The document provides an overview of air pollution, detailing various pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and greenhouse gases, along with their health and environmental effects. It discusses regulatory frameworks established by the Clean Air Act and the National Atmospheric Deposition Program to reduce emissions and improve air quality. Additionally, it highlights the significance of understanding the carbon cycle and greenhouse gas reporting requirements for facilities to mitigate climate change impacts.

1. Building lifetime relationships with
our clients and employees.
Air Pollution 101: The
Fundamentals of Pollutants
Prepared by Tiffany L. Medley, PhD
May 13, 2014

2. Air Pollution 101
• Overview of the Criteria Air Pollutants
• NOx, CO, SO2, Particulate, VOC, Ozone
• Why are they regulated?
• Greenhouse Gases
• What are they?
• How are they being measured?
• Current and upcoming regulations that may affect your
facility
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3. The Clean Air Act of 1970
• Set national ambient air quality standards for six
criteria air pollutants
• CO
• NOx
• SOx
• Particulates
• Ozone
• Hydrocarbons

4. Air Pollution Emission Sources

5. Major Pollutants

6. Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx)
• Nitrogen in air combines with oxygen to form nitrogen
oxides (NOx = NO, NO2,)
• What is N2O?
• Nitrous oxide – greenhouse gas

7. Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx)
• Environmental Effects
• Contributes to acid rain
• Contributes to photochemical smog
• Health Effects
• In high concentrations it causes asphyxiation
• Respiratory irritant
• Damages alveoli which can lead to emphysema
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8. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s)
• Organic compounds that evaporate readily
• With sunlight, can react with nitrogen oxides to form
photochemical smog
• Sources include fuel tanks, paints, cleaners

9. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s)
• Health Effects
• Organ damage
• Chronic diseases
• Lung cancer (benzopyrene, vinyl chloride)

10. Ozone

11. Ozone
• Health Effects
• Makes breathing difficult
• Irritates eyes nose and throat
• Bad Air Quality Days or Action Days in the summer
• NJDEP sends out alerts to subscribers
• Owners of emergency generators are not allowed to test
generators on air quality action days

13. Carbon Monoxide (CO)
• Colorless, odorless pollutant released during the
incomplete combustion of organic material such
as wood, coal, oil, natural gas and gasoline
• Concentrations build up in major cities
• CO in urban areas can be 50 times greater than the
global average

14. Carbon Monoxide (CO)
• Health effects:
• Interferes with bloods ability to absorb oxygen
• Can cause dizziness and drowsiness

15. Oxides of Sulfur (SO2, SO3)
• Gaseous pollutants that form where sulfur containing
fuels are burned. Sulfur combines with oxygen in air
to form SOx
• SOx can also combine with water in air to form
sulfuric acid (potential harmful secondary pollutant)

16. Oxides of Sulfur (SO2, SO3)
• Health Effects
• Stings eyes and burns the throat
• Respiratory irritant
• Damages alveoli in lungs which can lead to emphysema
• Contributes to lung and heart diseases
• Environmental Effects
• Damages Plants
• Precursor to acid rain

17. Acid Deposition
• Acid fallout consisting of both acid rain (wet
deposition) and dry deposition
• Originates from sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide
• What acids are forming?

18. Acid Deposition
• Wet deposition
• Acids deposited in rain, snow and fog
• Dry deposition
• When dust particles containing sulfate or nitrate settle on
Earth and react with water

20. Acid Deposition
• In the Eastern United States, sulfur dioxide is the
main cause of acidity
• From the combustion of coal fired power plants with limited
sulfur controls in the Upper Ohio River Valley
• In the Western United States, nitrogen dioxide is the
main cause of acidity
• From automotive exhaust

21. Long Range Transport of Acids
• Sulfur dioxide can remain in the atmosphere for up to
40 hours and can therefore be transported hundreds
of miles away from their release point

22. National Atmospheric Deposition Program
(1980)
• Collect samples from more than 250 sampling
locations each week
The data shaped Clean Air Act of 1990
regulations on reducing sulfur dioxide and
nitrous oxide emissions
•Goal was to achieve a 50% reduction is
SO2 emissions by 2010

23. Impacts of Acid Deposition
• Erodes surfaces of structures made from sandstone,
limestone, marble and other materials

24. Impacts of Acid Deposition
• Acidification of lakes and rivers results in decreased
populations of fish species

25. Control of Acid Deposition
• Burning low sulfur coal rather than high sulfur
coal
• Coal west of the Rockies has less sulfur than eastern
coal
• Is this a long term strategy?

26. Control of Acid Deposition
• Installing Scrubbers as control devices to the smoke
stacks of coal fired plants

27. Regulations to Decrease SOx emissions
• Include requiring ultra low sulfur diesel fuel (required
in NJ for commercial emergency generators, boilers,
heaters etc.)
• Being phased into Federal regulations for other
States

28. Particulate Matter
• Small solid particles and liquid droplets
suspended in air (could be for a few seconds or
could be for months depending on size)
• TSP (total suspended particulate, PM-10, PM-2.5)
• Emitted from burning of fuels, road travel, cars
• Diesel particulate is now on the Hazardous Air
Pollutants list in NJ

29. Particulate Matter
• Health Effects
• Respiratory irritant
• Known carcinogens
• Environmental Effects
• Dust can cover plants

30. Regulations to Decrease Particulate
Emissions
• Diesel Retrofits on school buses, trucks, etc.
• Diesel particulate filters or diesel oxidation catalysts
• Rules to limit idling

31. Greenhouse Gases (GHG)
• Include CO2, CH4, N2O and CFC’s
• How are GHG’s being regulated?
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32. Understanding the Carbon Cycle
• Carbon exists in our bodies (49% of dry
human weight), other organisms, the
atmosphere, the ocean, ocean sediments
and as calcium carbonate (rocks, shells
and skeletons)
• Carbon is recycled rapidly

33. The Carbon Cycle
• Carbon dioxide enters tiny pores in the leaves of
trees and other plants
• Inside the leaves carbon is combined with
hydrogen from water to form sugar and other
molecules (photosynthesis)
• When the leaves are consumed by an animal the
carbon is digested and retained as muscle or
converted to energy in cellular respiration

34. The Carbon Cycle
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35. The Carbon Cycle
• In humans, the carbon dioxide is exhaled from
the lungs
• In plants it is released in the pores of the
leaves
• Carbon is also released into the atmosphere
when an organism dies and decomposes or
via wastes that are decomposed
• Carbon can then reenter the cycle through
plant photosynthesis

36. The Carbon Cycle
• The oceans also contain dissolved carbon dioxide
• Carbon may move through algae to crustaceans and up
the fish food chain
• Some carbon will be released back into the water from cellular
respiration
• Carbon may be retained in the shells of clams, oysters and
corals
• Large quantities of carbon are locked up in coral reefs (the Great
Barrier Reef off of Australia)

37. The Carbon Cycle
• Carbon dioxide is continuously being exchanged
between the atmosphere and ocean
• When it increases in atmosphere, more is dissolved in the
ocean
• When atmospheric CO2 decreases in atmosphere it is
released by the oceans

38. The Carbon Cycle
• During the Carboniferous Period (250-300
million years ago), many plants were buried by
sediment hence escaping decomposition
• Now our source of coal
• Photosynthetic marine organisms died and
settled at the bottom of the ocean and were also
buried in sediment
• Now our source of crude oil and natural gas

39. The Carbon Cycle
• 200 years ago humans discovered the
potential of fossil fuels which has resulted
in a dramatic increase in CO2 being
released into our atmosphere
•From 1870 to 2008- CO2 in the
atmosphere has increased by more than
30%

40. Greenhouse Gases (GHG)
• So what is being done to combat global warming?
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41. USEPA Mandatory Greenhouse Gas
Reporting
• Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facilities
are currently exempt from Reporting
• For applicable facilities an annual CO2
equivalent (CO2e) must be reported
• CO2 is the most abundant greenhouse
gas, but others have a larger impact per
molecule
• So all gases (methane, etc.) are standardized
to a CO2 equivalent value for ease in
evaluating GHG impacts across facilities

42. Can GHG’s make me a Title V Facility??

43. CO2e and Title V Permits
• Why has NJDEP added CO2e to Title V Permits?
• On June 3, 2010, EPA published the final Prevention of
Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V Greenhouse
Gas Tailoring Rule
• GHG emissions are beginning to be treated as a major
pollutant

44. GHG Tailoring Rule and Title V
applicability
• Beginning after July 1, 2011, existing or newly
constructed GHG emission sources (not already
subject to title V) that emit or have a PTE equal to or
greater than:
100,000 TPY CO2e, and
100 TPY GHGs mass basis
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45. NJDEP now requests a CO2 equivalent
value for Title V Permits
• Have added CO2e to the total facility emissions
inventory page (Section C)
• CO2e is based on the maximum potential fuel usage
for all equipment by fuel type
• Use the EPA emission factors for GHG Inventories
http://www.epa.gov/climateleadership/inventory/ghg-
emissions.html

46. EPA deferral of CO2 from Biogenic
sources (July 20, 2011)
• This action defers for a period of three (3) years the
application of the Prevention of Significant
Deterioration (PSD) and Title V permitting
requirements to biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions from bioenergy and other biogenic
stationary sources (i.e. landfill gas to energy engines,
flares)

47. GHG Tailoring rule and PSD applicability
• The threshold for CO2e has been
increased from 250 tpy for other Major
pollutants to a 75,000 tpy increase for
CO2e during modification

48. Concerns?
• If the July 20, 2011 deferral is NOT extended,
biogenic emissions (potential) could put you over
100,000 tons of CO2e
• OR…If you become subject to PSD for another major
pollutant and you exceed 75,000 CO2e during
modification:
• You will be subject to BACT (Best Achievable Control
Technology) for greenhouse gases

49. Concerns?
• Potential non-exemption for biogenic sources could
also impact the Mandatory GHG Reporting.
• Wastewater treatment facilities may have to report if your
emissions from the combustion of digester gas is greater
than 25,000 CO2e

50. Things to Consider
• Take time to measure
your initial CO2e from the
existing sources in your
permit
• It is likely that that number
will be used in the future to
determine if you have
exceeded 75,000 tons of
CO2e during a modification

51. In Conclusion…..
• Regulating Air Pollution is necessary
• Your Air Permit Compliance conditions are relevant
and important to reducing air pollution
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52. Questions????
Tiffany L. Medley, PhD, Senior Project
Manager
Cornerstone Environmental Group
754 Route 18 South, Suite 104
East Brunswick, NJ 08816
(845) 695-0265
Tiffany.Medley@CornerstoneEG.com