Does the EPA regulate air pollution?
Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA sets limits on certain air pollutants, including setting limits on how much can be in the air anywhere in the United States. The Clean Air Act also gives EPA the authority to limit emissions of air pollutants coming from sources like chemical plants, utilities, and steel mills.
What does NSPS apply to?
The NSPS apply to new, modified and reconstructed affected facilities in specific source categories such as manufacturers of glass, cement, rubber tires and wool fiberglass. As of 2013, there are approximately 90 NSPS. The NSPS are developed and implemented by EPA and are delegated to the states.
Does the EPA regulate emissions?
EPA regulates emissions of air pollution from mobile and stationary sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA). For more on EPA’s enforcement process, go to Basics on enforcement.
What are EPA regulations?
EPA is called a regulatory agency because Congress authorizes us to write regulations that explain the technical, operational, and legal details necessary to implement laws. Regulations are mandatory requirements that can apply to individuals, businesses, state or local governments, non-profit institutions, or others.
What laws requires the EPA to establish air quality standards?
4 Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act is the primary means by which the EPA regulates potential emissions that could affect air quality. The EPA regulates the pollutants by developing human health-based and/or environmentally and scientifically based criteria for setting permissible levels.
What are MACT standards?
MACT standards are performance criteria designed to significantly reduce air toxics emissions. The audit objectives were to identify efficiencies that could be implemented to accelerate the MACT standards development process, and to evaluate the Agency’s method of determining the MACT floor for emission standards.
What is NSPS compliance?
The 1988 New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for residential wood heaters required manufacturers of wood stoves to certify that each model line of wood stoves offered for sale in the United States complied with the EPA particulate emissions guidelines in the Clean Air Act.
What is Section 111 of the Clean Air Act?
Section 111 of the CAA directs EPA to establish emissions standards for stationary sources of air pollution that “may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.” Section 111(b) details EPA’s authority to regulate new and modified sources.
What are the EPA criteria air pollutants?
EPA has established national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for six of the most common air pollutants— carbon monoxide, lead, ground-level ozone, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide—known as “criteria” air pollutants (or simply “criteria pollutants”).