EPA Proposes ‘Status Quo’ Revisions to PM NAAQS
On December 20, 2005, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
announced new limits on how much particle pollution can be in outdoor air. Unfortunately, despite a strong scientific consensus that both the annual and daily limits needed to be tighter to protect public health, EPA failed to propose adequate standards.
EPA’s independent outside scientific review panel and the EPA’s own staff scientists
proposed tightening both standards.
EPA Administrator Johnson overrode these recommendations and proposed a standard weaker than those recommended. The Clean Air Act requires EPA to set these air pollution standards at levels that protect public health. The health science clearly shows that the current federal limits on particle pollution are set too high, allowing air pollution that leads to the premature deaths of thousands of
Americans each year.
The EPA proposal will leave millions of Americans unprotected and will lead to thousands of premature
deaths.
EPA will be taking public comment on its proposal over a 90-day period due to begin in January. Several public hearings will be scheduled.
Copies of the EPA fact sheet, background materials, and the text of the regulatory proposal are available online.
