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EPA Envirofacts Data - Air Releases |
What this map layer shows:
The locations of more than 156,000 air emissions sites.
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![opens the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency home page](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20140922184035im_/http://nationalatlas.gov/images/LOGOS/MLD/LOGO_EPA.gif) |
Background Information |
Sample Map
Air releases are sites where pollutants are released into the atmosphere
from stationary sources, such as smokestacks and other vents at
commercial or industrial facilities. This map layer was produced
by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), which collects
emissions information for six common air pollutants: carbon monoxide,
lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide.
The EPA regulates these pollutants and establishes national air quality
standards, as authorized by the 1970 Clean
Air Act, to protect human
health and prevent environmental and property damage. EPA air release
information is stored in the Aerometric
Information Retrieval System (AIRS).
By providing scientific research, expert studies, engineering designs,
and money to support clean air programs, the EPA assists the States
in complying with the Clean Air Act, which requires that each State
have a plan for improving air quality in areas that do not meet national
air-quality standards. The plan must include an inventory of existing
sources of air pollution and an accurate estimate of the amount of
pollutants each source emits. Individual States use EPA air emissions
information to track the compliance status of point sources with various
regulatory programs, to report air emissions estimates for pollutants
regulated under the Clean Air Act, and to write State implementation
plans for how to improve and maintain air quality.
The EPA Envirofacts Data - Air Releases map layer shows locations
of more than 156,000 air emissions sites in the United States,
Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands as of May, 2005. Descriptive
information includes the facility name and identification number.
More detailed information on air pollution is available from the
EPA AirData page. The EPA National
Ambient Air Quality Standards page has information on air quality standards, and definitions of
environmental terms can be found in the EPA Terms
of Environment.
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