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Small Business Clean Air Assistance
Program
What is Air Pollution and Why is it
Regulated?
The air we breathe should be
primarily oxygen
and nitrogen with just a few other chemicals thrown in from natural
sources. Modern life and all the vehicles and industrial
activites that come with it has added a large number of additional
chemicals to the mix. Because of the detrimental effects of
many
of those chemicals, their presence is considered to pollute the air.
Air pollution regulations are intended to minimize the
detrimental effects on people and the environment, not just plants and
animals but structures as well.
How
do you know if your business generates air pollution? Do you
have...?
- operations that use or store adhesives, inks, paints,
varnishes, clean up solvents or any materials that contain
solvents? These will generate volatile organic
compound (VOC) emissions.
Such operations would include things like: paint booths, printing,
lamination, kitchen countertop production, cabinet or other wood
product gluing or finishing, some dry cleaning,
- operations that generate dust or fumes? These are
called particulate matter emissions.
Such operations include things like: grinding, sanding,
welding,
material handling (grain, rock/gravel, dirt, flour, etc.), and vehicle
traffic on dirt roads. There are a wide variety of
regulations
that might apply to these operations.
- operations that burn fuels
to generate
heat, power/electricity, or process steam? Such operations
have
not only particulate matter emissions but also carbon monoxide, sulfur
dioxide (if sulfur is in the fuel), and nitrogen oxides.
Specific
regulations apply to these operations.
- anything else? All of the previous
operations as
well as many unique operations that don't fit into the above categories
may emit hazardous air pollutants.
Unique operations may include: electroplating,
acid/caustic baths
for parts cleaning or etching, etc., asbestos material
handling/removal, water chlorination, and ammonia refrigeration, to
name just a few.
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Some retail or commercial operations may also generate sufficient air
pollution, or air pollution of a type that is very toxic, that they are
also regulated. Dry cleaners using perchloroethylene or
petroleum
solvents are strictly regulated by EPA and DNR. Autobody refinishing
(collision repair) facilities can expect to see new regulations coming
out from EPA and possibly DNR in the next couple years.
Retail establishments with large parking lots may need an
Indirect Source Air Pollution Permit. If one of these types
of
retail or commercial operations fits your business, you may have to
meet certain air pollution requirements.
Other retail or commercial establishments like restaurants or hair
salons, while they generate fumes or use certain chemicals,
are
not currently regulated for air pollution that goes off their property.
In those cases there may be indoor air pollution present, but
it's generally not regulated.
If you have any of these operations that generate air pollution, then
go to our Air
Pollution Regulations page for more detailed information.
If you're not sure about your operations, then contact the
SBCAAP staff.
How can I learn more
about air pollution and how it applies to my business?
- There are a number of educational opportunities available
throughout the state. Go to our Events
page to see what
is
available in the near future.
- Review our list of announcements,
to see if there are any
regulations proposed recently that might affect your operations.
There may be opportunity for you to provide comment to DNR or EPA
on their proposed regulations. If enough businesses comment
on a
proposed regulation, the agency may modify their regulations.
Once a regulation is final it becomes very
difficult to
change it.
- Get on our mailing list for the Clean Air Advisor. The Advisor
is a quarterly
newsletter written by SBCAAP staff to share information about new air
pollution regulations and other environmental issues that may impact
businesses in Wisconsin. You can sign up to receive the
newsletter by subscribing to the list-serve. All past copies are
available in PDF on the Advisor web page.
Send an email to COMCleanAir@Wisconsin.gov with questions or comments about the SBCAAP web pages.
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