Deck 11: Improving Air Quality: Controlling Mobile Sources

Question 1

U.S. policy on mobile sources imposes more stringent controls on new vehicles, creating a bias against newer, and hence cleaner, motor vehicles.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Title II of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 strengthened regulations on motor vehicle emissions and fuels.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Among all identified transportation sources, off highway vehicle emissions are the largest contributors to the formation of photochemical smog.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

For the first time in U.S. history, the EPA has set GHG emissions standards for passenger cars and light-duty trucks for model years 2012 through 2016 and for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles for model years 2014 through 2018.

Question 5

Ethanol (E85) is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

Question 6

Plug-in hybrids and hybrid vehicles are examples of partial zero-emission vehicles (PZEVs).

Question 7

Reformulated fuel contains more oxygen to permit more complete combustion and to lower carbon monoxide emissions.

Question 8

Photochemical smog is caused by a chemical reaction involving criteria pollutants in the presence of sunlight.

Question 9

The Air Quality Index (AQI) is formed from concentration data collected from a monitoring network that measures hazardous air pollutants.

Question 10

The use of uniform emissions standards on mobile sources generates a cost-effective solution.

Question 11

In the United States, the Air Quality Index (AQI)

A) measures the concentration of hazardous air pollutants through monitoring stations
B) is used only within the scientific community
C) uses numerical values and colors to communicate urban air quality
D) includes concentration data for all six criteria pollutants

Question 12

The two new national programs aimed at improving fuel efficiency and reducing GHG emissions are strictly command-and-control with no market-based initiatives.

Question 13

Used in certain nonattainment areas, the cleaner fuel that emits less hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and toxics than conventional gasoline is called oxygenated fuel.

Question 14

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the United States

A) has no counterpart in other nations
B) uses high values to communicate the highest air quality
C) uses values between 1 and 10 to communicate the extent of toxic air pollution
D) is used by various media outlets to communicate urban air quality

Question 15

Tax credits at the federal level are currently available for both hybrids and plug-in electric hybrids.

Question 16

Ethanol (E10) is a blend of 10 percent gasoline and 90 percent ethanol and is known as gasohol.

Question 17

Under the new GHG emissions standards for mobile sources, light-duty vehicles will have to achieve an average emissions level of 250 grams of carbon dioxide (CO₂) for model year 2016.

Question 18

According to a study conducted by the National Academy of Sciences, a uniform standard imposed on motor vehicles would be more cost-effective than a two-tiered standard.

Question 19

The reported Air Quality Index (AQI) uses data from the EPA's monitoring of metropolitan statistical areas.

Question 20

Under the Clean Air Act, the emissions controls on mobile sources were set using benefit-cost analysis.

Question 21

In the United States, regulations on mobile sources

A) are imposed only at the state and local levels of government
B) are outlined in Title II of the CAAA of 1990
C) are solely market-based
D) impose controls on vehicles only, with no regulations on fuels

Question 22

Ethanol (E10) refers to

A) an alternative fuel that includes 10 units of MTBE
B) the fuel commonly called gasohol
C) a fuel comprised of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline
D) all of the above
E) (b) and (c) only

Question 23

The recent U.S. national initiatives to control GHGs from mobile sources

A) includes market-based components such as CO₂ emissions trading
B) provides negative net benefits to society, according to estimates
C) will reduce carbon dioxide emissions but offers no savings of oil consumption
D) was finalized by the Department of Agriculture and the EPA

Question 24

Uniform standards

A) are not relevant to mobile source controls
B) refer to standards that remain the same over time
C) have been shown to be more costly than a two-tiered standard on motor vehicles
D) achieve an allocatively efficient outcome

Question 25

According to the textbook application, hybrid vehicles

A) were introduced to the mass market by Honda and Toyota
B) use an electric motor for start-up and low speeds and a small conventional motor for normal speeds
C) generate reduced emissions and provide high fuel efficiency
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 26

An example of a clean alternative fuel is

A) hydrogen
B) methanol
C) E(85) ethanol
D) biodiesel
E) all of the above

Question 27

A tax credit for a clean fuel vehicle

A) acts as a subsidy to encourage consumption, by increasing the MPB
B) can be modeled as a shift up of the MEB
C) is represented as a shift down of the MPB by the amount of the tax credit
D) raises the effective price of the vehicle, discouraging consumption

Question 28

The Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS)

A) was launched as a stimulus program by the Reagan administration
B) was introduced under the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009
C) is currently available to purchasers of plug-in hybrids
D) was the first-ever Vehicle Accelerated Vehicles Retirement (VAVR) program

Question 29

Available market incentives for clean fuel vehicles

A) include carbon allowances for purchasers of hybrid vehicles
B) no longer exist in the United States
C) are tax credits for purchasers of plug-in hybrids d are limited to international buyers of electric cars

Question 30

Reformulated gasoline

A) refers specifically to ethanol (10)
B) includes enhanced oxygen to enhance combustion
C) refers to formulations that release less hydrocarbons, toxics, and CO than conventional gasoline
D) includes large amounts of MTBE

Question 31

Mobile source standards in the U.S. are solely benefit-based, which means they are set

A) to achieve allocative efficiency
B) to maximize total social benefits
C) at the point where MSB is maximized
D) at the abatement level where MSC is zero
E) none of the above

Question 32

Controls on GHG emissions from mobile sources

A) have been in place in the United States since the Clean Air Act of 1970
B) were recently established by the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
C) are implemented solely through CAFÉ standards issued by the EPA
D) apply solely to heavy-duty trucks and rail transport vehicles

Question 33

Mobile sources

A) are major contributors to the formation of photochemical smog
B) release only small amounts of NO_X and VOCs
C) play a minor role in the smog problem of Los Angeles
D) have not been linked scientifically to smog formation

Question 34

The primary component of photochemical smog is

A) lead
B) tropospheric ozone
C) sulfur dioxide
D) carbon dioxide

Question 35

According to the textbook application, China's demand for automobiles

A) is linked in part to the nation's rising income and economic prosperity
B) is limited because of the absence of automobile plants in China
C) has declined because of the migration of people from urban to rural areas
D) has grown slowly over the past several years

Question 36

Los Angeles County has the worst urban air quality across all major metropolitan areas in the United States. Automobile emissions contribute significantly to this problem. Assume the California Air Resources Board is considering whether to set a uniform emission standard or a regionally-based emission standard, where one standard is set for Los Angeles County and another for the rest of the state.
Marginal social benefits (MSB) and marginal social costs (MSC) for the two regions have been estimated as follows:
MSB_abatement in LA County = 500 - 0.75A
MSB_abatement in the rest of California = 150 - 0.25A
MSC_abatement in all of California = 0.5A,
where A is the level of abatement of automobile emissions, and MSB and MSC are in millions of dollars.
a. Graph the MSB and MSC functions on the same diagram. Show the regionally-based set of standards (A_LA and A_REMAINDER) that should be recommended to achieve allocative efficiency in each region. Find the numerical value of each standard.
b. A uniform abatement standard (A_ST) is also being considered across the State of California of 300 units. Use the criterion of allocative efficiency to support or refute this alternative.

Question 37

A benefit-based standard is one that

A) considers the benefits balanced with the costs of that standard
B) maximizes the marginal external benefit (MEB) of the standard
C) is set to the point at which MEB is zero
D) none of the above