The United States Environmental Protection Agency - Essay Example

Air Pollution

It is a common environmental aspect composing of both gases and solid particles in the air, where various pollutants are held responsible for the issue. Some of the contaminants involved are poisonous as other cause a significant effect on the lives of the people who dwell in that given environment (Xie et al., 2018). Different states have employed several measures that can aid in controlling air pollution, thus having regulatory agencies that respond to the maters on the same. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the body mandated on air quality regulation guided by the U.S Clean Air Act. The government spells out the responsibilities and duties of these agencies involved in the air pollution control program and fully funding their operations.

The agencies have a role in implementing air quality laws, which direct air pollutants emission providing quality air in residential and commercial buildings. The agencies' joint operation further ensures they attain the control and prevention of air pollution to guarantee healthy and clean ambient air. The agencies also establish emission standards to the conventional sources as stationary and mobile sources, as dictated by the 1999 Environmental Act (Xie et al., 2018). Some limits have been set for most facilities where they give a procedure to designate the controlled areas and attain the goals of air quality management. The agencies further are given a responsibility to design the initiatives that address the broader challenges and emission programs. They also set limits on the emission levels where they spell out the required mitigation technologies in consideration of the changing technological status across the globe.

Environmental Standards

To ensure that citizens consume appropriate air quality that does not negatively affect their health and render the state at a blame condition, the governments set standards to attain the objective (Sesé et al., 2018). The government has prohibited all activities that emit significant amounts of dioxins, among other types of toxins in the air involving the local areas and the major cities of the state. The ban will suppress every activity in our community geared towards air pollution, where the people will deviate from destructive activities to keep the environment safe. The government makes its intervention by having the local authorizes the arrest and ensure the participants face the dictated charges according to the environmental regulations they offend.

The government has ensured the regulation of clean technologies that reduce smokestack emissions in the local areas, thus improvising excellent management of agricultural waste. The implementation has secured the local community from toxic industrial emissions, which pollute the environment with poisonous gases causing respiratory challenges. The state captures methane gas from the waste sites, which is treated as an alternative measure for incineration. Another standard implemented is to the transport sector, where they are directed to shift to clean means of generating power where they lay a significant priority on the local rapid transit, cycling networks, and passenger travels (Sesé et al., 2018). The measure proposes fuels with decreased sulfur content on whose emission to the environment negatively impacts the residents with common diseases. Lastly, the states have made a valid regulation of the energy sector directly touching the lives of the local people by ensuring easy access to clean house energy for the primary uses of lighting, cooking, and heating.

Factors Influencing Air Pollution

Air pollution can either be worsened by the practices undertaken by the people or completely control depending on the factors that are bound to affect its effectiveness. The first factor that has a total impact on air pollution is the financial aspect. People are meant to take a particular lifestyle, either increasing the pollution level or reducing due to their financial ability (Mishra, 2017). The economic factor can be applied to the transport mode. If an individual is financially stable, they can purchase their rides where the more the permanent population, the more the person means. On the other hand, economically unstable persons stick to public means that transports the majority of people with least emissions from one vehicle compared to the many cars owned by the stable group emitting maximum toxic fuels to the atmosphere.

Behavioral factors that are portrayed at an individual level can affect the level of air pollution to be experienced either to an increase or actively take art to reduce it. The willingness and conformity to certain behavior traits impact an individual's general response to a given case. The household recycling behavior is available intervention to study haw behaviors affect the level of air pollution in our environment, thus mandating personal responsibility with a decision to make to save the environment (Mishra, 2017). People require awareness, availability, and convenience to ensure a total practice of recycling activities in their houses. Where, if not willing, they equally can ignore the safety measures to control the environment. The will to solve the air pollution challenges or ignore and have the cases persist depends on the behavioral factors of an individual, affecting the air pollution rates in our environment.

Impacts of Air pollution

Air pollution is a common known challenge in our societies that have a significant impact on the diverse population, which are all directed to negative results. When air pollution has taken over an environment, the health status of every resident is totally at risk as it majorly affects the respiratory system having complete damage to an individual’s ability to function normally (Iriti et al., 2020). It affects the unborn child's lungs and even after birth, thus ensuring that they suffer breathing challenges right from their tender ages. The exposure harms a child's healthy growth of lungs leading to continued asthma attacks during growth. The general population equally receives its share of impacts as they experience improved respiratory problems and suffer cancer and have generational growth of disabled children.

A case example is Beijing China, commonly known to suffer from the world's worst air pollution having significant impacts due to the poor air quality. China can be named among the worst air polluters majoring in its rapid economic growth, having 16 of its cities listed as the most polluted Beijing. The pollution in Beijing is accounted for the increased motorized vehicles, the city's surrounding topography, and the output from manufacturing. The town has an increased population in 7 years. The community has risen from 11 to 16 million people, having the coal-burning companies heavily vesting the environment with smog (Iriti et al., 2020). The people have experienced short life spans and higher mortality rates than lower birth rates and respiratory diseases. The air pollution cases have resulted in most premature deaths in Beijing and a rise in lung cancer cases to over 60% in an averagely ten year, indicating the cumulative risk of the next generation.

Impacts on Involved Staff

The states and non-governmental organs give a perfect intervention on calamities that affect the nation's welfare, thus having the various staff members dispatched to aid in solving the severe impacts of the air pollution on the people. The staff members' participation can be grouped into approaches where they are either the victims of the air pollution or the aiding organs or the calamity where each case has its impacts (Huang et al., 2018). The staff member who suffers the air pollution challenge has drained the level of productivity. They experience the brain inflammation resulting from fine dust, which takes a while to resume normality. The working capability of such an employee will drastically decrease with the struggle to concentrate. On the other hand, the staff members who are in are involved as aiding agents in an air pollution case to suffer financial distress in support of the ailing population over the possible impacts.

On the other hand, different staff members show their total participation in dealing with possible challenges resulting from air pollution. For the organizations to have their impact felt on the victims, they use various staff members to reach the victims of the air pollution, thus calling for a workforce that aids the afflicted to the health facilities (Huang et al., 2018). Other staff members are involved in funding to solve the treatment of air pollution effects like lung cancer, thus opening a way for most well-wishers. Some members also come up with self-help groups that implement slogans that are meant to sensitize and create awareness among people to teach them how to reduce harmful practices to the environment.