After 35 years,have we made progress: A government perspective

The use of irradiation to improve the safety, protect the nutritional benefits, and preserve the quality of fresh and processed foods is a well established and proven technology. Over the past 35 years, the United States Government has invested in the science to confirm safety and in the technology to show application. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration have approved sources of ionizing radiation for the treatment of foods, and their application to most meats, fruits, vegetables, and spices. Despite the value of this technology to the food industry and to the health and welfare of the public, only minimal application of this technology occurs. This underscores the importance of increasing the public's understanding of radiation risks relative to other hazards. Accordingly, in 1995, the Committee on Interagency Radiation Research and Policy Coordination of the Executive Office of the President made recommendations for the creation of a centralized National Radiation Information Center that would work closely with Federal departments and agencies in responding to public queries about radiation issues and Federal programs. This article updates a commentary published in 1996 (Young 1996). In the past six years, some progress has been made, including the establishment of a government operated Food Irradiation Information Center, and the completion of final rule making by USDA, thus permitting the safe treatment of meats and poultry. Despite these actions, little progress has been made on the public acceptance of this technology. The need for an informed public and for a better understanding of risks, i.e., risk communication, is noted.     

Guidelines and Resources for Conducting an Environmental Crime Investigation in the United States

Common environmental crimes in the United States include the illegal disposal of hazardous waste, unpermitted discharges to sewer systems or surface water, discharge of oil by vessels to waters within United States jurisdiction, the misapplication of pesticides, the illegal importation of ozone-depleting substances, data falsification, and laboratory fraud. Federal, state, and sometimes local statutes and regulations are in place to protect the water, air, land, and human health. From a federal perspective, these include the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for hazardous wastes, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for toxic substances, the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for abandoned waste sites, and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for pesticides. Each of these laws contains some standard methods for sampling and analyses to prove environmental crimes. The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) contains the specific requirements of the laws. Within the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training (OCEFT) has the responsibility to investigate criminal offenses.Criminal offenses are more serious in nature than civil violations in the United States. To successfully prosecute an environmental criminal case, the government has to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a corporation or person knowingly violated an environmental statute containing criminal sanctions. The same environmental forensic techniques used to provide scientifically defensible data prevail in both civil and criminal cases; the only distinction between the two types of cases is legal.     

The Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS): Its Development and Application at Airports and Airbases

A new complex source microcomputer model has been developed for use at civil airports and Air Force bases. This paper describes both the key features of this model and its application in evaluating the air quality impact of new construction projects at three airports: one in the United States and two in Canada.

The single EDMS model replaces the numerous models previously required to assess the air quality impact of pollution sources at airports. EDMS also employs a commercial data base to reduce the time and manpower required to accurately assess and document the air quality impact of airfield operations.

On July 20, 1993, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the final rule (Federal Register, 7/20/93, page 38816) to add new models to the Guideline on Air Quality Models. At that time EDMS was incorporated into the Guideline as an Appendix A model.     

Extending the Kolmogorov-Zurbenko filter: application to ozone, particulate matter, and meteorological trends

Tropospheric ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM) are pollutants of great concern to air quality managers. Federal standards for these pollutants have been promulgated in recent years because of the known adverse effects of the pollutants on human health, the environment, and visibility. Local meteorological conditions exert a strong influence over day-to-day variations in pollutant concentrations; therefore, the meteorological signal must be removed in order for air quality planners and managers to examine underlying emissions-related trends and make better air quality management decisions for the future. Although the Kolmogorov-Zurbenko (KZ) filter has been widely used for this type of trend separation in O3 studies in the eastern United States, this article aims to extend the method in three key ways. First, whereas the KZ filter is known as a useful tool for O3 analysis, this study also evaluates its effectiveness when applied to PM. Second, the method was applied to Tucson, AZ, a city in the semi-arid southwestern United States (Southwest), to evaluate the appropriateness of the method in a region with weaker synoptic weather controls on air quality than the eastern United States. Third, additional forms of output were developed and tailored to be more applicable to decision-makers' needs through a partnership between academic researchers and air quality planners and managers. Results of the study indicate that the KZ filter is a useful method for examining emissions-related PM trends, resulting in small, but potentially significant, differences after adjustment. For the Tucson situation with weaker synoptic controls, the KZ method identified mixing height as a more important variable than has been found in other cities.     

Can radiation chemistry supply a highly efficient AO(R)P process for organics removal from drinking and waste water? A review

The increasing role of chemistry in industrial production and its direct and indirect impacts in everyday life create the need for continuous search and efficiency improvement of new methods for decomposition/removal of different classes of waterborne anthropogenic pollutants. This review paper addresses a highly promising class of water treatment solutions, aimed at tackling the pressing problem of emerging contaminants in natural and drinking waters and wastewater discharges. Radiation processing, a technology originating from radiation chemistry studies, has shown encouraging results in the treatment of (mainly) organic water pollution. Radiation (“high energy”) processing is an additive-free technology using short-lived reactive species formed by the radiolysis of water, both oxidative and reducing, to carry out decomposition of organic pollutants. The paper illustrates the basic principles of radiolytic treatment of organic pollutants in water and wastewaters and specifically of one of its most practical implementations (electron beam processing). Application examples, highlighting the technology’s strong points and operational conditions are described, and a discussion on the possible future of this technology follows.     

Review of light-duty diesel and heavy-duty diesel gasoline inspection programs

Emissions from diesel vehicles and gas-powered heavy-duty vehicles are becoming a new focus of many inspection and maintenance (I/M) programs. Diesel particulate matter (PM) is increasingly becoming more recognized as an important health concern, while at the same time, the public awareness of diesel PM emissions because of their visibility have combined to increase the focus on diesel emissions in the United States. This has resulted in an increased interest by some states in including heavy-duty vehicle testing in their I/M program. This paper provides an overview of existing I/M programs focused on testing light-duty diesel vehicles, heavy-duty diesel vehicles, and heavy-duty gasoline vehicles (HDGVs). Information on 39 I/M programs in 27 different states in the United States plus 9 international inspection programs is included. Information on the status of diesel emissions technology and current test procedures is also presented. The goal is to provide useful information for air quality managers as they work to decide whether such I/M programs would be worth pursuing in their respective areas and in evaluating the emissions measurement technology to be used in the program. Testing of HDGVs is generally limited to idle testing, because dynamometer testing of these vehicles is not practical, and most were not certified on a chassis basis. Testing of diesel vehicles has mostly been limited to SAE J1667 "snap-idle" opacity testing. Cost-effective technology for measuring diesel emissions currently does not exist, and, therefore, opacity-type measurements, although not effective at reducing the pollutants of most significant health concern, will continue to be used.     

电厂NO_x控制政策与技术：美国的经验及对我国的启示

我国NOx排放的快速增长导致其环境和生态影响日益加剧,已经引起全球关注,但是现行的NOx污染控制技术和政策远远落后于实际需求。为减少酸雨、臭氧和颗粒物带来的环境问题,美国采取排放控制和排污交易等方式削减了燃煤电厂的NOx排放。系统分析了美国NOx污染控制法规、标准、规划和控制技术应用情况,总结了其NOx控制的成功经验,进一步提出了符合我国国情的NOx控制对策和技术选择。     

Extending the Kolmogorov–Zurbenko Filter: Application to Ozone,Particulate Matter,and Meteorological Trends

Abstract

Tropospheric ozone (O₃) and particulate matter (PM) are pollutants of great concern to air quality managers. Federal standards for these pollutants have been promulgated in recent years because of the known adverse effects of the pollutants on human health, the environment, and visibility. Local meteorological conditions exert a strong influence over day‐to‐day variations in pollutant concentrations; therefore, the meteorological signal must be removed in order for air quality planners and managers to examine underlying emissions-related trends and make better air quality management decisions for the future. Although the Kolmogorov–Zurbenko (KZ) filter has been widely used for this type of trend separation in O₃ studies in the eastern United States, this article aims to extend the method in three key ways. First, whereas the KZ filter is known as a useful tool for O₃ analysis, this study also evaluates its effectiveness when applied to PM. Second, the method was applied to Tucson, AZ, a city in the semi‐arid southwestern United States (Southwest), to evaluate the appropriateness of the method in a region with weaker synoptic weather controls on air quality than the eastern United States. Third, additional forms of output were developed and tailored to be more applicable to decision-makers’ needs through a partnership between academic researchers and air quality planners and managers. Results of the study indicate that the KZ filter is a useful method for examining emissions‐related PM trends, resulting in small, but potentially significant, differences after adjustment. For the Tucson situation with weaker synoptic controls, the KZ method identified mixing height as a more important variable than has been found in other cities.     

Decision-support software tools for integrated risk assessment of hazardous substances in complex terrain

This paper presents the ongoing research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, related to the design and implementation of an IDSS (integrated decision support system) dedicated to integrated risk assessment and safety management with application to the transportation of hazardous substances. One of the goals is to construct advanced models to estimate (a) the optimal routing for transportation of hazardous substances and (b) optimise plans for emergency preparedness and management in case of potential (severe) accidents. As an output of this activity one aims at designing tools to represent risk to the public by using a GIS calculation platform, generically applicable to Switzerland. Though a database of some 700 chemicals is available, epichlorohydrin is the hazardous substance targeted in the first phase.     

The Crisis in Air Pollution Manpower Development

There is a crisis in air pollution manpower development within the United States today. This is the conclusion drawn from a series of three studies recently conducted by the National Air Pollution Manpower Development Advisory Committee. These studies, designed to define the essential components of a total manpower development program and to evaluate current efforts on specific segments of such a program, showed that the existing Federal manpower program fails to address many of the problem areas needing attention, that greater effort needs to be directed to meeting the air pollution educational requirements of State highway departments and planning agencies, and that the quality of most graduate level university programs in air pollution control is on the decline because of the withdrawal of Federal financial support.     

Reducing the Risks from Radon

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that residential radon levels in the United States lead to approximately 13,600 lung cancer deaths per year. To address this problem, the Agency has identified three program initiatives that can provide substantial reductions in the public’s risks: (1) public information activities that urge the public to test for radon and reduce elevated concentrations in existing homes, (2) new construction standards to reduce radon entry, and (3) radon testing and mitigation during real estate transactions. This paper analyzes the costs and risk reductions that could result from the implementation of these major initiatives, showing how all three elements cost-effectively protect the public’s health.     

Refinery evaluation of optical imaging to locate fugitive emissions

Fugitive emissions account for approximately 50% of total hydrocarbon emissions from process plants. Federal and state regulations aiming at controlling these emissions require refineries and petrochemical plants in the United States to implement a Leak Detection and Repair Program (LDAR). The current regulatory work practice, U.S. Environment Protection Agency Method 21, requires designated components to be monitored individually at regular intervals. The annual costs of these LDAR programs in a typical refinery can exceed US$1,000,000. Previous studies have shown that a majority of controllable fugitive emissions come from a very small fraction of components. The Smart LDAR program aims to find cost-effective methods to monitor and reduce emissions from these large leakers. Optical gas imaging has been identified as one such technology that can help achieve this objective. This paper discusses a refinery evaluation of an instrument based on backscatter absorption gas imaging technology. This portable camera allows an operator to scan components more quickly and image gas leaks in real time. During the evaluation, the instrument was able to identify leaking components that were the source of 97% of the total mass emissions from leaks detected. More than 27,000 components were monitored. This was achieved in far less time than it would have taken using Method 21. In addition, the instrument was able to find leaks from components that are not required to be monitored by the current LDAR regulations. The technology principles and the parameters that affect instrument performance are also discussed in the paper.     

Legislating risk: the USA struggles to reform its policies for the assessment and management of risk

This paper focuses on recent efforts in the United States to improve the federal government's approach to regulating risk, with particular emphasis on legislation introduced in the Congress of the United States that was designed to reform and standardize risk assessment and risk management practices at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal agencies with responsibility for health, safety, and environmental regulation. After reviewing the key provisions of the legislation and the potential impact of those provisions on EPA's risk-related activities, the paper suggests certain fundamental principles that should guide the debate on reform of policies and procedures associated with risk.     

Review of Light-Duty Diesel and Heavy-Duty Diesel Gasoline Inspection Programs

Abstract

Emissions from diesel vehicles and gas-powered heavyduty vehicles are becoming a new focus of many inspection and maintenance (I/M) programs. Diesel particulate matter (PM) is increasingly becoming more recognized as an important health concern, while at the same time, the public awareness of diesel PM emissions because of their visibility have combined to increase the focus on diesel emissions in the United States. This has resulted in an increased interest by some states in including heavy-duty vehicle testing in their I/M program.

This paper provides an overview of existing I/M programs focused on testing light-duty diesel vehicles, heavyduty diesel vehicles, and heavy-duty gasoline vehicles (HDGVs). Information on 39 I/M programs in 27 different states in the United States plus 9 international inspection programs is included. Information on the status of diesel emissions technology and current test procedures is also presented. The goal is to provide useful information for air quality managers as they work to decide whether such I/M programs would be worth pursuing in their respective areas and in evaluating the emissions measurement technology to be used in the program. Testing of HDGVs is generally limited to idle testing, because dynamometer testing of these vehicles is not practical, and most were not certified on a chassis basis.

Testing of diesel vehicles has mostly been limited to SAE J1667 “snap-idle” opacity testing. Cost-effective technology for measuring diesel emissions currently does not exist, and, therefore, opacity-type measurements, although not effective at reducing the pollutants of most significant health concern, will continue to be used.     

A re-examination of ambient air ozone monitor interferences

Attaining the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone (O3) could cost billions of dollars nationwide. Attainment of the NAAQS is judged on O3 measurements made by the Federal Reference Method (FRM), ethylene chemiluminescence, or a Federal Equivalent Method (FEM), predominantly ultraviolet (UV) absorption. Starting in the 1980s, FRM monitors were replaced by FEMs so that today virtually all monitoring in the United States uses the UV methodology. This report summarizes a laboratory and collocated ambient air monitoring study of interferences in O3 monitors. Potential interferences examined in the laboratory included water vapor, mercury, o-nitrophenol, naphthalene, p-tolualdehyde, and mixed reaction products from smog chamber simulations of urban atmospheric photochemistry. UV absorption O3 monitors modified for humidity equilibration were also collocated with UV FEM O3 monitors at six sites in Houston, TX, during the 2007 summer O3 season. The results suggest that humidity and interfering species can positively bias (overestimate) O3 measured by FEM monitors used to determine compliance with the O3 standards. The results also suggest that humidity equilibration can mitigate this bias.     

Analysis of cloud and precipitation chemistry at Whiteface Mountain,NY

Federal and state programs over the past two decades have resulted in the reduction of emissions of precursors of acid rain. Concomitant with these changes, measured concentrations of acidity in precipitation and in watersheds have shown a downward trend or improvement. However, another pathway for these precursors is through cloud and fog events that often tend to occur at high-elevation regions affecting the fauna and flora as well. In this study we report on long-term measurements of cloud water and precipitation chemistry made from 1994 onwards at a high-elevation location, Whiteface Mountain NY, in the northeastern United States. Trends and inter-relationship between the ions were examined along with ambient SO₂ measurements and Adirondack lakes chemistry data.     

1990 Thermal Remediation Industry Contractor Survey

The treatment of soil contaminated with organics and inorganics is becoming a major industry in the United States and Europe. The soil cleanup bill for the United States could run as high as $200 to $300 billion over the next 30 to 40 years. European soil cleanup costs could run as high as $130 billion.¹

The types of sites in the United States that will require soil treatment can be broken down into the following categories: ? CERCLA (Superfund) Actions

? RCRA Corrective Actions

? RCRA Closures

? Underground Storage Tanks

? Real Estate Transfers

? Spill Clean-ups.

The cleanup of sites in each of these categories, with the exception of the Real Estate Transfer category, is being driven by different sets of Federal regulations. Real Estate Transfer type regulations were first instituted in New Jersey and have now been promulgated in a number of other states.

The eventual cleanup cost for the Superfund sites will be close to $200 billion. Estimated costs for the industrial sector Superfund are $25 to $50 billion and the estimated cost for the Department of Energy sites is over $150 billion.2 An early RCRA Corrective Action cleanup estimate is $25 billion.3 This estimate may well be low, however, since the permitting, cleanup and delisting criteria are still not clearly defined. The EPA’s RCRA Corrective Action cost estimate is $7.4 billion. However, the Office of Management and Budget feels that this estimate is low.⁴

The potential magnitude of the cleanup costs has resulted in the development and implementation of many technologies for the decontamination of soils. Of the available remedial technologies, thermal treatment has perhaps had the most field testing. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the full scale site remediations which have been or are being conducted using thermal processing equipment. Projects which have been completed, are on-going, or have been contracted for, through January of 1990 are described.     

The Relation between Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aerosol Optical Depth and PM2.5 over the United States: A Geographical Comparison by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regions

Abstract

Aerosol optical depth (AOD) acquired from satellite measurements demonstrates good correlation with particulate matter with diameters less than 2.5 µm (PM_2.5) in some regions of the United States and has been used for monitoring and nowcasting air quality over the United States. This work investigates the relation between Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) AOD and PM_2.5 over the 10 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-defined geographic regions in the United States on the basis of a 2-yr (2005–2006) match-up dataset of MODIS AOD and hourly PM_2.5 measurements. The AOD retrievals demonstrate a geographical and seasonal variation in their relation with PM_2.5. Good correlations are mostly observed over the eastern United States in summer and fall. The southeastern United States has the highest correlation coefficients at more than 0.6. The southwestern United States has the lowest correlation coefficient of approximately 0.2. The seasonal regression relations derived for each region are used to estimate the PM_2.5 from AOD retrievals, and it is shown that the estimation using this method is more accurate than that using a fixed ratio between PM_2.5 and AOD. Two versions of AOD from Terra (v4.0.1 and v5.2.6) are also compared in terms of the inversion methods and screening algorithms. The v5.2.6 AOD retrievals demonstrate better correlation with PM_2.5 than v4.0.1 retrievals, but they have much less coverage because of the differences in the cloud-screening algorithm.     

Air Pollution Control Association Critical Reviews Program

This is the fourth in the series of Critical Reviews commissioned by the APCA Board of Directors. The first Critical Review "Regulations for the Control of Particulate and Sulfur Oxides Emissions" was published in 1974 and the topic is still timely. The second Critical Review "Regulations for the Control of Hydrocarbon Emissions (from Stationary Sources) and Odorous Pollutants" was published in 1975. In light of recent developments concerning hydrocarbon emissions from stationary sources, this Critical Review is again very timely. The third Critical Review "The Effect of Air Pollution Control Regulations on Land Use Planning" will soon be published in final form. Now we have the fourth in the series, "A Critical Review of Air Pollution Index Systems in the United States and Canada" and "Status Report on Federal Regulations for New Source Performance Standards".     

Haze trends over the United States, 1980–1995

The patterns and trends of haze over the United States for the period of 1980–1995 are presented. Haze measurements are based on human visual range observations at 298 synoptic meteorological stations operated by the United States Weather Service. There was a significant (∼10%) decline in haziness over the 15-yr period. The reductions were evident throughout the eastern United States as well as over the hazy air basins of California. During the same period, in the eastern United States sulfur emissions also declined by about 10%. However, a causality for the reductions has not been established. This report is an update of an earlier survey of haze patterns and trends from 1950 to 1980.