifying Major Air Pollutants

• Criteria pollutants are hazardous substances affecting health and welfare.
• Criteria documents characterize these pollutants as harmful.
• Hazardous air pollutants can cause irreversible illness or increased mortality, while non-criteria pollutants do not meet these criteria.
• Greenhouse gases are a specific type of pollutant causing the Earth's natural warming effect.

6 Criteria Air Pollutants

• six key air pollutants include particulate matter (PM-10 and PM-2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), tropospheric ozone (O3), and lead (Pb).

Hazardous Air Pollutants

• The 1990 CAA Amendments identified 189 hazardous air pollutants.
• These pollutants pose greater risks and impact a smaller segment of society compared to criteria pollutants.

GHG Air Pollutants

• A Supreme Court decision classified greenhouse gases (GHGs) as pollutants covered under the Clean Air Act.
• The EPA is authorized to regulate these GHGs.
• GHGs include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride.

Setting Standards to Define Air Quality

• The EPA sets national standards for major air pollutants.
• Stationary sources, like factories and buildings, and mobile sources, such as vehicles, are controlled.

Standards for Criteria Air Pollutants

• National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) set maximum allowable concentrations of criteria air pollutants.
• Primary NAAQS protect public health while secondary NAAQS protect public welfare.

Recent NAAQS Proposals

• Revising primary standards for SO₂ with a focus on short-term exposure.
• Proposals to improve primary and secondary standards for O3 (ozone) aiming to combat urban smog.
• In 2011, the proposal for revised O3 standards was withdrawn by the President due to slow economic growth.

Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants

• National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) protect health and environment through specific standards for sources of hazardous air pollutants.
• Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) is crucial to achieving required emission reductions.

Standards for GHG Pollutants

• No ambient standards, yet proposed ones are in development.
• EPA is looking at methods to reduce GHG emissions.
• Existing requirements are being adapted to include standards for mobile and stationary sources.

Recent NESHAP Proposals

• Reducing mercury and other toxins in boilers and incinerators.
• Reducing heavy metals and acid gases in coal-fired and oil-fired power plants.
• Economic analyses show positive net benefits for both initiatives.

Infrastructure to Implement Standards: Two Key Elements

• State Implementation Plans (SIPs) are approved EPA procedures for implementing, monitoring, and enforcing NAAQS and NESHAP.
• Air Quality Control Regions (AQCRs) are federally-designated geographic areas where pollution problems are shared.

Reclassification of AQCRs

• In 1974, following court cases like those filed by the Sierra Club, the AQCRs were categorized.
• Three types of regions were identified: areas meeting standards (PSD), non-compliant areas (non-attainment), and areas without enough data.
• Reclassification occurred in 1990, categorizing non-attainment areas according to severity of pollution.

Monitoring Air Quality Across Regions

• Estimating pollutant emissions using validated engineering approaches.
• Measuring pollutant concentrations at monitoring sites throughout regions, mostly urban.

Emissions Trends in the U.S.

• Data show a declining trend in emissions from various sources (CO, NOX, VOC, SO2, PM-10, PM-2.5, Pb) between 1990 and 2009.
• This trend points to the impact of air quality legislation across different pollutants.

Analysis of U.S. Air Quality Policy Evaluation Criteria

• Equity criterion, with environmental justice principles
• EPA adopted environmental justice in 1993 as one of its principles.
• Economic criterion with a focus on allocative efficiency, where marginal social costs and benefits are equal.

Portney's Benefit-Cost Analysis of 1990 Policy

• Estimates of marginal social benefits (14billion)arecomparativelylowerthanmarginalsocialcosts(14 billion) are comparatively lower than marginal social costs (14billion)arecomparativelylowerthanmarginalsocialcosts(32 billion).
• These estimates show that policy implications may require re-evaluation.

Graphing Portney's Findings

• Graph showcasing marginal social benefits and costs versus abatement.
• Provides visual representation of potential inefficiencies.

EPA's Benefit-Cost Analysis of 1990 Policy (first prospective study)

• Presented analyses of the 1990 CAAA covering Titles I-V and Title VI.
• Findings estimated present values of net benefits related to air quality regulation, ozone layer protection with specific figures provided.
• Data and methodologies were subject to discussion by experts and may have limitations.

EPA's Benefit-Cost Analysis of 1990 Policy (second prospective study)

• A 2011 update provided estimates for 1990 - 2020 period.
• A new set of benefit and cost figures were presented.
• These figures are for costs, benefits, and net benefits, with updated figures reflecting values in the year 2010

Benefits-Costs from the Second Prospective Study

• Data visualization of benefits and costs from the EPA's 2011 study.
• Presents the financial impact of different categories of air quality regulation.

Analysis of NAAQS: Two Potential Sources of Inefficiency

• No cost considerations are in the standard-setting process for NAAQS.
• Uniformity of standards across regions, regardless of regional differences in costs, benefits, or pollution variables.

Absence of Cost Considerations

• NAAQS are benefit-based, not considering economic feasibility.
• "Margin of safety" is included in primary standards.

Uniformity of NAAQS

• NAAQS are nationally based, neglecting regional variations.
• The standard does allow exceptions for PSD areas.
• Higher standards for PSD areas than NAAQS may not be efficient under some conditions.

Scenarios Achieving Efficiency

• Graphically explores different scenarios for cost-benefit analysis in PSD and non-PSD areas.

Feasibility

• Panels (a) and (b) in the efficiency scenario are less likely due to variable costs and benefits that vary depending on other conditions.
• Panel (c) suggests setting higher standards in PSD areas may only make sense under certain economic conditions based on the relationship between social benefits and costs.