This American Lung Association ® website provides timely information to public health and environmental advocates about the EPA review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone and particulate matter.

www.lungusa.org/cleanairstandards is the “one-stop” source for advocates working to reaffirm and strengthen the health-based air quality standards.

The Clean Air Act requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set NAAQS for common air pollutants.

The standards are to be set at levels that protect public health with an adequate margin of safety to protect the health of sensitive groups of people.

The standards must be reviewed every five years, and revised if necessary to protect public health.

The NAAQS drive the nation’s air pollution control programs. The Clean Air Act requires the States and EPA to develop strategies for reducing pollution from cars, factories and power plants in order to meet the air quality standards.

In 1997, in response to a series of action-forcing lawsuits by the American Lung Association®, EPA updated the health standards for particulate matter and ozone (soot and smog). The EPA action was based on an explosion of scientific evidence linking health problems with exposure to air pollution at levels below the pre-existing standards.

EPA established for the first time a standard for very fine particles that can lodge in the airways of the lungs, based on evidence of respiratory illness and early death.

The standard for ozone was changed to protect children against the adverse effects of exposures over an 8-hour period.

The new standards were supported by the American Lung Association® and other public health experts, but they were opposed by many industry groups including the electric utility, oil, auto, mining, and trucking industries.

Industry groups launched a multimillion dollar campaign, first trying to stop EPA from strengthening the standards, then trying to block them in Congress, and finally challenging the standards in Court.

In February 2001, in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court upheld the authority of EPA to set air quality standards and rejected industry arguments that cost rather than health be the basis for the standards. A follow-up decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals in March 2002 affirmed the standards. The American Lung Association® was an intervenor in support of the air quality standards.

EPA is now engaged in the next five-year review of the health standards for particulate matter and ozone.

www.lungusa.org/cleanairstandards provides people concerned about air quality and their health with the tools they need to be effective participants in the review process.

Special features of this website include:

–the latest regulatory developments from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the States, including announcements of public meetings, new publications, and opportunities for public comment;

–copies of comments, testimony, news releases, fact sheets, and reports from health and environmental groups;

–a Medical Journal Watch column with the latest medical news of the health effects of air pollution;

–information on air quality in your area, and where to access monitoring data;

–links to the best sources of information on the web; and

–opportunities to take action to support strong air quality standards.

This site contains some links to documents in the PDF file format. Adobe Reader software is needed to view, save, or print these papers. Adobe [www.adobe.com] offers a free version of Adobe Reader software.

Development of this website was supported by a grant from the Beldon Fund to the American Lung Association®. The American Lung Association® is working with other organizations to ensure that public health concerns are heard at every step of the NAAQS review process.

More information about the American Lung Association® is available at: http://www.lungusa.org/history/.