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In recent years, China has focused its development on technological innovation, trying to achieve a win-win situation between environmental protection and economic growth, and it has formulated a series of policies to promote technological innovation. Taking China's national independent innovation demonstration zone (NIIDZ) policy as an example, this paper empirically investigates the impact of China's innovation policy on haze pollution by using a difference-in-differences (DID) model. The results show that the NIIDZ policy promotes the governance of urban haze pollution and confirms the applicability of the experimentalist governance model in the practice of innovation policy in developing countries. Dynamic analysis shows that the NIIDZ policy has an experience accumulation effect. This policy can continue to promote haze control for at least 6 years, and the policy effect increases year by year. Action mechanism analysis shows that the NIIDZ policy can inhibit urban haze pollution by promoting urban technological innovation and high-tech industrial agglomeration. The estimation results of the spatial DID model show that the NIIDZ policy not only inhibits haze pollution in NIIDZ cities but also has an inhibitory effect on haze pollution in the surrounding non-NIIDZ cities and the NIIDZ cities, which confirms the positive externality characteristics of policy diffusion theory and environmental governance. The conclusions of this paper have important theoretical value for understanding the ecological effect of innovation policy and provide experience for developing countries to implement an experimentalist governance model.

This research focusses on assessing the environmental performance of European Ports based on a wide representation of EcoPorts members. The data is extracted from the Self-Diagnosis Method (SDM), a concise checklist against which port managers can self-assess the environmental management of their port in relation to the performance of the EcoPorts membership. A total number of 97 ports from 18 different European Maritime States contributed to this evaluation. They have answered questions related to the main components of internationally recognized Environmental Management System (EMS) standards. Similar periodic assessments have been carried out since 2013, allowing for the identification of benchmark performance. The geographical representation and characteristics of the participating ports are given along with the perceived ranking of priority environmental issues based on regular reviews. Air quality has been the top environmental priority for many years, followed by climate change, which has risen rapidly to the second position. Most of the ports have an environmental policy in place (96%) and a compilation of an inventory of significant environmental aspects (92%). Transparency is also very important to ports, with 91% of ports communicating their environmental policy to stakeholders, and 86% of ports making it publicly available on their website. Around 80% of ports have set up an environmental monitoring program, with port waste being the most monitored issue. With regard to services to shipping, more than half of the responding ports are offering on shore power supply (OPS), and one third of them have made LNG bunkering available. In parallel, an increasing number of ports compared with previous exercises (57%) provide differentiated dues for ships that go beyond regulatory standards, with air emissions, waste and climate change being the main target of these discounts. In general, trends over the years have shown a clear improvement of the environmental port performance.

Objectives Air pollution is an important trigger of cardiovascular disease worldwide, but few studies have determined the cardiovascular disease, health, and economic burdens attributable to ambient carbon monoxide (CO). This study aimed to examine the association between CO and CVD hospitalizations, and quantified the attributable CVD hospitalizations, associated hospital stays and hospitalization costs for CO in Lanzhou, one of the most air-polluted Chinese cities historically. Methods Daily data on CVD hospitalizations, air pollutants, and weather records from 2013 to 2017 were obtained for Lanzhou, China. Generalized additive model with a quasi-Poisson link was used to model the association between CO and CVD hospitalizations, after controlling for other air pollutants, weather conditions, day of week, long-term trend, influenza and pneumonia incidence. The effects of CO on hospital stays and hospitalization expenses from CVD were also quantified. Results CO concentrations below the current Chinese ambient air quality standard had a significant impact on CVD hospitalizations. Each 1 mg/m3 increase in CO concentration on the present day and previous 4 days (lag 0–4) was associated with an 11% (95% confidence interval: 3%–20%) increase in total CVD hospitalizations. During the study period, CO was responsible for 11.74% of total CVD hospitalizations, equating to 62,792 inpatient days and 149 million RMB. Each adult patient on average spent approximately 5% of annual salary on medicine from CO-related CVD treatment during hospitalization. Maintaining the historical CO concentration within 1 to 3 mg/m3 could avert hundreds of total CVD hospitalizations and save millions of RMB annually in Lanzhou, China. Conclusions Exposure to low-level ambient CO concentration increased the risk of CVD hospitalizations and resulted in substantial health and economic burdens in Lanzhou, China. Our findings can be used for evidence-based practice and policy making to assess the cost-effectiveness of prevention measures.

This study employs the environmental whistle-blowing platform policy adopted at Leshan City, Sichuan Province, China in July 2017 as the quasi-natural experiment and applies Synthetic Control Method (SCM) and Difference-in-Difference (DID) to examine the causal effect between citizen participation, median supervision, and air pollution abatement by government. The results show: first, the launch of the environmental whistle-blowing platform decreases daily AQI at Leshan City by 19 units; second, days with excellent air quality increase by 2.6 days each month on average at Leshan City; third, the probability for a day with excellent or good air quality at Leshan City increases by approximately 16.6%. Moreover, when the sample is expanded from neighboring prefecture level cities of Leshan City to prefecture level cities in Sichuan Province or across China, the results remain robust. Based on the panel data from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we find the launch of the environmental whistle-blowing platform improves individual's approval of government at primary level significantly and increases their life satisfaction. This demonstrates citizen participation and media supervision generate substantial effects on air pollution abatement. This study serves as a reference for solutions to improvement of air quality and governance capability of the government.

To solve the increasingly serious air pollution problem, regional air pollution collaborative governance as an effective way is introduced in this paper. Firstly, this study constructs a game model of regional air pollution collaborative governance, and three classic cost sharing methods are used to allocate the cost of air pollution governance; Then the emission reduction cost of regional cooperative governance is obtained; Finally, the study makes an empirical analysis on the cost sharing of SO2 emission reduction by four local governments of the Yangtze River Delta region in 2017. The results show that: (i) The emission reduction cost of regional cooperative governance is better than that of individual governance, and in 2017 the cost of SO2 cooperative governance in Yangtze River Delta region is reduced by about 1.8% compared with the individual governance; (ii) The Shapley value method is utilized to allocate the benefits of the cooperative SO2 governance of four provinces in the Yangtze River Delta region, which indicates that all local governments can obtain certain profits from this cooperation and the cooperative alliance is stable; (iii) Collaborative governance of regional air pollution can meet the requirements of both collective rationality and individual rationality at the same time.

In the reforms pertaining to the energy structure in the automotive industry, new energy vehicles (NEVs) have long been the focus of government attention, as an effective means to reduce air pollution. Therefore, this paper employs the rolling-window Granger causality test, in order to discuss the environmental benefits of new energy vehicles, so as to explore the active role of the transportation sector in reducing air pollution. By studying the interactions between NEVs and particulate matter (PM2.5) from the time period spanning from 2013:M1 to 2020:M9, we have found that the positive influences from NEVs to PM2.5 ascertain that NEVs cannot be considered as an efficient measure to mitigate air pollution. Moreover, these results are not supported by the energy and environment interaction model, which essentially indicates that replacing traditional energy with renewable energy is an effective measure for controlling environmental pollution. In fact, PM2.5 tends to have a negative impact on NEVs, which underlines that the air quality index is a leading indicator, particularly when it comes to analyzing the development of the NEVs market. This essentially highlights that in China, NEVs still do not account for a high proportion of car sales, and therefore, its environmental protection effect is not obvious. At the same time, the factor of public awareness regarding environmental protection will thus occupy a considerable proportion in the transmission of NEVs sales. These revelations will help the government to formulate environmental governance policies, and expand the new energy vehicle market to achieve carbon neutrality targets in China.

Severe air pollution problems have led to a rise in the Chinese public's concern. Risk perception is one of the most important indicators of the public's concern about air pollution. However, there existed few studies exploring the spatial distribution of risk perception. To fill the gap, psychometric paradigm methods was adopted to assess the public's risk perception of air pollution. A nationwide empirical study was conducted from December 2016 to February 2017 and 10,653 completed questionnaires were collected. According to a series of screening strategies, 9744 qualified questionnaires were included as a sample, which covered 31 China provinces (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan were not included in this study). We found that 45% of the respondents were dissatisfied with the current air quality, many respondents concerned a lot about air pollution (76%) and worried about the harmful consequences of being exposed to air pollution (86%). There was significant difference in the public's risk perception and attitude toward air pollution among different regions: the respondents in the northeast region, northern coastal region, eastern coastal region and Middle Yellow river region perceived higher air pollution risk and lower satisfaction with air quality than other regions; and the public's trust in the government increased from coastal regions to inland regions. In addition, the hierarchical linear model (HLM) was used to explore the effects of demographic, environmental and economic factors on public risk perception and attitude toward air pollution. Based on this, the characteristics of sensitive populations regarding air pollution were identified. What's more, we found that PM2.5 has a positive influence on perceived risk factor (PR) and can strengthen the positive correlation between PR and satisfaction with air quality (SAQ). Finally, policy implications behind these results were discussed, which can provide references and lay the foundation for policymakers and subsequent researchers.

In this study, the influences of accumulated mileage (deterioration) and technological changes (emission standards) on emission factors (EFs) of regulated pollutants (CO, HC, and NOx) from gasoline passenger vehicles were investigated based on Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) data using the chassis dynamometer method. The accumulated mileage of passenger vehicles was significantly linearly correlated with vehicle age. For most cases, the average EFs of CO, HC and NOx were significantly linearly correlated with accumulated mileage, indicating that emission deterioration had a significant impact on pollutant EFs. Implemented emission standards markedly influenced the EFs of regulated pollutants, and EFs markedly decreased with progressing emission standards. The present study also compared EFs of regulated pollutants between this study and the International vehicle emission (IVE) model, and marked differences in EFs were seen with variations in emission standards, vehicle types and accumulated mileage; NOx EFs in this study were higher than in the IVE model. The results provide new insight into estimating regulated pollutant emissions using the IVE model.

Collaborative governance plays an important role in air pollution prevention (APP). This paper aims to evaluate the policy effects of collaborative governance for APP in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region, analyze the collaborative mechanism from the perspective of institutional collective action (ICA) theory, and discuss its implications for improving the policy effects and regional collaboration. First, the causal relationship between collaborative environmental governance and air pollutant reduction is confirmed using the regression discontinuity design (RDD). However, it is also established that regional APP policies initiated by the Regional Cooperation Office of Yangtze River Delta (RCOYRD) did not have a long-term effect on reducing air pollutants. Second, initiative heterogeneity and administrative hierarchy heterogeneity of policy effects between cities are analyzed. It demonstrates that the mechanism formulated by RCOYRD has very limited impact on the reduction of transaction costs and collaborative risks of collaborative environmental governance. Third, clear division of responsibilities, balanced cost-benefit sharing, and coordinated enforcement between local governments are needed to improve the policy effects of collaborative governance for APP.

Improving air quality is an era task for China to transform its economic development model and enhance its environmental governance capabilities. This article take the Chinese government's Three-year Action Plan to Win the Blue Sky Defense War (abbreviated as the Blue Sky Defense War) as a quasi-natural experiment and use regression discontinuity design (RDD) to evaluate the governance effect of this policy. The study found that the Blue Sky Defense War reduced the monthly average concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 in cities by 14.49 and 23.43, respectively. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the Blue Sky Defence War has a more prominent effect on urban air quality management based on PM10 assessment; Jing-Jin-Ji region and surrounding areas are the key points to ensure the achievement of air management. Consistent and effective environmental governance policies, transparent and timely information disclosure and structural adjustment are all powerful guarantees for the effectiveness of the Blue Sky Defense War. These research conclusions provide new ideas for developing countries to formulate practical environmental pollution control policies.

The extensive use of nitrogen (N) fertilizers implicates a paradox: while fertilizers ensure the supply of a large amount of food, they cause negative environmental externalities, including reduced biodiversity, and eutrophic streams and lakes. Moreover, such fertilizers may also result in a major public health hazard: increased antibiotic resistance. This article discusses the critical implications of perturbations in N cycle caused by excessive use of fertilizers and resulting policy implications as they relate to ecosystem services. While there are solutions such as cover crops, these solutions are expensive and inconvenient for farmers. We advocate the use of biological fixation (BF) for staple crops-microbiome mediated natural supply of fixed N. This would involve engineering a microbiome that can be grown cheaply and at industrial scale. Fertilizers resulting from such innovation are termed as "biofertilizers" in this article. Following a qualitative cost-benefit analysis broken down by key stakeholders and a quick exploration of policy frameworks as they relate to the advancement of biofertilizers, we propose a practical pathway of where and how research investments should be directed to make such a solution feasible. We make five policy recommendations for decision-makers to facilitate a successful trajectory for this solution: (1) Future agricultural science should seek to understand how BF might be employed as a practical and efficient strategy. This effort would require that industry and the government partner to establish a pre-competitive research laboratory equipped with the latest state-of-the-art technologies that conduct metagenomic experiments to reveal signature microbiomes and form novel symbiotic connections. (2) To have a smooth ride in the market, ag-bio companies should: (i) create awareness among farmers; (ii) impart skills to farmers in testing and using biofertilizers, and (iii) conduct extensive field tests and more research in studying the scalability potential of such fertilizers. (3)The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and state governments should provide research and development (R&D) tax credits to biotech companies specifically geared towards R&D investments aimed at increasing the viability of BF and microbiome engineering. (4) To control agricultural pollution in the biosphere, federal governments should consider passing a Clean Agriculture Act (CAA), including a specific clause that regulate the use of chemical fertilizers. (5) Governments and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) should coordinate Biological Advanced Research in Agriculture (BARA)-a global agricultural innovation initiative for investments and research in biological fixation and ethical, legal, and social implications of such innovation. While biological fixation will be central in BARA, we envision it to conduct research around other agricultural innovations as well, such as increasing photosynthetic efficiency.

Since the 2010s, the authorities of Guangdong province and local governments have enhanced law enforcement and environmental regulations to abolish open burning, acid washing, and other uncontrolled e-waste recycling activities. In this study, ambient air and indoor dust near different kinds of e-waste recycling processes were collected in Guiyu and Qingyuan to investigate the pollution status of particles and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs) after stricter environmental regulations. PM2.5 and PCDD/Fs both showed significantly reduced levels in the two regions compared with the documented data. The congener distribution and principal component analysis results also confirmed the significant differences between the current PCDD/Fs pollution characterizations and the historical ones. The estimated total intake doses via air inhalation and dust ingestion of children in the recycling region of Guiyu ranged from 10 to 32 pg TEQ/(kg•day), which far exceeded the tolerable daily intake (TDI) limit (1–4 pg TEQ/(kg•day). Although the measurements showed a significant reduction of the release of PCDD/Fs, the pollution status was still considered severe in Guiyu town after stricter regulations were implemented.

In the present research work, an environmental policy procedure for setting a cap on emissions, as a crucial step in any total emission control system, has been provided and evaluated. It is shown that general regulations on emission intensities and rates do not guarantee that ambient air quality standards are met in intense industrial zones. Local emission limits are necessary to meet ambient air quality standards in these zones. To that end, we used dispersion simulators to back-calculate pollutant concentration thresholds for a large and intense energy system in the Assaluyeh region of southern Iran. Verified modeling results indicate 218 d of pollutant concentration threshold exceedance in Assaluyeh in a simulated year. Back-calculation to assess the total permissible emission level indicates the need for 68% reduction in total emission to meet ambient air quality standards. We then used the model to help identify effective control strategies, including emission reductions and appropriate timing of specific operations. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:130-138. © 2017 SETAC.

The benefits and impacts of unconventional natural gas development are realized at different spatial scales, calling into question the appropriate jurisdictional level at which to set and enforce environmental policy. This paper evaluates impact fee allocation under Pennsylvania Act 13, which authorizes Commonwealth payments to Pennsylvania counties to offset damages from unconventional natural gas extraction in exchange for consolidated state-level regulatory authority. We evaluate the adequacy of damage compensation allocation for impacts that are spatially and temporally removed from the well site, using the air emissions associated with natural gas wastewater transport as a case study. Wastewater transport from wells eligible for 2011 impact fee disbursement calculations generated an estimated $11.6 million in air emission damages from 2004 to 2013, with 35% of damages occurring out-of-state and an average of 94% of damages occurring out-of-county. We find that compensatory payments from Pennsylvania Act 13, which are based upon the number of wells drilled in a county in a single year, inadequately account for spatially and temporally distributed impacts from wastewater transport. This case study of Pennsylvania Act 13 highlights potential issues associated with central regulators using compensatory payments as a means of resolving jurisdictional conflict. In cases where the central regulator benefits from the polluting activity, we argue that there is incentive to focus compensation on local damages and undervalue regional and spatially distributed damages in compensation algorithms.

The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region is one of the most prosperous and densely populated regions in China and is facing tremendous pressure to mitigate vehicle emissions and improve air quality. Our assessment has revealed that mitigating vehicle emissions of NOx would be more difficult than reducing the emissions of other major vehicular pollutants (e.g., CO, HC and PM2.5) in the YRD region. Even in Shanghai, where the emission control implemented are more stringent than in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, we observed little to no reduction in NOx emissions from 2000 to 2010. Emission-reduction targets for HC, NOx and PM2.5 are determined using a response surface modeling tool for better air quality. We design city-specific emission control strategies for three vehicle-populated cities in the YRD region: Shanghai and Nanjing and Wuxi in Jiangsu. Our results indicate that even if stringent emission control consisting of the Euro 6/VI standards, the limitation of vehicle population and usage, and the scrappage of older vehicles is applied, Nanjing and Wuxi will not be able to meet the NOx emissions target by 2020. Therefore, additional control measures are proposed for Nanjing and Wuxi to further mitigate NOx emissions from heavy-duty diesel vehicles.

Rapid industrialization in China has brought forward serious and harmful atmospheric pollution. In this study, spatial econometric analysis was used to analyze the spatial change and the driving forces behind the industrial sulfur dioxide (SO2) discharge in China from 2001 to 2014. The study found that the amount of industrial SO2 discharge (ISOD) increased first and then decreased during this period. ISOD intensity witnessed a fluctuating drop. There were large differences among intercity ISOD amount and intensity, which had various spatial patterns. Global Moran's I of ISOD amount and intensity had a tendency to increase on the whole, showed positive spatial autocorrelation, and revealed a more and more remarkable clustered spatial pattern. Local spatial autocorrelation analysis found that the spatial patterns of ISOD amount and intensity changed considerably over space and time. The spatial patterns of ISOD were significantly influenced by the regional differences in land use and environmental policy. The study also found that the driving forces of ISOD in China changed significantly from 2001 to 2014.

How to effectively control severe regional air pollution has become a focus of global concern recently. The non-cooperative reduction model (NCRM) is still the main air pollution control pattern in China, but it is both ineffective and costly, because each province must independently fight air pollution. Thus, we proposed a cooperative reduction model (CRM), with the goal of maximizing the reduction in adverse health effects (AHEs) at the lowest cost by encouraging neighboring areas to jointly control air pollution. CRM has two parts: a model of optimal pollutant removal rates using two optimization objectives (maximizing the reduction in AHEs and minimizing pollutant reduction cost) while meeting the regional pollution control targets set by the central government, and a model that allocates the cooperation benefits (i.e., health improvement and cost reduction) among the participants according to their contributions using the Shapley value method. We applied CRM to the case of sulfur dioxide (SO2) reduction in Yangtze River Delta region. Based on data from 2003 to 2013, and using mortality due to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases as the health endpoints, CRM saves 437 more lives than NCRM, amounting to 12.1% of the reduction under NCRM. CRM also reduced costs by US $65.8×106 compared with NCRM, which is 5.2% of the total cost of NCRM. Thus, CRM performs significantly better than NCRM. Each province obtains significant benefits from cooperation, which can motivate them to actively cooperate in the long term. A sensitivity analysis was performed to quantify the effects of parameter values on the cooperation benefits. Results shown that the CRM is not sensitive to the changes in each province's pollutant carrying capacity and the minimum pollutant removal capacity, but sensitive to the maximum pollutant reduction capacity. Moreover, higher cooperation benefits will be generated when a province's maximum pollutant reduction capacity increases.

Athens, Greece has been in economic and social crises after the 2008 global recession, resulting in an increase in wood burning as a cheaper method of residential heating in the winter. Reducing wood burning emissions is a source-specific method to address air quality degradation, and indirectly climate change, through instituting policies aimed at human health co-benefits. In this work, we investigate and quantify the potential health co-benefits from policies reducing outdoor particulate matter (PM) pollution from residential wood burning by assessing the pollution conditions during the 2015 calendar year in Athens, Greece, emphasizing vulnerable populations. We conducted a systematic literature search to extract data regarding effective improvements to outdoor PM due to wood burning interventions, and get a range of potential ambient PM reduction estimates regarding realistic benefits from different interventions. We applied a health impact assessment methodology and used existing Athens specific data to calculate the preventable daily average non-accidental deaths associated with reducing PM, additionally considering low and high socioeconomic status (SES) groups. We found that the reduction in outdoor PM concentration showed the potential to benefit lower SES groups as much as 13.5 times more than the high SES group, representing an opportunity for policies to improve not only the health of the total population but also improve environmental equity and health disparities.

With the rapid economic growth of China, the increasingly serious environmental problems of haze pollution have become a large concern. Urban resident’s PM2.5 reduction behavior contributes significantly to Chinese haze pollution control. Resident-level policy measures are beneficial for encouraging residents to engage in PM2.5 reduction behaviors. The current research aims to explore the long-term intervention effects of three types of policies (i.e., command and control policies, economic incentive policies and education-guided policies) on resident’s PM2.5 reduction intention and actual behavior. Based on the agent-based modeling and simulation approach, a resident’s PM2.5 reduction behavioral simulation model is developed, and data adopted from a questionnaire survey are analyzed. The simulation results show that resident’s PM2.5 reduction intention is motivated by the interactions among resident agents, and it eventually stabilizes at a higher level (from 4.11 to 4.48). Moreover, the effects of the three types of policy measures on PM2.5 reduction behavior vary depending on the specific scenarios. With respect to single-policy scenarios, these policies all enhance the actual resident’s PM2.5 reduction behavior over the long term. The effects of command and control policies (M = 3.42) and education-guided policies (M = 3.44) are much better than those of the economic incentive policies (M = 3.15). Regarding policy combination scenarios, a combination of economic incentive policies and education-guided policies (MII = 4.15) has a remarkable promotional effect over others for encouraging residents to conduct PM2.5 reduction behaviors. Based on the results, implications and suggestions for improving current resident-level PM2.5 reduction policies and encouraging resident’s PM2.5 reduction behavior are provided.

Using firm establishment-level data combined with provincial socio-economic characteristic panel data in China for the period of 2011-2015, this study seeks to empirically examine the impact of environmental regulation on location choices of polluting firms. The results of the conditional logit model provide compelling evidence that environmental regulations do affect the location choice of firms in polluting industries. Instead of supporting the pollution haven effect, our results consistently confirm the Porter effect at the country level. This result is robust when taking endogeneity problem into account, adopting various model specifications and estimation strategies, using alternative measurements of environmental regulation and location choices, and subsampling excluding international political events. However, the results also show divergent effect of environmental regulation on location choices for heterogeneous firms. Specifically, polluting firms in eastern region prefer to invest in provinces with stringent environmental policies but those in other regions, especially in northeastern region, choose to locate in provinces with lax environmental regulation. While water-dependent polluting firms with a low level of footlooseness are more likely to enter locations with loose environmental regulation, air pollution-intensive firms tend to locate in provinces with tight environmental legislation. These results have policy implications for transitional China as well as other developing countries with similar experience.

Information disclosure in environmental governance, or informational governance conceptualized by Arthur Mol, has been increasingly utilized as a policy instrument to incentivize environmental policy enforcement in not only democratic societies but also authoritarian regimes like China. This study uses an explicit regulation, the air pollution ranking in Chinese cities as an example to illustrate how such informational governance policy instrument has an impact on local air pollution governance. Empirical evidence is based on monthly comprehensive air quality index ranking data of 74 key monitoring cities in China from 2013 to 2018. And a regression discontinuity design is applied to explore the relationship between air pollution ranking and air quality improvement in localities. The results show that (1) air quality of the bottom ten cities in the ranking will improve in the coming month compared with their counterparts; (2) such improvement happens upon the releasing of the ranking, but would not last for more than a month; (3) while top ten cities in the ranking do not experience such change in air quality. Therefore, we argue that the air pollution ranking system in China can be a useful informational governance instrument in providing negative incentives for environmental administrations in bottom cities to strengthen air pollution control. However, as a top-down environmental information disclosure program, such ranking institution could only mobilize local air quality governance temporarily. And new institutions ought to be established to further internalized local governments' environmental externalities.

To protect human health and the environment (namely ecosystems), international air quality protocols and guidelines, like the Gothenburg protocol (1999) and the 2001 EU Air Quality Directive (NECD), conveyed national emission ceilings for atmospheric pollutants (Directive 2001/81/EC), including the reduction of sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) emissions by 2010. However, to what degree this expected reduction in emissions had reflections at the ecosystem level (i.e. pollutant levels reaching and impacting ecosystems and their organisms) remains unknown. Here, we used lichens as ecological indicators, together with reported air and precipitation pollutant concentrations, to determine and map the consequences of the S and N atmospheric emission's reduction, during the implementation of the 2001 Directive (in 2002 and 2011), due primarily to the industrial-sector. The study area is a mixed-land-use industrialized Mediterranean agroforest ecosystem, in southwest Europe. The reduction of S emissions (2002-2011) was reflected at the ecosystem level, as the same S-declining trend was observed in atmospheric measurement stations and lichens alike (-70%), indicating that most S deposited to the ecosystem had an industrial origin. However, this was not the case for N with a slight N-reduction near industrial facilities, but mostly N-deposition in lichens increased in areas dominated by agricultural land-uses. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of going beyond emissions estimation and modeling, to assess the success of the implementation of the NECD in lowering pollutant accumulation in living organisms and their environment. This can only be achieved by measuring pollutant deposition at the ecosystem level (e.g. living organisms). By doing so, we were able to show that the 2001 NECD was successful in reducing S concentrations from Industry, whereas N remains a challenge. Despite the small reduction in N-emissions, deposition into ecosystems did not reflect these changes as agriculture and transport sectors must reduce NH3 and NOx emissions.

In this study, seasonal/regional variations of Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/DFs) and dioxin like-polychlorinated biphenyls in the ambient air were monitored for ten years (2008–2017) using a high volume air sampler. As a result of strict regulation enforced by Korea Ministry of Environment in 2008, PCDD/DFs concentrations in the ambient air decreased from 0.051 pg I-TEQ Sm−3 in 2009 to 0.014 pg I-TEQ Sm−3 in 2017 which was comparably associated with cut-down of their emission sources from 880.2 g I-TEQ Sm−3 in 2001 to 24.2 g I-TEQ Sm−3 in 2015; revealing that it was only 2.7% against that of 2001. In 2017, mean TEQ concentration level of PCDD/DFs in the air of South Korea was quite low in comparison to its ambient environmental standards of 0.6 pg I-TEQ Sm−3 for PCDD/DFs. Particularly, the sum of PCDD/DFs in the background revealed the lowest level, however, the fraction of octachlorodibenzodioxin among other isomers exposed at the highest level in this study, suggesting that the ambient air quality in the background being studied was severely and persistently impaired by inflowing unknown sources of any possible anthropogenic transboundary migratory air pollutants. Moreover, this study conducted the scientific analysis of the long-term variations in the ambient air and emission sources using principal component analysis. From this of 10 years long-term nationwide assessments for the PCDD/DFs and dl-PCBs in the ambient air, it is possible to prove that South Korean environmental policy to manage POPs has been successfully conducted for the last ten years.

The use of biodiesel as a replacement for petroleum-based diesel fuel has gained interest as a strategy for greenhouse gas emission reductions, energy security, and economic advantage. Biodiesel adoption may also reduce particulate elemental carbon (EC) emissions from conventional diesel engines that are not equipped with after-treatment devices. This study examines the impact of biodiesel blends on EC emissions from a commercial off-road diesel engine and simulates the potential public health benefits and climate benefits. EC emissions from the commercial off-road engine decreased by 76% when ultra-low sulfur commercial diesel (ULSD) fuel was replaced by biodiesel. Model calculations predict that reduced EC emissions translate directly into reduced EC concentrations in the atmosphere, but the concentration of secondary particulate matter was not directly affected by this fuel change. Redistribution of secondary particulate matter components to particles emitted from other sources did change the size distribution and therefore deposition rates of those components. Modification of meteorological variables such as water content and temperature influenced secondary particulate matter formation. Simulations with a source-oriented WRF/Chem model (SOWC) for a severe air pollution episode in California that adopted 75% biodiesel blended with ULSD in all non-road diesel engines reduced surface EC concentrations by up to 50% but changed nitrate and total PM2.5 mass concentrations by less than ±5%. These changes in concentrations will have public health benefits but did not significantly affect radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere. The removal of EC due to the adoption of biodiesel produced larger coatings of secondary particulate matter on other atmospheric particles containing residual EC leading to enhanced absorption associated with those particles. The net effect was a minor change in atmospheric optical properties despite a large change in atmospheric EC concentrations. These results emphasize the importance of considering EC mixing state in climate research.

This work develops an integrated model approach for estimating emissions from long-haul freight truck and rail transport in the United States between 2010 and 2050. We connect models of macroeconomic activity, freight demand by commodity, transportation networks, and emission technology to represent different pathways of future freight emissions. Emissions of particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and total hydrocarbon (THC) decrease by 60%-70% from 2010 to 2030, as older vehicles built to less-stringent emission standards retire. Climate policy, in the form of carbon tax that increases apparent fuel prices, causes a shift from truck to rail, resulting in a 30% reduction in fuel consumption and a 10%-28% reduction in pollutant emissions by 2050, if rail capacity is sufficient. Eliminating high-emitting conditions in the truck fleet affects air pollutants by 20% to 65%; although these estimates are highly uncertain, they indicate the importance of durability in vehicle engines and emission control systems. Future infrastructure investment will be required both to meet transport demand and to enable actions that reduce emissions of air and climate pollutants. By driving the integrated model framework with two macroeconomic scenarios, we show that the effect of carbon tax on air pollution is robust regardless of growth levels.

This paper explores whether a Panama Canal Authority pollution tax could be an effective economic instrument to achieve Emission Control Area (ECA)-like reductions in emissions from ships transiting the Panama Canal. This tariff-based policy action, whereby vessels in compliance with International Maritime Organisation (IMO) ECA standards pay a lower transit tariff than noncompliant vessels, could be a feasible alternative to petitioning for a Panamanian ECA through the IMO. A $4.06/container fuel tax could incentivize ECA-compliant emissions reductions for nearly two-thirds of Panama Canal container vessels, mainly through fuel switching; if the vessel(s) also operate in IMO-defined ECAs, exhaust-gas treatment technologies may be cost-effective. The RATES model presented here compares current abatement technologies based on hours of operation within an ECA, computing costs for a container vessel to comply with ECA standards in addition to computing the Canal tax that would reduce emissions in Panama. Retrofitted open-loop scrubbers are cost-effective only for vessels operating within an ECA for more than 4500 h annually. Fuel switching is the least-cost option to industry for vessels that operate mostly outside of ECA regions, whereas vessels operating entirely within an ECA region could reduce compliance cost with exhaust-gas treatment technology (scrubbers).

The significant role of high-quality data in environmental policymaking has led to the Chinese central government's concrete efforts to improve its monitoring system, which had long been plagued with data manipulation by local governments. The most remarkable policy innovation of the last decade in this area has been the introduction of a critical external oversight-profit-making third-party organizations-by the central government to monitor local governments' environmental performance. Despite the significance of third-party environmental monitoring, little is known about its effectiveness in improving data accuracy and whether and how it brings about changes to China's environmental governance. Framed within the literature on China's intergovernmental relationship and adopting a regression discontinuity model with a national database of air quality, this study examines whether third-party monitoring improves the accuracy of environmental data in China, and if so, how this approach can remedy the problem of data manipulation. Results show that data accuracy has been improved after the involvement of third-party organizations, providing evidence that supports China's efforts to advance its environmental governance from a mono-centric and non-participatory policy process to one that integrates both authoritarian control and market-based mechanisms. We discuss policy implications of this finding for environmental governance in China.

In 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) set the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) at 0.070 parts per million (ppm), for an annual 4th highest daily 8-hour (h) maximum average concentration, averaged over three years, with compliance based on the monitor with the highest concentrations. Numerous epidemiological studies have evaluated associations between ozone and health effects, but how the ozone concentrations derived from those studies can be compared to the ozone NAAQS is not clear, because of the complexity of the standard. The purpose of the present work was to determine how ozone summary metrics used in key epidemiology studies compare to the metrics that comprise the ozone regulatory value. Evaluation of epidemiology studies used for quantitative risk assessment in the 2015 ozone NAAQS review demonstrated that the most commonly used summary metrics that differed from the NAAQS were: 1-h maximum or 24-h average concentrations; multiple-day averages from 2 to 30 days; and averaging of ozone concentrations across all monitors in an area and over different months of the year. Using different ozone summary metrics to calculate the ozone regulatory value in twelve US cities for 2000–2002 or 2013–2015 generated alternative ozone regulatory values that were often substantively different and that may or may not vary commensurate with the regulatory standard. Comparison of epidemiology study metrics to other countries' ozone standards or guideline levels produces similar challenges as described here for the NAAQS. In conclusion, many of the ozone concentration metrics used in epidemiology studies cannot be directly compared to the ozone NAAQS, and using simple conversion ratios adds substantial uncertainty to concentration estimates. These summary metrics must be reconciled to the regulatory value before any judgements are made as to the protectiveness of current and alternative standards based on epidemiology study results.

Mexico City's bus rapid transit (BRT) network, Metrobus, was introduced in an attempt to reduce congestion, increase city transport efficiency and cut air polluting emissions. In June 2005, the first BRT line in the metropolitan area began service. We use the differences-in-differences technique to make the first quantitative assessment of the policy impact of a BRT system on air polluting emissions. The air pollutants considered are carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOX), particulate matter of less than 10 μm (PM10), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). The ex-post analysis uses real field data from air quality monitoring stations for periods before and after BRT implementation. Results show that BRT constitutes an effective environmental policy, reducing emissions of CO, NOX, and PM10.

Shipping emissions control is critical to air quality management and improved public health for coastal port cities and regions with heavy marine traffic. However, Asian port cities have been slow in introducing regulations on marine fuels for two main reasons – firstly, due to a lack of information and therefore appreciation on the air quality and public health benefits that could be derived; and secondly, due to sensitivity as to whether there may be negative impacts on port competitiveness and trade opposition. Hong Kong, one of the top-ten international container ports in the world, has been proactive in reducing shipping emissions in the past decade. The Ocean Going Vessels Fuel at Berth regulation, enforced since July 2015 in Hong Kong, is the first marine fuel control regulation for ocean going vessels in Asia. This regulation has been adopted nationally by China for its coastal ports, followed by the establishment of domestic emission control areas in its coastal waters that will come into force in 2019. This paper describes the decade-long journey where scientific research led to evidence-based policy changes. New insights and understanding arising from the research enabled cross-sectoral engagement and dialogue among the key stakeholders in government, industry and civil society, which resulted in the political consensus needed for a change in policy and legislation. Similar evidence-based policy formulation, together with public-private sectors dialogue could be useful to other jurisdictions in pursuing a “win-win” path to improve environmental protection and public health through regulating shipping emissions. The same combination of science-to-engagement-to-policy approach could also become part of a knowledge-and-consensus-building process for other environmental policy areas as well.

Background Lower-cost air quality sensors (hundreds to thousands of dollars) are now available to individuals and communities. This technology is undergoing a rapid and fragmented evolution, resulting in sensors that have uncertain data quality, measure different air pollutants and possess a variety of design attributes. Why and how individuals and communities choose to use sensors is arguably influenced by social context. For example, community experiences with environmental exposures and health effects and related interactions with industry and government can affect trust in traditional air quality monitoring. To date, little social science research has been conducted to evaluate why or how sensors, and sensor data, are used by individuals and communities, or how the introduction of sensors changes the relationship between communities and air quality managers. Objectives This commentary uses a risk governance/responsible innovation framework to identify opportunities for interdisciplinary research that brings together social scientists with air quality researchers involved in developing, testing, and deploying sensors in communities. Discussion Potential areas for social science research include communities of sensor users; drivers for use of sensors and sensor data; behavioral, socio-political, and ethical implications of introducing sensors into communities; assessing methods for communicating sensor data; and harnessing crowdsourcing capabilities to analyze sensor data. Conclusions Social sciences can enhance understanding of perceptions, attitudes, behaviors, and other human factors that drive levels of engagement with and trust in different types of air quality data. New transdisciplinary research bridging social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, and design fields of study, and involving citizen scientists working with professionals from a variety of backgrounds, can increase our understanding of air sensor technology use and its impacts on air quality and public health.

Atmospheric emissions of metals from anthropogenic activities have led to deposition and contamination of soils worldwide. We quantified addition of manganese (Mn) to soils around the largest emitter of Mn in the United States (U.S.) using chemical analyses and atmospheric dispersion modeling (Second-Order Closure Integrated Puff (SCIPUFF)). Concentrations of soil-surface Mn were enriched by 9-fold relative to that of the parent material within 1 km of the facility. Elevated concentrations of Mn and chromium (Cr), another potentially toxic element that was emitted, document contamination only within 1 m of the soil surface. Total mass of Mn added per unit land area integrated over 1 m, m Mn , equals ~ 80 mg Mn cm − 2 near the facility. Values of m Mn remained above background up to tens of kilometers from the source. Air concentrations of Mn particles of 7.5-micron diameter simulated with SCIPUFF using available data for the emission rate and local meteorological conditions for 2006 were consistent with measured air concentrations. However, the Mn deposition calculated for 2006 with SCIPUFF yielded a cumulative value over the lifetime of the refinery (60 years) that is a factor of 15 lower than the Mn observed to have been added to the soils. This discrepancy can be easily explained if Mn deposition rates before 1988 were more than an order of magnitude greater than today. Such higher emissions are probable, given the changes in metal production with time and the installation of emission controls after the Clean Air Act (1970). This work shows that atmospheric dispersion models can be used with soil profiles to understand the changes in metal emissions over decadal timescales. In addition, the calculations are consistent with the Clean Air Act accounting for a 15-fold decrease in the Mn deposition to soils around the refinery per metric ton of Mn alloy produced.

The objective was to determine secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure with and without smoke-free laws in urban and rural communities. The research hypothesis was that SHS exposure in public places could be improved by smoke-free law regardless of urban and rural status. Indoor air quality in hospitality venues was assessed in 53 communities (16 urban and 37 rural) before smoke-free laws; 12 communities passed smoke-free laws during the study period. Real-time measurements of particulate matter with 2.5 µm aerodynamic diameter or smaller (PM2.5) were taken 657 times from 586 distinct venues; about 71 venues had both pre- and post-law measurements. Predictors of log-transformed PM2.5 level were determined using multilevel modeling. With covariates of county-level percent minority population, percent with at least high school education, adult smoking rate, and venue-level smoker density, indoor air quality was associated with smoke-free policy status and venue type and their interaction. The geometric means for restaurants, bars, and other public places in communities without smoke-free policies were 22, 63, and 25 times higher than in those with smoke-free laws, respectively. Indoor air quality was not associated with urban status of venue, and none of the interactions involving urban status were significant. SHS exposure in public places did not differ by urban/rural status. Indoor air quality was associated with smoke-free law status and venue type.This study analyzed 657 measurements of indoor PM2.5 level in 53 communities in Kentucky, USA. Although indoor air quality in public places was associated with smoke-free policy status and venue type, it did not differ by urban and rural status. The finding supports the idea that population in rural communities can be protected with smoke-free policy. Therefore, it is critical to implement smoke-free policy in rural communities as well as urban areas.

We develop a spatial model to examine policies aimed at reducing ambient concentrations of fine particulates (PM2.5), with emissions from many sources that affect many population centers. Two alternative specifications of the relationship between PM2.5 concentration and health impacts from Krewski et al. are analyzed: log-linear, which implies downward-sloping marginal benefits of abatement; and log-log, which implies upward-sloping marginal benefits of abatement. A standard assumption would be that the greatest benefit from cleanup would occur in the dirtiest locations. We show, however, that for the log-log (but not log-linear) relationship, the largest risk reductions are achieved from abatement of pollution in the cleanest locations. Our model demonstrates that with a log-log relationship society should prefer lower emissions and lower pollution concentrations than if the relationship is log-linear. Our model also shows that an efficient abatement policy may substantially outperform a uniform pollution standard such as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

PCDD/F in exhaust gas emission samples was determined by the Environmental Agency of Apulia for a sinter plant located in Taranto (Italy) starting from June 2007 following an Agreement Act between plant owners and the Regional Government with the aim to assess and improve the environmental performances of the plant. The first two sampling campaigns yielded results ranging between 3.42 and 8.34 ng I-TE/Nm(3) that were soon considered revelatory of a high potential impact on the surrounding environment and the public, prompting for immediate action. As a first outcome, a Regional Regulation (LR 44/2008) was enforced in order to reduce PCDD/F emissions by plants operating in the metal sector, including sinter plants. After installation of a urea addition plant to the sinter mix as a process-integrated abatement technique the emissions ranged from 0.86 to 3.59 ng I-TE/Nm(3). In order to reach compliance to the newly introduced emission limit value of 0.4 ng I-TE/Nm(3) the urea plant was removed in favour of active-carbon injection as an end-of-pipe technique. Subsequently, during year 2011 emission values ranged from 0.095 to 1.97 ng I-TE/Nm(3), while in 2012 the observed range was 0.058 to 0.91 ng I-TE/Nm(3). As a better evaluation of the potential impact of the sinter plant emissions, a yearly mass-flow was estimated using exhaust gas PCDD/F concentrations and plant operational parameters (3.4 M Nm(3)/h). Mass-flow was estimated to be as high as 165 g I-TE/year for 2007 using yearly average concentrations or 248 g I-TE/year using the peak-value of 8.34 ng I-TE/Nm(3).

This study evaluates how well China's 11th and 12th Five-Year Plans have been implemented in terms of energy conservation and air pollution control and deconstructs the effects of the economic, energy, and environmental policies included in the Plans. A "counterfactual" comparative-scenario method is deployed, which assumes a business as usual scenario in which the changes in economic, energy, and environmental parameters are "frozen", and then reactivates them one by one, with the help of LEAP modeling. It is found that during the 11th Five-Year Plan period, the binding targets were basically achieved. Economic growth put a great strain upon the energy demand and the environment, but energy policy made a decisive contribution by promoting energy efficiency and structure. Environmental policy promoted the deployment of end-of-pipe treatment which led to the control of certain air pollutants but at the expense of an increase in energy use and in the emission of other pollutants. During the ongoing 12th Five-Year Plan period, energy policy's potential for efficiency improvement is shrinking, but economic policy is restraining economic growth thus making a positive contribution. Environmental policy attempts to enforce multipollutant reduction, but there is still insufficient focus on the cocontrol of different pollutants and CO2.

We analyzed sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions and fine particulate sulfate (PM2.5 sulfate) concentrations in the southeastern United States during 2002-2012, in order to evaluate the health impacts in North Carolina (NC) of the NC Clean Smokestacks Act of 2002. This state law required progressive reductions (beyond those mandated by federal rules) in pollutant emissions from NC's coal-fired power plants. Although coal-fired power plants remain NC's leading SO2 source, a trend analysis shows significant declines in SO2 emissions (-20.3%/year) and PM2.5 sulfate concentrations (-8.7%/year) since passage of the act. Emissions reductions were significantly greater in NC than in neighboring states, and emissions and PM2.5 sulfate concentration reductions were highest in NC's piedmont region, where 9 of the state's 14 major coal-fired power plants are located. Our risk model estimates that these air quality improvements decreased the risk of premature death attributable to PM2.5 sulfate in NC by about 63%, resulting in an estimated 1700 (95% CI: 1500, 1800) deaths prevented in 2012. These findings lend support to recent studies predicting that implementing the proposed federal Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court) could substantially decrease U.S. premature deaths attributable to coal-fired power plant emissions.

Beijing, the capital of China, has become one of the most air-polluted cities due to its rapid economic growth. Weekly PM2.5 samples-collected continuously from 2007 to 2010-were used to study the contamination characteristics of atmospheric particles and effects of governmental mitigation measures especially since the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. PM2.5 mass concentrations during the sampling period were reduced compared to the previous studies before 2005, although they were still too high in comparison with environmental standards of China and many other countries as well as WHO standards. Results of principle component analysis show that elements of primary anthropogenic origin had an obvious decline while elements mainly from the natural environment kept a relatively stable course. The governmental macro-control measures influenced both anthropogenic and geogenic sources, but they also led to some pollution peaks prior to implementation of the respective measures. Some element concentrations correlated to the restrictiveness of relative measures, especially during different traffic restrictions. The comparison with other countries and international standards shows that there is a long way to go in order to improve air quality in Beijing, and that governmental mitigation measures need to be continued and reinforced.

The nature of this paper is a practical application of a proper time-series methodology to evaluate policy impacts when there is uncertainty about the data being difference-stationary (DS) or trend-stationary (TS). We use this methodology to examine the trend behavior of two air pollutants, nitrogen oxides (NOX) and volatile organic compounds (VOC). In particular, we concentrate on answering two questions. First, were there breaks in the trends of NOX and VOC emissions around the same time environmental policies such as the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1970 were passed? And second, accounting for possible breaks are the US emissions of NOX and VOC TS or DS? Our empirical results show a clear evidence of a trend shift in NOX and VOC emissions at the time the CAAA of 1970 were passed, implying that this policy has been effective in reducing air pollution emissions, as well as additional breaks that correspond to other events and environmental policies before and after 1970. The unit root tests indicate that NOX are DS irrespective of the number of breaks in the trend whereas results for VOC emissions depend on the number of breaks assumed.

Retrofitting older vehicles with diesel particulate filter (DPF) is a cost-effective measure to quickly and efficiently reduce particulate matter emissions. This study experimentally analyzes real-world performance of buses retrofitted with CRT DPFs. 18 in-use Euro III technology urban and intercity buses were investigated for a period of 12 months. The influence of the DPF and of the vehicle natural aging on buses fuel economy are analyzed and discussed. While the effect of natural deterioration is about 1.2%–1.3%, DPF contribution to fuel economy penalty is found to be 0.6% to 1.8%, depending on the bus type. DPF filtration efficiency is analyzed throughout the study and found to be in average 96% in the size range of 23–560 nm. Four different load and non-load engine operating modes are investigated on their appropriateness for roadworthiness tests. High idle is found to be the most suitable regime for PN diagnostics considering particle number filtration efficiency.

Modern cities are engines of production, innovation, and growth. However, urbanization also increases both local and global pollution from household consumption and firms’ production. Do emissions change proportionately to city size or does pollution tend to outpace or lag urbanization? Do emissions scale differently with population versus economic growth or are emissions, population, and economic growth inextricably linked? How are the scaling relationships between emissions, population, and economic growth affected by environmental regulation? This paper examines the link between urbanization, economic growth and pollution using data from Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the United States between 1999 and 2011. We find that the emissions of local air pollution in these MSAs scale according to a ¾ power law with both population size and gross domestic product (GDP). However, the monetary damages from these local emissions scale linearly with both population and GDP. Counties that have previously been out of attainment with the local air quality standards set by the Clean Air Act show an entirely different relationship: local emissions scale according to the square root of population, while the monetary damages from local air pollution follow a 2/3rds power law with population. Counties out of attainment are subject to more stringent emission controls; we argue based on this that enforcement of the Clean Air Act induces sublinear scaling between emissions, damages, and city size. In contrast, we find that metropolitan GDP scales super-linearly with population in all MSAs regardless of attainment status. Summarizing, our findings suggest that environmental policy limits the adverse effects of urbanization without interfering with the productivity benefits that manifest in cities.

This paper presents an evaluation of the European type-approval test procedure for evaporative emissions from passenger cars based on real-world mobility data. The study relies on two large databases of driving patterns from conventional fuel vehicles collected by means of on-board GPS systems in the Italian provinces of Modena and Firenze. Approximately 28,000 vehicles were monitored, corresponding to approximately 36 million kilometres over a period of one month. The driving pattern of each vehicle was processed to derive the relation between trip length and parking duration, and the rate of occurrence of parking events against multiple evaporative cycles, defined on the basis of the type-approval test procedure as 12-hour diurnal time windows. These results are used as input for an emission simulation model, which calculates the total evaporative emissions given the characteristics of the evaporative emission control system of the vehicle and the ambient temperature conditions. The results suggest that the evaporative emission control system, fitted to the vehicles from Euro 3 step and optimised for the current type-approval test procedure, could not efficiently work under real-world conditions, resulting in evaporative emissions well above the type-approval limit, especially for small size vehicles and warm climate conditions. This calls for a revision of the type-approval test procedure in order to address real-world evaporative emissions., JRC.F.8-Sustainable Transport

When designing air pollution reduction policies, regional decision makers face a limited budget, to choose the most efficient measures which will have impacts on several pollutants in different ways. RIAT+ is a regional integrated assessment tool that supports the policy maker in this selection of the optimal emission reduction technologies, to improve air quality at minimum costs. In this paper, this tool is formalized and applied to the specic case of a French region (Alsace), to illustrate how focusing on one single pollutant may exacerbate problems related to other pollutants, on top of conflicts related to budget allocation. In our case, results are shown for possible trade-offs between NO2 and O3 control policies. The paper suggests an approach to prioritize policy makers objectives when planning air pollution policies at regional scale., JRC.H.2-Air and Climate

The Community Multi-scale Air Quality modeling system is used to investigate the response of atmospheric visibility to the emission reduction from different sectors (i.e. industries, traffic and power plants) in the Yangtze River Delta, China. Visibility improvement from exclusive reduction of NO x or VOC emission was most inefficient. Sulfate and organic aerosol would rebound if NO x emission was exclusively reduced from any emission sector. The most efficient way to improve the atmospheric visibility was proven to be the multi-pollutant control strategies. Simultaneous emission reductions (20–50%) on NO x , VOC and PM from the industrial and mobile sectors could result in 0.3–1.0 km visibility improvement. And the emission controls on both NO x (85%) and SO 2 (90%) from power plants gained the largest visibility improvement of up to 4.0 km among all the scenarios. The seasonal visibility improvement subject to emission controls was higher in summer while lower in the other seasons.