Environmental regulations in public transit

Environmental Regulations in Public Transit

The negative effects of air pollution are that it can force illness on us. It can produce burning eyes and nose and an itchy, irritated throat, in addition to difficulty in breathing. The cause for certain diseases like cancer, birth defects, brain and nerve injury and long-standing wound to the lungs and breathing passages is found to be some chemicals in polluted air. Severe injury or even death can happen if some hazardous air pollutants are released by mistake. Air pollution affects environment. Air pollution also affects trees, lakes and animals. Air pollutants are contracting the shielding ozone layers above the Earth. This loss of ozone can lead to alterations in the environment in addition to more skin cancer and cataracts in people. By soiling buildings and other structures, air pollution spoils properties like home, offices, etc. Damages to stone-based structures like buildings, monuments and statues take place as some widespread pollutants erode stone. Decrease in visibility due to smog caused by air pollution can affect national parks and at times meddle with aviation. (Why should you be concerned about air pollution?)

The biggest segment of the nation's population occupies swiftly growing metropolitan and urban areas. The urbanization, industrial growth, and the enlarged use of motor vehicles has lead to an swell in air pollution, which in turn has produced hazards to the public health and welfare, including damage to agricultural crops and livestock, destruction to property, and threats to air and ground transportation. The most important responsibility of State and local governments is to put a stop to air pollution by controlling, minimizing or eradicating the quantity of pollutants formed or produced at a source. The federal Clean Air Act or CAA and its amendments provides the authority for programs executed by these agencies and these amendments were conceded to look after and improve air quality for the advantage of the country's public health, welfare, and industrial capacity. (PROACT Fact Sheet)

Comparison of Environmental regulations in public transit in America and an Asian country:

For the study of an Asian country, we shall look at India. Vehicles like cars, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, trucks and buses are the major source of pollution in India's cities. Efforts taken to advance and promote the use of public transportation are minimal even though there have been small efforts in moving towards unleaded fuel. Buses for commuters are inadequately maintained and Railways have been ignored. The inferior quality vehicles produced by tempo, truck private bus manufacturers regularly exceed emission norms. Personal cars would not be precedence in a socialist economy. In place of private cars, suitable significance should be given to growing the rail network and enhancing the quality of buses and goods transport vehicles. Regrettably, the attraction with private ownership and support of private enterprise is hard to be wrecked by a majority in the environmental movement. Hence, societies make little, or very sluggish progress in solving these pressing concerns. High density of India's population is the cause for many of India's environmental disagreements. While Europe was able to relieve the pressure of its mushrooming population through colonial occupations in America and Australia, India has limited choices because countries like the U.S. And Australia have limited migration to a dribble. (Whose Environment is it?)

More severe standards for vehicular emissions have been reported under the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, which came into effect in April 1996, to alleviate pollution issues in Indian cities. Ministry of Surface Transport is handling the 1988 Indian Motor Vehicle Act and the 1989 Central Motor Vehicle Rules. The utilization of environment-friendly fuels such as Compressed Natural Gas or CNG and Liquefied Petroleum Gas or LPG as auto-fuels has been legislated by Motor Vehicle Act, 2000. Furthermore, with effect from 1.4.2000, Bharat Stage-I norms, which are similar to Euro-I norms, have been launched all over the country. Also, in Delhi, Bharat Stage-II norms, which foresee a sulphur content of 0.05% maximum for petrol and diesel both, as against higher amounts under Bharat Stage-I, have been launched; these norms are also being launched in the other three metropolitan cities namely Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai in a gradual mode. The ministry of Railways manages the Railways Act 1989. (Economic aspects of sustainable development in India)

In order to promote use of environment-friendly fuel like CNG, LPG etc., the ministry of Finance offers tax incentives. An inter-Ministerial Committee to spell out the road map for future emission norms for the country is chaired by the Chairman of Central Pollution Control Board. With reference to safety norms, rules and regulations for all aspects of Railway working including Safety, Operations and Maintenance of assets, the ministry of Railways has its own procedures. The use of environmental-friendly fuel like CNG, LPG, fuel cell etc. For automotive purposes has been legislated in August 2000. In order to regulate road transport for improved energy efficiency and pollution control, and to make the mass transport network feasible through a rational tariff policy and a refurbishment of the fleet, the government is taking steps. To tackle the increasing necessities of the overseas trade, the capacity of the ports in terms of their berths and cargo handling equipment are being enhanced. To carry higher segments of the sea-based trade in native bottoms, the shipping industry needs to be facilitated. (Economic aspects of sustainable development in India)

American Public Transportation Association or APTA has over 1,300 member organizations that comprises of transit systems; planning, design, construction and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; transit associations and state departments of transportation and it is a nonprofit international association. By offering secure, competent and inexpensive transit services and products, APTA members serve the public interest. APTA members serve in excess of ninety percent of persons using public transportation in the United States and Canada. For the public transportation industry to more efficiently deal with mobility needs around the country, assistance comes from the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century has, with its policy modifications and definite financial support. The industry's capability to fulfill service demands in urban, suburban, and rural America is enhanced by the legislation obviously and considerably. (Planning Regulations)

Furthermore, it is impossible to exaggerate the significance of participatory public planning in developing transportation plans, programs, and projects. Without significant public involvement programs customized to the specific home conditions, efficient transportation planning does not happen. The TEA 21 provision that adds users of public transportation to the list of persons given the chance to remark on long-range plans and transportation implementation plans or implementation plans -- TIP is supported by APTA. Organizing the environmental process for the delivery of transportation projects is one of the necessities of TEA 21. According to APTA, the variations in the proposed regulations are negligible and do not make considerable enhancements in organizing the environmental process for transportation projects. Though the projected rules clean up a few areas, they do not do much to make possible good transportation choices or to cut down the project delivery timetable. (Planning Regulations)

Clean Air Act:

Though the national air pollution control program is essentially based on the 1970 version of the law, the initial Clean Air Act was conceded in 1963. The 1970 law were amended in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. To decrease pollutants in our air by 56 billion pounds a year, 224 pounds for every person in the country, by the time the law is completely put into operation in 2005, is the on the whole objective of the 1990 Amendments. The strong points of the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the environmental lessons learned over the past 20 years are the foundation for the 1990 Amendments. We can inhale cleaner air every year once the objectives of the law are fulfilled. The Clean Air Act controls two clusters of air pollutants. In the first cluster, there are only six pollutants called "criteria" pollutants, namely, ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, lead, and particulate matter or PM. These pollutants are located in comparatively large quantities in our lower atmosphere, specifically in inhabited areas. These pollutants intimidate human health and the environment across wide regions of the country. Excluding ozone, all of the criteria pollutants are straightaway released or given off into the air from an extensive range of sources, such as industries, motor vehicles, and other human activities. (Background Sheet: The Clean Air Act)

Ozone is not straightaway released, but is created in the presence of sunlight by a photochemical reaction between nitrogen dioxide and volatile organic compounds or VOC. VOC's are hydrocarbons given off from industries or vehicle tailpipe exhaust, or fumes from oil-based paints and solvents. Based on health risk studies, EPA lay down national standards for each of the criteria pollutants. To guarantee that the standards are fulfilled, all states must take action. Based on the findings of new health risk studies, EPA recently amended the standards for ozone and particulate matter. "Non-attainment" is the term referred to the failure to fulfill the standards for criteria pollutants. For a minimum of one of the criteria air pollutants, many urban areas are categorized as 'non-attainment areas'. "In-attainment" refers to those areas that fulfill the standards. The second cluster of pollutants includes hundreds of pollutants and these pollutants are called dangerous air pollutants or air toxics. These pollutants are linked with specific sources and are straight away dangerous to human health.

While some produce other health and environmental problems, some others can lead to cancer. For people living close to big industrial facilities or in largely polluted urban corridors, the danger is uppermost. The list of toxics released into the air includes some common names, but the list is a long one. For instance, benzene is a powerful cancer-causing substance. About 1.6% of benzene is present in the gasoline sold in the United States. Gasoline is responsible for eighty-five percent of human contact with benzene. Another example is mercury. Mercury is a metal found in small amounts in coal and is emitted to the air when the coal is burned. Incinerators burning garbage also release Mercury. According to environmental protection specialists, mercury that is added to the environment by human activity is more worrisome than the naturally occurring mercury in the environment. (Background Sheet: The Clean Air Act)

Another characteristic of air-toxics regulation is aimed at the unexpected and potentially disastrous chemical accident. From 1982 to 1986, accidental releases of toxic chemicals in the U.S. brought about 309 deaths, 11,341 injuries, and the evacuation of 464,677 people from homes and jobs. The most revealed accidental release of dangerous chemicals occurred at Bhopal, India, in the year 1984, when 3,000 were killed and above 200,000 were injured. Areas of non-attainment for criteria pollutants have been categorized according to the degree of pollution. The five classes are from marginal to extreme levels.

The 1990 Clean Air Act makes use of these classes to tailor cleanup necessities to the harshness of the pollution and lay down realistic time limits for attaining cleanup objectives. If time limits are neglected, the law permits more time to clean up, but typically a non-attainment area that has neglected a cleanup time limit must fulfill the tighter requirements laid down for more polluted areas. States perform most of the planning for cleaning up criteria air pollutants by means of a system of permits and inspections to ensure power plants, factories, and other pollution sources fulfill their cleanup objectives.

A range of cleanup methods is required in non-attainment areas, many of which involve motor vehicles. Clean fuels, clean new vehicles, improved maintenance programs for vehicles on the road, and mass transportation may be necessary. Further as the pollution gets poorer, more pollution controls are needed for lesser sources of pollution. The regulatory program for air toxics in the 1990 amendments imitates a completely new approach. The new law provides names of 189 toxic air pollutants. They are carcinogens, mutagens, or reproductive toxins, and their sources are mostly specific industries. EPA must recognize classes of the major sources of these chemicals and then develop 'maximum achievable control technology' or MACT standards for each class over the next 10 years. These standards are to be founded on the best control technologies that have been proved in these industrial categories. State and local air pollution agencies will have the principal accountability to confirm industrial plants fulfill the standards. (Background Sheet: The Clean Air Act)

In deciding the MACT standards, EPA refers to only pollution control equipment and pollution prevention methods, such as replacing nontoxic chemicals for toxic ones presently in use. The 1990 law prefers setting standards that industry must attain, instead of commanding equipment that industry must put in. This suppleness permits industry to expand its own inexpensive means of decreasing air toxics emissions and still fulfill the objectives of the act. The law includes exclusive incentives for industries to decrease their emissions early, instead of waiting for federal standards. Sources that decrease emissions by 90% or more before the MACT standards go into effect have six additional years to meet the terms with them. Other parts of the Clean Air Act set up a program for the avoidance of unintentional discharges of air toxics from the industrial plants and generate a Chemical Safety Board to look into unintentional discharges of air toxics from industrial plants.

The Clean Air Act sets up enforcement methods that can be used to make polluters comply with the laws and regulations. Enforcement methods are inclusive of citations for violators of the law, fines, and even jail terms. The shrewd violation of roughly every requirement is at present a crime offense. EPA and state and local governments are accountable for enforcement of the Clean Air Act, but if they do not implement the law, members of the public can sue EPA or the states to get action. Citizens also can prosecute violators in addition to any action taken by EPA or state or local governments. All enforcement actions had to be managed through the courts during the periods before the 1990 Clean Air Act. But, presently, EPA has the power to punish violators without going to court, in some cases. Pacing up fulfillment with the law and plummeting court time and cost are the intentions of this new power. (Background Sheet: The Clean Air Act)