Australians are not equally protected from industrial air pollution
Australian air pollution standards are set at national and state levels for a number of chemicals harmful to human health. However, these standards do not need to be met when ad hoc pollution licences are issued by state environment agencies. This situation results in a highly unequal distribution o...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2015-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/5/055001 |
| _version_ | 1797748761765609472 |
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| author | B Dobbie D Green |
| author_facet | B Dobbie D Green |
| author_sort | B Dobbie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Australian air pollution standards are set at national and state levels for a number of chemicals harmful to human health. However, these standards do not need to be met when ad hoc pollution licences are issued by state environment agencies. This situation results in a highly unequal distribution of air pollution between towns and cities, and across the country. This paper examines these pollution regulations through two case studies, specifically considering the ability of the regulatory regime to protect human health from lead and sulphur dioxide pollution in the communities located around smelters. It also considers how the proposed National Clean Air Agreement, once enacted, might serve to reduce this pollution equity problem. Through the case studies we show that there are at least three discrete concerns relating to the current licencing system. They are: non-onerous emission thresholds for polluting industry; temporal averaging thresholds masking emission spikes; and ineffective penalties for breaching licence agreements. In conclusion, we propose a set of new, legally-binding national minimum standards for industrial air pollutants must be developed and enforced, which can only be modified by more (not less) stringent state licence arrangements. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:09:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-694c248c290e40e187475d3d3914b691 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:09:29Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-694c248c290e40e187475d3d3914b6912023-08-09T14:10:56ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262015-01-0110505500110.1088/1748-9326/10/5/055001Australians are not equally protected from industrial air pollutionB Dobbie0D Green1Climate Change Research Centre, University of New South Wales , Sydney NSW 2052, AustraliaARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, University of New South Wales , Sydney NSW 2052, AustraliaAustralian air pollution standards are set at national and state levels for a number of chemicals harmful to human health. However, these standards do not need to be met when ad hoc pollution licences are issued by state environment agencies. This situation results in a highly unequal distribution of air pollution between towns and cities, and across the country. This paper examines these pollution regulations through two case studies, specifically considering the ability of the regulatory regime to protect human health from lead and sulphur dioxide pollution in the communities located around smelters. It also considers how the proposed National Clean Air Agreement, once enacted, might serve to reduce this pollution equity problem. Through the case studies we show that there are at least three discrete concerns relating to the current licencing system. They are: non-onerous emission thresholds for polluting industry; temporal averaging thresholds masking emission spikes; and ineffective penalties for breaching licence agreements. In conclusion, we propose a set of new, legally-binding national minimum standards for industrial air pollutants must be developed and enforced, which can only be modified by more (not less) stringent state licence arrangements.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/5/055001air toxicsAustralian regulationindustrial pollutionenvironmental justice |
| spellingShingle | B Dobbie D Green Australians are not equally protected from industrial air pollution Environmental Research Letters air toxics Australian regulation industrial pollution environmental justice |
| title | Australians are not equally protected from industrial air pollution |
| title_full | Australians are not equally protected from industrial air pollution |
| title_fullStr | Australians are not equally protected from industrial air pollution |
| title_full_unstemmed | Australians are not equally protected from industrial air pollution |
| title_short | Australians are not equally protected from industrial air pollution |
| title_sort | australians are not equally protected from industrial air pollution |
| topic | air toxics Australian regulation industrial pollution environmental justice |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/5/055001 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bdobbie australiansarenotequallyprotectedfromindustrialairpollution AT dgreen australiansarenotequallyprotectedfromindustrialairpollution |