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New Source Performance Standard
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) are pollution control standards issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The term is used in the Clean Air Act Extension of 1970 (CAA) to refer to air pollution emission standards, and in the Clean Water Act (CWA) referring to standards for water pollution discharges of industrial wastewater to surface waters. Introduction Some pollution control laws are organized with varying degrees of stringency. The different standards may be based on several factors, including whether the pollution source is an existing facility at the time the standard is published, or is constructed after publication. The standards for new sources may be more stringent than that for existing facilities, on the principle that a new plant can be designed with the latest and most advanced control technologies. Clean Air Act The Clean Air Act NSPS dictate the level of pollution that a new stationary source may produce. These standards are a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Technical Standard
A technical standard is an established norm or requirement for a repeatable technical task which is applied to a common and repeated use of rules, conditions, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and production methods, and related management systems practices. A technical standard includes definition of terms; classification of components; delineation of procedures; specification of dimensions, materials, performance, designs, or operations; measurement of quality and quantity in describing materials, processes, products, systems, services, or practices; test methods and sampling procedures; or descriptions of fit and measurements of size or strength. It is usually a formal document that establishes uniform engineering or technical criteria, methods, processes, and practices. In contrast, a custom, convention, company product, corporate standard, and so forth that becomes generally accepted and dominant is often called a ''de facto'' standard. A techni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Best Available Technology
The best available technology or best available techniques (BAT) is the technology approved by legislators or regulators for meeting output standards for a particular process, such as pollution abatement. Similar terms are ''best practicable means'' or ''best practicable environmental option''. BAT is a moving target on practices, since developing societal values and advancing techniques may change what is currently regarded as "reasonably achievable", "best practicable" and "best available". A literal understanding will connect it with a "spare no expense" doctrine which prescribes the acquisition of the best state of the art technology available, without regard for traditional cost-benefit analysis. In practical use, the cost aspect is also taken into account. See also discussions on the topic of the precautionary principle which, along with considerations of ''best available technologies'' and ''cost-benefit analyses'', is also involved in discussions leading to formulation of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Law In The United States
Water law in the United States refers to the Water resources law laws regulating water as a resource in the United States. Beyond issues common to all jurisdictions attempting to regulate water's uses, water law in the United States must contend with: *Public regulation of waters, including flood control, environmental regulation—state and federal, public health regulation and regulation of fisheries *The interplay of public and private rights in water, which draws on aspects of eminent domain law and the federal commerce clause powers; *Water project law: the highly developed law regarding the formation, operation, and finance of public and quasi-public entities which operate local public works of flood control, navigation control, irrigation, and avoidance of environmental degradation; and *Treaty rights of Native Americans. The law governing these topics derives from all layers of US law. Some derives from common law principles which have developed over centuries, and which e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waste Legislation In The United States
Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste product may become a by-product, joint product or resource through an invention that raises a waste product's value above zero. Examples include municipal solid waste (household trash/refuse), hazardous waste, wastewater (such as sewage, which contains bodily wastes ( feces and urine) and surface runoff), radioactive waste, and others. Definitions What constitutes waste depends on the eye of the beholder; one person's waste can be a resource for another person. Though waste is a physical object, its generation is a physical and psychological process. The definitions used by various agencies are as below. United Nations Environment Program According to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environmental Law In The United States
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale from microscopic to global in extent. It can also be subdivided according to its attributes. Examples include the marine environment, the atmospheric environment and the terrestrial environment. The number of biophysical environments is countless, given that each living organism has its own environment. The term ''environment'' can refer to a singular global environment in relation to humanity, or a local biophysical environment, e.g. the UK's Environment Agency. Life-environment interaction All life that has survived must have adapted to the conditions of its environment. Temperature, light, humidity, soil nutrients, etc., all influence the species within an environment. However, life in turn modifies, in various forms, its conditions. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emission Standards
Emission standards are the legal requirements governing air pollutants released into the atmosphere. Emission standards set quantitative limits on the permissible amount of specific air pollutants that may be released from specific sources over specific timeframes. They are generally designed to achieve air quality standards and to protect human life. Different regions and countries have different standards for vehicle emissions. Regulated sources Many emissions standards focus on regulating pollutants released by automobiles (motor cars) and other powered vehicles. Others regulate emissions from industry, power plants, small equipment such as lawn mowers and diesel generators, and other sources of air pollution. The first automobile emissions standards were enacted in 1963 in the United States, mainly as a response to Los Angeles' smog problems. Three years later Japan enacted their first emissions rules, followed between 1970 and 1972 by Canada, Australia, and several Eu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atmospheric Dispersion Modeling
Atmospheric dispersion modeling is the mathematical simulation of how air pollutants disperse in the ambient atmosphere. It is performed with computer programs that include algorithms to solve the mathematical equations that govern the pollutant dispersion. The dispersion models are used to estimate the downwind ambient concentration of air pollutants or toxins emitted from sources such as industrial plants, vehicular traffic or accidental chemical releases. They can also be used to predict future concentrations under specific scenarios (i.e. changes in emission sources). Therefore, they are the dominant type of model used in air quality policy making. They are most useful for pollutants that are dispersed over large distances and that may react in the atmosphere. For pollutants that have a very high spatio-temporal variability (i.e. have very steep distance to source decay such as black carbon) and for epidemiological studies statistical land-use regression models are also used. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Pollution In The United States
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials into the atmosphere, causing harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damaging ecosystems. Air pollution can cause health problems including, but not limited to, infections, behavioral changes, cancer, organ failure, and premature death. These health effects are not equally distributed across the U.S population; there are demographic disparities by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and education. Air pollution has affected the United States since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. According to a 2009 report, around "60 percent of Americans live in areas where air pollution has reached unhealthy levels that can make people sick." Analyzing data from 2016–2018, the American Lung Association found major declines in air quality, including increases in ground-level ozone. In 2016, a study found that levels of nitrogen oxides had plummeted over the previous de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Source Review
A New Source Review (NSR) is a permitting process created by the US Congress in 1977 as part of a series of amendments to the Clean Air Act. The NSR process requires industry to undergo an Environmental Protection Agency pre-construction review for environmental controls if they propose either building new facilities or any modifications to existing facilities that would create a "significant increase" of a regulated pollutant. The legislation allowed "routine scheduled maintenance" to not be covered in the NSR process. Since the terms "significant increase" and "routine scheduled maintenance" were never precisely defined in legislation, they have become a source of contention in many lawsuits filed by the EPA, public interest groups, and utilities. Major New Source Review court cases Wisconsin Energy Corporation lawsuit In 1988 the Wisconsin Energy Corporation (WEPCo) submitted an NSR inquiry to the EPA for improvements at its Port Washington plant. The improvements included t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Emissions Standards For Hazardous Air Pollutants
The National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) are air pollution standards issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The standards, authorized by the Clean Air Act, are for pollutants not covered by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) that may cause an increase in fatalities or in serious, irreversible, or incapacitating illness.United States. Clean Air Amendments of 1970. Section 112. Maximum Achievable Control Technology standards The standards for a particular source category require the maximum degree of emission reduction that the EPA determines to be achievable, which is known as the Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards. These standards are authorized by Section 112 of the 1970 Clean Air Act and the regulations are published in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Pollutants EPA regulates the following hazardous air pollutants with the MACT standards. For all listings above which conta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation
In animal husbandry, a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is an intensive animal feeding operation (AFO) in which over 1,000 animal units are confined for over 45 days a year. An animal unit is the equivalent of 1,000 pounds of "live" animal weight. A thousand animal units equates to 700 dairy cows, 1,000 meat cows, 2,500 pigs weighing more than , 10,000 pigs weighing under 55 pounds, 10,000 sheep, 55,000 turkeys, 125,000 chickens, or 82,000 egg laying hens or pullets. CAFOs are governed by regulations that restrict how much waste can be distributed and the quality of the waste materials. As of 2012 there were around 212,000 AFOs in the United States, 19,496 of which were CAFOs. Livestock production has become increasingly dominated by CAFOs in the United States and other parts of the world. Most poultry was raised in CAFOs starting in the 1950s, and most cattle and pigs by the 1970s and 1980s. By the mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Effluent Guidelines
Effluent Guidelines (also referred to as Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELGs)) are U.S. national standards for wastewater discharges to surface waters and publicly owned treatment works (POTW) (also called municipal sewage treatment plants). The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issues Effluent Guideline regulations for categories of industrial sources of water pollution under Title III of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The standards are technology-based, i.e. they are based on the performance of treatment and control technologies (e.g., Best Available Technology). Effluent Guidelines are not based on risk or impacts of pollutants upon receiving waters. Regulated pollutants range from acenaphthene to zinc, with maximum allowed contamination levels in discharge water (wastewater) varying by industry. The regulations cover pollutants for which there are approved analytical testing methods. EPA has published many methods in its regulations, and has approved the use of ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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