An Analysis of State Air Pollution Conrol Expenditures

Air pollution control, a significant problem facing state governments, receives a varying amount of fiscal resources in each state. The purpose of this paper is to examine social, economic, and political factors that may be related to state air pollution control expenditures. The indicators of the social-economic factors are urbanization, industrial pollution potential, income, and industrialization. The indicators of the political system are interparty competition, malapportionment, voter participation, local control effort, and general state expenditure efforts. The findings show that the few states expending for air pollution control in 1963 were, for the most part, characterized by a high level of economic development. In 1967, states at all levels of economic development allocated revenues for air pollution, although the more developed continued to hold an edge. In neither year did the political variables differentiate between levels of expenditure. The reasons advanced for the expenditure behavior in 1963 are the historical predominance of local control and the structural limitations of state governments. The wider, and increased, expenditures in 1967 are assessed to be the result of federal grants, the vigorous effort put forth by state control officials, and the increased public concern for the problem.     

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.     

Public Opinion and Community Involvement

A poll conducted by Opinion Research Corp. in 1965 has indicated to the chemical industry that there is substantial public concern with air pollution only in areas where the problem is critical, that industries are considered among the prime villains, and that there is only limited public awareness of industrial efforts to deal with pollution problems and of the economic factors in community pollution control programs. Other surveys have also pointed to rising public concern with industrial pollution, coupled with a lack of wider standing of the problem. The chemical industry believes that pollution control programs will be greatly handicapped without widespread public understanding and support.     

The Nationwide Program for Maintenance of Air Quality

The initial state implementation plans concentrated on attainment of the ambient air quality standards in the relatively polluted areas of the country. Many of these plans must now be modified to ensure that the ambient standards will be maintained for the foreseeable future, and to ensure that significant deterioration of air quality in clean areas of the country is prevented.

The existing implementation plans currently contain many measures which are applicable to the maintenance and deterioration efforts, but additional measures must also be developed. Many of these additional measures will involve future planning activities—most common of which will be land use planning activities.

The point is made that, after existing sources have reduced their emissions to the lowest practical level, further air pollution control can only be accomplished by implementing rational planning procedures for management of any new sources of air pollution. This will require extensive cooperation among the air pollution control community; regional, state, and local planning agencies; state and local governments; and the general public in order to ensure that future land use plans include appropriate air quality considerations.     

Current Trends in Federal Interagency Relations Concerning Air Pollution

Under the first Federal Air Pollution Act of 1955, which assigned the responsibility for developing a national program to the Public Health Service, a significant phase of the program involved other federal agencies through a series of contractual relationships. These interdepartmental relationships were limited however, to the objective of capitalizing on the diverse research facilities and specialized competencies within the federal establishment, as a means of accelerating the research and technical assistance program authorized under the act. With the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1963, a major new emphasis has been added to the federal air pollution control program—application of technical knowledge, through broadly accelerated control programs. This emphasis is reflected in current trends in the nature and type of the Public Health Service’s developing relationships with other federal agencies. The emerging PHS programs to prevent and control air pollution from federal facilities, the PHS role in preventing pollution arising from transportation systems aided under the new Urban Mass Transportation Act, and other developing interagency relationships and problem areas are discussed in this context.     

Research Note: Air pollution challenges and solutions for China's urban transportation development

China has experienced dramatic urbanisation and motorisation in the past 20 years. The phenomenal rise in the vehicle population in major cities has resulted in increased air pollution, traffic congestion and other 'wicked problems'. The Chinese government at all levels has made significant effort to control motor vehicle emissions, but vehicle population growth far outpaces their efforts, resulting in deteriorating air quality. Successful vehicle emissions control policies in industrialised countries offer China new technical and policy tools. This paper outlines China's current air pollution challenges and the technical and policy solutions under consideration by the Chinese central and municipal governments.     

The Province of Ontario’s Air Pollution Control Program

The Province passed an Air Pollution Control Act in 1958 which delegated control of all types of air pollution to the municipalities. This was amended in 1963 with the Province assuming control of industrial sources of air pollution and the municipalities retaining control of combustion sources. The paper outlines the comprehensive program adopted by the Province. It points out that while control is a primary function, other functions such as ambient air quality sampling, the collection of micro meteorological data, co-operation with other governmental agencies in agriculture, planning and zoning, economics and development, and water pollution are a vital part of the program. In light of the experience to date, an attempt is made to predict the organization necessary for the future.     

生物法处理NOx废气的研究进展

氮氧化物 (NOx)是主要的大气污染物之一 ,是治理大气污染的一大难题。对当前国内外生物处理NOx 的研究现状进行了系统的论述 ,介绍了生物过滤法处理氮氧化物的基本原理 ,分析了生物过滤法处理氮氧化物存在的问题 ,并预测该技术的未来发展趋势     

An Example of Planning for Pollution Control in Kraft Pulping

Two factors have contributed to the preparation of this paper. The first stemmed from Morton Sterling’s remarks in his address to the Houston Meeting. Therein he suggested the value of industry making public the progress made in overcoming pollution problems. Interest in Kraft Pulping Pollution problems on a wider scale constituted the second factor. This is well illustrated by the U.S.P.H.S. annotated bibliography, “Air Pollution and the Kraft Pulping Industry.” This paper will not contribute any new technology. It will, however, indicate how an established plant, in a large urban area, has planned and taken action to solve a pollution problem. Planning in this situation is used in a broad sense. It includes education and training of personnel, changes in process, capital expenditure and new installations, constant attention to maintenance and control, utilization of research and development from all sources, and relations with the public and regulatory agencies.     

State and Local Manpower Resources and Requirements for Air Pollution Control

A recent survey discloses that the total number of professional and technical personnel currently employed in state and local air pollution control agencies is small relative to the total employment of scientists, engineers, and technicians in state and local government generally. The data also indicate that very few positions in control agencies require specialized formal training in air pollution control prior to employment. In general, the future demand for qualified personnel to staff state and local programs depends fundamentally upon our national air quality objectives and the abatement strategy for achieving these objectives. Not until air quality objectives have been made operational and a comprehensive control strategy has been adopted will it be possible to make meaningful forecasts of future state and local manpower requirements. State and local control agencies could probably meet their present requirements by attracting qualified scientists, engineers, and technicians from other fields, if they had salary structures which were competitive with those of industry and the federal government.     

A Bibliography of Air Pollution Films

The purpose of this bibliography is to list and describe the motion pictures and film strips that are recent enough to be of use not only to those interested in air pollution control but also to those deeply involved in air pollution control effort.     

Contemporary threats and air pollution

It is now well understood that air pollution produces significant adverse health effects in the general public and over the past 60 years, there have been on-going efforts to reduce the emitted pollutants and their resulting health effects. There are now shifting patterns of industrialization with many heavily polluting industries moving from developed countries with increasingly stringent air quality standards to the developing world. However, even in decreasing concentrations of pollutants, health effects remain important possibly as a result of changes in the nature of the pollutants as new chemicals are produced and as other causes of mortality and morbidity are reduced. In addition, there is now the potential for deliberate introduction of toxic air pollutants by local armed conflicts and terrorists. Thus, there are new challenges to understand the role of the atmospheric environment on public health in this time of changing economic and demographic conditions overlaid with the willingness to indirectly attack governments and other established entities through direct attacks on the general public.     

State and Local Air Pollution Control Agency Salary Levels—1971

This paper is an examination of the range of salary levels of state, local, and multijurisdictional air pollution control agencies for specific occupational categories. It is based on a manpower and training survey of such agencies conducted by the Office of Air Programs of the Environmental Protection Agency during 1971. Since inadequate salaries have been identified as a primary obstacle in staffing air pollution control agencies, an analysis of salary levels was among the focal points for the survey.

Salaries were found to vary according to occupational category, type of agency, and size of agency. In most instances, salary levels increase as the size of the agency increases. Mean starting salaries have risen significantly since 1968, and salaries for chemists and engineers are becoming more competitive with salaries in private industry.     

南京市“十五”期间环境空气质量状况解析

综述并分析了南京市“十五”期间环境空气质量状况,指出空气中首要污染物仍为可吸入颗粒物.南京市虽然主要工业污染物排放总量继续得到有效控制,部分污染物明显缩减,空气质量有所改善,但酸雨污染依然严重,控制和治理二氧化硫污染已刻不容缓,要采取合理科学规划,加大工业污染治理力度,同时要增强市民自我环境保护意识.     

A Pilot Indoor-Outdoor Study of Organic Particulate Matter and Particulate Mutagenicity

Abstract

Many large metropolitan areas experience elevated concentrations of ground-level ozone pollution during the summertime “smog season”. Local environmental or health agencies often need to make daily air pollution forecasts for public advisories and for input into decisions regarding abatement measures and air quality management. Such forecasts are usually based on statistical relationships between weather conditions and ambient air pollution concentrations. Multivariate linear regression models have been widely used for this purpose, and well-specified regressions can provide reasonable results. However, pollution-weather relationships are typically complex and nonlinear—especially for ozone—properties that might be better captured by neural networks. This study investigates the potential for using neural networks to forecast ozone pollution, as compared to traditional regression models. Multiple regression models and neural networks are examined for a range of cities under different climate and ozone regimes, enabling a comparative study of the two approaches. Model comparison statistics indicate that neural network techniques are somewhat (but not dramatically) better than regression models for daily ozone prediction, and that all types of models are sensitive to different weather-ozone regimes and the role of persistence in aiding predictions.     

California Experience with Air Quality Standards

Air quality standards have existed in California for almost six years. They have become an important part of the State’s air pollution control program.

The two principal uses of the standards have been to establish the goals for controlling motor vehicle emissions and to provide a basis for evaluating air quality throughout the State. The standards have also proved to be valuable as a means of communicating on air pollution problems with legislators, administrators, the press, the public, and dischargers of pollutants.

Lack of adequate data on the effects of varying concentrations of contaminants of concern in air pollution is a serious limitation in any effort to establish air quality standards.It is important that this data be obtained.

The concept of employing air quality standards as administrative goals is not unique to the air pollution field but is part of a broad trend to utilize standards for insuring a satisfactory environment. Those engaged in the air pollution field can expect to see increasing emphasis on such standards.

Air quality standards do not provide a magic formula for eliminating air pollution; they are but one element in a comprehensive program. They have limitations and are no better than the data upon which they are based. The standards, however, can play an important role in preserving satisfactory air quality and protecting man’s health.

In using air quality standards, one should keep in mind the comments of H. W. Streeter⁵ on water quality standards—“Let us devise them, try them, revise them, and apply them, but also remember that they are but ’feeble instruments of the human will’ and like all other such tools are made to be discarded for better ones when they become worn out.“     

Performance/Cost Estimates for Retrofitting Control Technologies

The U.S. EPA’s Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory is responsible for assessing control technology performance and costs under the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program. A major part of this assessment involves developing site-specific estimates of the performance and costs of retrofitting SO₂ and NO_x control technologies for the top 200 SO₂- emitting (1980) coal-fired power plants in the 31-state eastern region. This effort includes detailed evaluation of a small number of plants (30 or less) representing a cross-section of the top 200 population. In cooperation with the states of Ohio and Kentucky (in conjunction with the U.S. EPA’s State Acid Rain Grant Program), efforts were undertaken to visit and conduct detailed evaluation of 12 coal-fired plants—five in Ohio, seven in Kentucky and the Tennessee Valley Authority System. A variety of commercial and advanced SO₂ and NO_x control technologies—including precombustion, combustion (in-furnace), and postcombustion (flue gas cleanup) technologies—were applied to each plant through conceptual designs. Retrofit factors (applied to the capital cost of a new pollution control system), cost “adders” (e.g., movement of existing equipment), and costs were developed for applying the control technologies to the boilers of each plant. Results of these and subsequent efforts will be valuable in evaluations of acid deposition control strategies by federal and state agencies and by electric utilities.     

A Quantitative Evaluation of the Pollutant Standards Index

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has recommended a daily air pollution index for use by State and local air pollution control agencies— the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI). The new index makes use of "segmented linear functions" which convert measured concentrations of each air pollutant into a normalized number. The overall index is reported for the pollutant with the maximum subindex value, or the "critical pollutant."     

A Practical Relationship Between Government and Industry

The science of air pollution control is making significant advances and a practical working arrangement between all levels of government and industry must be achieved. Lawmakers, scientists, and industry must work side by side in combatting air pollution; there is no other approach that will give the problem the attention it deserves. How this might be accomplished is the subject of this article.