Air Quality Standards Worksheet
Module 3 Air Quality Standards Worksheet and Rubric Student Name: ????? Timeliness Fully Met Partially Met/Good Partially Met/Fair Not Met Timeliness Indicators Grade Impact Posted by the deadline No impact Posted 1 day late Posted 2–4 days late 10% reduction in overall assignment score 20% reduction in overall assignment score Posted 5 or more days late 0 points Part 1: NAAQS Quiz (Short answer) Go to EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards website homepage at http://www.epa.gov/air/criteria.html. Review the details of NAAQS for the criteria pollutants and answer the following questions: Question (5 points each) Response Score How many criteria pollutants are covered under the NAAQS? In what year was the ozone standard first initiated? For which pollutant has the standard been most recently strengthened? Over what period of time are lead measurements made to assess meeting the standard? What human health effect is associated with exposure to carbon monoxide? ????? © 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 1 of 6 ????? ????? ????? ????? Question (5 points each) List the top two sources of sulfur dioxide emissions in the U.S. Define a “non-attainment” area with respect to the NAAQS. For which regions of the U.S. is attainment of PM10 a particular problem? Response Score ????? ????? ????? Total Score Instructor comments: ????? © 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. (40 possible points) ????? Page 2 of 6 Part 2: Choosing national air quality priorities (short essay answer) Review the background information on each of the pollutants covered under the NAAQS and, based on the available information and considering the questions you addressed above, indicate which ambient air pollutant you believe should be a national regulatory priority for the United States and why. Support your choice by describing the types of health consequences associated with the pollutant (including any susceptible populations), its major sources, and when the standards were last reviewed and/or changed. Then, provide a brief explanation of one or more global implications for regulation of this pollutant by the United States. Be sure to cite your sources. Response: ????? Score (20 possible points): ????? Instructor comments: ????? Quality Indicators Fully Met Partially Met/Good Partially Met/Fair Not Met Content Quality (20 points) Choice of regulatory priority was fully supported with quantitative data on health consequences, major sources of the choice pollutant, and when standards were last reviewed/changed One of the following expected criteria was not clearly discussed: health consequences, major source, when standards were last reviewed, or global implications. Two of the following expected criteria were not clearly discussed: health consequences, major source, when standards were last reviewed, or global implications. The pollutant choice was not a pollutant regulated under the NAAQS AND/OR AND/OR Choice was mostly but not fully supported with quantitative data and references Choice was not well supported with quantitative data and references AND Global implications of U.S. regulation of the pollutant were © 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. AND/OR Three or more of the following expected criteria were not clearly discussed: health consequences, major source, when standards were last reviewed, or global implications Page 3 of 6 Quality Indicators Fully Met Partially Met/Good Partially Met/Fair Not Met clearly discussed AND/OR AND/OR AND/OR AND Writing was a little unclear (typos, minor issues) Writing was unclear (frequent typos, grammatical errors) Choice was not supported with quantitative data and references (16–19 points) (14–15 points) Data sources were referenced and highly appropriate to support the choice and discussion (0–13 points) (20 points) © 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 4 of 6 Part 3: Identify Which Pollutants Significantly Contribute to These Issues Although many pollutants get a bad reputation, certain types of gas emissions contribute more to specific environmental issues. Review section 4.1 in your text and the background information on each of the pollutants covered under the NAAQS. Choose from among the eight pollutants below and fill in the name of the correct pollutant in the grid below. chlorofluorocarbons carbon monoxide particulate matter sulfur dioxide dioxins nitrogen ozone dioxide carbon dioxide Pollutant Global warming Acid Score deposition yes Ozone layer depletion no Response (5 points) ????? Response (5 points) ????? Response (5 points) ????? no ????? yes yes no ????? no no yes ????? Total Score (15 possible points) Instructor Comments: ????? © 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. ????? Page 5 of 6 Final Score: Part 1 Score (40 possible points) ????? Part 2 Score (20 possible points) ????? Part 3 Score (15 possible points) Total Score (75 possible points) ????? Instructor comments (Timeliness): ????? Timeliness Factor (late points deducted): ?????
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