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The Air Quality Management Program
from:The Environmental Protection Agency better known as the EPA is ultimately responsible for the air quality management in the United States of America. Although, the EPA assigns other businesses, programs, groups, organizations and entities the miscellaneous tasks related to air quality management they are the group or organization assigned the task by the federal government.
The EPA has the responsibility of the following air quality management standards, air quality improvements, air quality monitoring, home air quality, indoor air quality, outdoor air quality, poor air quality, air quality standards updates, air quality testing and air quality levels. These are only a few of the many air quality management areas of interest that the EPA is required to monitor.
The standards involved with air quality management are grouped into Primary and Secondary air quality standards. Primary air quality standards were set to protect public health. The Primary standards include “sensitive” pollutants such as those that contribute to asthma and the pollutants dangerous to children and the elderly. Secondary air quality standards are those set to the welfare of the public. The pollutants included in the Secondary standards include pollutants effecting animals, visibility, buildings, crops and vegetation.
The reason that the EPA is ultimately responsible for air quality management is because of the Clean Air Act of 1970. In 1970, the Clean Air Act was passed and created the need for an organization to manage the specific aspects of the act.
The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to set air quality standards for six harmful pollutants. The six pollutants that the EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards or the OAQPS has set standards for are Carbon Monoxide, Lead, Nitrogen Dioxide, Ozone, Particulate Matter and Sulfur Dioxide. These six pollutants are called “criteria” pollutants. The units used to measure these pollutants are parts per million (ppm) by volume, milligrams (mg/m3), and micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m3).
These pollutants were named and the standards were set because the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to do so. The Clean Air Act also tells the EPA to review and update these standards to make sure that they continue to protect the public and the environment, as the updates are needed.
In 1990, the last amendment was added to the Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act is still reviewed for needed amendments and changes as science and industry change the way that the monitoring and testing is done.
The EPA does air quality management because they were the organization named responsible by the United States government after the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970.
Bay Area Air Quality Specific links
Bay Area Air Quality News
East Bay journalists recognized for outstanding work - Oakland Tribune
East Bay journalists recognized for outstanding work Oakland Tribune Borenstein won best editorial for "Hercules recall needed," and also took first place in the columns-news category for columns about the Oakley city manager's housing deal, an Oakland pension plan and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District's use ... |
New regional government plan put on back burner - Napa Valley Register
New regional government plan put on back burner Napa Valley Register The commission would be installed above the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. |
Bay Area no longer among 25 most-polluted regions - San Francisco Chronicle
 USA TODAY | Bay Area no longer among 25 most-polluted regions San Francisco Chronicle The State of the Air report ranked regions across the United States on particle and ozone pollution, finding that three of the nine least smoggy counties in California are located in the Bay Area and that, with a few exceptions, the air in Northern ... San Francisco drops off top 25 list for worst smog pollution SF Bay Area air quality improves Bay Area Coastal Counties Score High Marks For Air Quality |
Benicia air-monitoring project in limbo, Valero and community group say - Vallejo Times-Herald
Benicia air-monitoring project in limbo, Valero and community group say Vallejo Times-Herald By Tony Burchyns BENICIA -- Air pollution's blowin' in the wind, but so, say organizers, is the fate of a community air-monitoring program tied to the Valero oil refinery. The pledged web-based monitoring system has been in the making for four years, ... |
Napa fights Bay Area commission legislation - Napa Valley Register
Napa fights Bay Area commission legislation Napa Valley Register DeSaulnier's bill would move the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Association of Bay Area Governments, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission under the umbrella of the ... |