Clean Air Act - Inhibits Acid Rain

The original Clean Air Act was established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the 1970s. At the time, there were few, if any, provisions made for the reduction od acid rain causing gases. Basically, the Clean AIr act  was the first major legislation aimed at cleaning up our air. Later, there were amendments made to the act. It is in these amendments that we obtained regulations for the production of both SO2 and NOx.

EPA released amendments to the Clean Air Act. In these amendments, EPA made provisions for acid rain, commonly known as Titile IV. Although the provisions affect only a small amount of the sources of acid rain gases, the improvements caused are expected to be significant. With the creation of Title IV, EPA implemented two new concepts. These concepts are:

1. Emissions Trading

2. National Emissions Cap

In order to accomplish its goals, Title IV established a nationwide system of SO2 emission allowances. These allowances are expressed in terms of tons of SO2 emitted per year, and the basic allowance is emission of 1 ton per year of SO2. It is important to note that no source affected by Title IV can emit SO2 without holding an allowance for the emission. If a source does this, it may have to face judicial action. Also, if a source want to increase production and therefore increase emissions, it must obtain an emission allowance from another source that has reduced emissions. This is known as emissions trading.

In addition to the SO2 reduction, Title IV calls for a 2 million ton reduction in NOx. This reduction will be accomplished through burner modifications and will be measured from the amount of NOx that would have been emitted, if no modifications had been made. In terms of NOx emissions, Title IV does not require that industries install post combustion controls for monitoring. Also, unlike the SO2 emission reduction program, there is no NOx emission allowance system or emission cap for NOx.

Calcium – Saves Forests Damaged by Acid Rain

The majority of people think about teeth and bones when they hear about calcium. However, this is something that the trees need in order to grow. According to the latest studies, calcium can help reverse the effects of acid rain on forests.

The Study
It is a well-known fact that acid rain is bad for the forests. The study proves that exposure to acid rain decreases the calcium levels of the soil which, in turn, affects the growth of trees. The researchers studied data gathered over 15 years and reached conclusions that can change the way green living is perceived at the moment.

The Results
The study shows that the calcium levels are directly linked to tree growth. The results show that the areas that received calcium produced 11% more leaves and 21% more trees than the untreated regions. It is interesting to know that sugar maples seemed to be the most responsive to the treatment.

Acid Rain
Acid rain is produced in the moment when nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide react with the water found in the air. The regions with naturally acidic soils respond very fast to the presence of acid rain.

Clean Air Act
This act limited the exposure to acid rain. Nonetheless we might say that it is too little too late because large areas have already been affected by acid rain. As part of the Hubbard Brook study, a helicopter spread over 40 tons of calcium over 29 acres of forest land. The researchers say that this was not fertilization; they just tried to make up for the nutrients that the soil was stripped of.

The Findings
The specialists noticed that the regions that were treated with calcium managed to recover faster from natural disasters, such as an ice storm, than the regions that weren’t treated.

Regions
Although the study has been conducted in the U.S., it is important to note that the situation is similar in Canada and Europe as well. Although calcium seems to be working like magic, we have to add that it’s not worth to treat large areas. Instead, people should be focusing on watersheds.

Prevention
As we all know, prevention is more important than treatment. It is a proven fact that acid rain affects the forests negatively and this might determine the governments to take steps towards their improvement, especially because of the economic impacts that the lack of forests can bring.

Ecosystem Region in United States

A pH of 5.6 is not a defensible value for defining the acidity level of "clean" or "pure" or "unpolluted" rain.

• The sensitive ecosystem region in the United States for which there is some reasonable documentation of damage to aquatic systems is largely confined to the Adirondacks area in New York and portions of New England.
• Large areas of the northeastern United States receive precipitation with an annual average pH ranging between 4.0 and 4.6.
• There is no evidence of increasing acidity in the precipitation falling on the Adirondacks. or New England over the last two decades.
• Lake chemistry is affected by a variety of factors -- with the natural acidity of soils and adjacent wetlands being important, perhaps the major source of acidity.
• Many lakes even in the absence of man made air pollution are undoubtedly inhospitable environments for sustaining fish populations.
• Fish restocking practices and fishing pressure must be taken into account when using fishing quality as an indicator of environmental influences.
• Fewer than 25 per cent of the sampled lakes in the ' Adirondacks are acidified (i.e., pH less than 5.0) and the rate of change is so slow (if at all) that it is questionable whether any changes-can be detected over the next decade or two.
• Alleged damage to forests by acid deposition, especially red spruce, is unverified at this time. Declines in forests seem to be tied to a drought which occurred during the late 1950's and early 1960's and/or to high levels of atmospheric ozone.
• Alleged impacts on agricultural crops and materials of construction are only hypothetical at the present and there is no scientific evidence supporting these claims.
• Alleged impacts on public health, especially the claim that sulfates cause 51,000 excess deaths per year are totally unsupported by credible scientific evidence and analyses.
• There is no evidence to support a conclusion that acid precipitation produces adverse health effects in drinking waters.
• Tall stacks do not have the effect on long-range transport once believed.
• Sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and reactive hydrocarbons are all involved in the production of acid deposition.
•  The Northeast has a significant emission inventory of sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and volatile organic compounds.
•  Emission densities are a better indicator of the potential for acid deposition formation than are absolute emission rates. Emission densities of these pollutants are about the same in the Northeast as in the Midwest.
•   The potential for production of oxidants is higher in the Northeast than in the Midwest suggesting that rapid transformation of precursors from sources in the Northeast to acid deposition in the Northeast is occurring.
•  Pathways by which precipitation and acidity arrive at points of concern are varied; less than half seems to arrive from the direction of the Midwest industrial region while more than half seems to be generated in the Northeast.
•  Wet deposition trends at Hubbard Brook in sulfate and nitrate are closely matched with emission trends of SO2 and NOx in the Northeast suggesting that sources in the Northeast may be controlling the chemical composition of wet acidic deposition falling in the Northeast and that emission sources in the Midwest play a relatively minor role.

The above conclusions seem to suggest that 

(1)We do not have an environmental crisis at our doorstep; 

(2)There is still a great deal that is unknown or only partially understood; 

(3)Additional research is warranted before additional emission control programs are instituted; 

(4)The present Clean Air Act will provide continuing protection to the environment while the research is being conducted; 

(5) The components of the popular theory are not securely founded on fact;

(6)An effective control program to protect the sensitive ecosystem areas in the Northeast must focus on controlling acid deposition sources of SO2, NOX , and volatile organic compounds in the Northeast.