California Air Quality Standards Need Updating and Strengthening
California’s air quality standards for particulate matter are in critical need of updating and strengthening in light of the hundreds of studies published in the last decade demonstrating associations between particulate air pollution, illness, emergency room visits, hospitalization, and premature death, at levels well below the current standards, according to comments filed by the American Lung Association® together with the American Lung Association® of California and its medical section, the California Thoracic Society, joined by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Working Group, Committee For Law, Air, Water and Species, and the Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund.
The comments were filed on a draft Staff Report prepared by the the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA).
The groups strongly supported the proposed tightening of the annual average PM10 standard to 20 micrograms per cubic meter, and the establishment of a PM2.5 annual standard at 12 micrograms per cubic meter to better protect public health.
In addition, they urged the establishment of a strict 24-hour PM 2.5 standard to protect the general public and sensitive populations from the harmful effects of short-term peak exposures to fine particle pollution.
Information about the rulemaking is available on this website at: California Air Quality Standards Proposal.
The cover letter and full comments are attached.
Attachments
- Cover Letter
- carbcover.doc
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- ALA Comments
- carbcomments.doc
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