Running head: CLEAN AIR ACT 1

Clean Air Act

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Abstract

The Clean Air Act of 1970 was the first pollution-control efforts implemented by the

Congress. It was due to the unsatisfactory air pollution record, convinced the Congress that

the national air quality standards needed to be rectified to solve the United States' air

pollution problems. Several significant problems prompt the development of the act.

Keywords: industrialization, pollution, regulations, carbon dioxide

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Clean Air Act

Due to the great increase in heavy industry in the late 19th centuries, the quality of

air deteriorated significantly. When jet transportation was introduced for commercial

purposes in 1958, exhaust emitted from the aircraft at ground level, take off, and landing was

critical.

The federal government decided to address the situation through legislation with the

Clean Air Act in 1963. It was the first federal legislation to control air pollution. The

legislation granted federal research funding, supported the advancement of state control

agencies, involving the federal government in inter-state pollution issues (US Legal Inc,

2016). The following 1965 amendment required the U.S. Department of Health, Education,

and Services to create and enforce an emission standard (US Legal Inc, 2016). This was the

federal government’s first involvement in clean air policy.

Further amendments were made to correct previous pollution control policies which

had failed. With the 1970 amendment, the Congress ratified new strategies to regulate

national air quality standards and legalize deadlines for compliance. This was a significant

turning point made in the control of air pollution (Rogers, 2016).

The 1970 Clean Air Act established the foundation of the U.S. air pollution control policy.

There were four significant components placed in the act which the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) targeted on. Firstly, to develop standards for protecting human health and

environment by adhering to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Secondly, EPA instilled New Source Performance Standards to set the amount of

pollution allowed by the different industries in various regions. Thirdly, The Act mitigated

auto emissions, by directing at the reduction of various gases by approximately 90 percent.

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Lastly, the law prompted states to develop their strategies to perform these standards

and mandated that the state's plans should go through EPA approval (Rogers, 2016).

Problem

Although technology delivered many conveniences to the modern world, we are also

affected by the consequences. Increase in emission of health-related pollutants per

vehicle-kilometer and greenhouse gas by a combination of modernized engine and exhaust is

a matter of grave concern (Harrison, Masiol & Vardoulakis, 2015). Aviation activities also

contributed to environment pollution when the jet engine generate emissions into the air,

during aircraft operations and airport ground operations.

Air pollution correlated with the consumption of fossil fuels that powered the aircraft,

transport vehicles as well as equipment used in the airport. These emitted pollutants include

volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate

matter (PMs) and carbon dioxide (CO2) (Lawrence, 2008).

Significance of the Problem

The pollutants emitted could harm the environment, crops and vegetation and

animals. Further damages from these pollutants were seen in acid rain and decrease visibility

of the surrounding (Lawrence, 2008). These pollutants are also harmful to human health.

They could lead to more respiratory and cardiovascular problems, lower resistance to

respiratory infections, lung structure damage, cardiovascular diseases and even premature

mortality (Lawrence, 2008).

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Figure 1. Shows the excess mortality due to aviation sector by health outcomes. Adapted

from ‘Global Health Impacts of Future Aviation Emissions Under Alternative Control

Scenarios,’ by Morita, H., Yang, S., Unger, N., & Kinney, P. L., 2014, Environmental

Science & Technology. Copyright © 2014 American Chemical Society

The figure above shows the projected increase in mortality rate due to the increase of

fine particulate matter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) which causes severe health issues. This

study examined the global mortality rate attributing to the aviation sector in the present

(2006) and in the future (three 2050 scenarios). This was done by applying the integrated

exposure-response model by the 2010 Global Burden of Disease assessment (U.S. National

Library of Medicine, 2014).

Development of Alternative Actions

Alternative Action 1. The federal government can either control the emission by

legislating a limit to the amount of engine exhaust emission in landing and takeoff, or provide

incentives for energy efficiency measures. By stabilizing CO2 emissions after 2020 levels,

requiring airlines to offset the growth of their emissions (European Commission, n.d.).

Advantages. The scheme could reduce an estimated amount of 80% of the emissions

above the expected 2020 levels (European Commission, n.d.). This would reduce the carbon
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footprint of the aviation sector by more than 17 million tonnes per year, with compliance

covering over 99.5% of emissions (European Commission, n.d.).

Disadvantages. Airlines will be required to monitor emissions on all their routes.

Also, all regions will need to work hand in hand since it is a global scheme cooperation.

Therefore, the completion of the full implementation will need many years to operate

(European Commission, n.d.).

Alternative Action 2. The airline companies can choose more environmentally

friendly biomass to replace the current fuel. Thus it is essential to introduce and industrialize

alternative aviation fuels generated from renewable resources, like biojet fuels (Kandaramath,

Yaakob, & Binitha, 2015). Biodiesel made from a combination of vegetable oils and animal

fats by the transesterification process is more environmentally friendly (Kandaramath,

Yaakob, & Binitha, 2015).

Advantages. The biodiesel fuel is biodegradable and has an excellent lubricity. It

allows renewability in origin, high flash point, right energy balance and good miscibility with

petroleum fuels (Kandaramath, Yaakob, & Binitha, 2015).

Disadvantages. As the price gap between bio and conventional jet fuels is significant,

the primary concern is in the development of sustainability and financial problems. A

suitable catalyst selection with the right process design would be an essential task faced by

the alternative fuel producers. The production process must be consistent, competent and

highly efficient. Also, the production process depends a lot on the material (Kandaramath,

Yaakob, & Binitha, 2015).

Recommendations

Harmful aircraft emission could be reduced by adopting the use of The Next

Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). NextGen would improve environmental

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sustainability by applying the system to airframes, engines, and avionics as it could help to

reduce aircraft carbon dioxide emission. In addition, with the use of Performance-Based

Navigation, the Area Navigation (RNAV) departures, approaches and routes are developed

and operated to reduce delays. Hence this will decrease fuel burn and carbon emissions

(International Civil Aviation Organization, 2011). The GPS-enabled technologies

incorporated with flight data could lessen landing time as it focuses on efficient monitoring

the precision of flight path and direction. In addition, the monitoring of departing flights, taxi

times could reduce less carbon dioxide emission (International Civil Aviation Organization,

2011).

However, due to high cost involved, installation of such technologies in all U.S.

airports has been delayed (Bellamy, 2015). It is estimated that an amount of $20.6 billion is

needed which would be very taxing towards the federal government (Lawrence, 2008).

Conclusion

Aircraft emission has a great impact towards human health though degradation of air

quality. Studies have shown that global aircraft emissions contributed to premature

mortalities. An estimation of 8000 premature mortalities per year are attributable to aircraft

cruise emissions. With the introduction of the NextGen technology which assisted the

aircraft approaches and takeoff, hopefully the most seamless way could reduce the aircraft

emission significantly.
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References

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Emissions. Retrieved from https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es101325r

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Morita, H., Yang, S., Unger, N., & Kinney, P. L. (2014). Global Health Impacts of

Future Aviation Emissions Under Alternative Control Scenarios. Environmental

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