The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) will hold an oversight hearing on May 20, 2008 to examine the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new ozone standards.

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A new report by a Committee of the National Academy of Sciences has confirmed that short-term exposure to ozone smog is likely contributing to premature deaths. (more…)

A new multi-center study reports that inner-city children with asthma may be particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of air pollution. The study focused on 860 children ages 5-12 who lived in low-income areas of Boston, the Bronx, Chicago, Dallas, New York, Seattle and Tucson. The children in the study had moderate to severe asthma, and most were black or Hispanic. The study involved a larger number of kids and a more comprehensive evaluation of respiratory health effects than earlier studies. (more…)

Washington, DC (March 12, 2008). Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a critical tightening of the health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone. We wish we could be happier about this decision, but we cannot. The standard announced today, although an improvement, falls far short of the requirements of the Clean Air Act. We are unable to celebrate half measures when the risks are so evident, when the science and the scientists are so united about what is needed and when the missed opportunity means that thousands will suffer more and die sooner than they should. Furthermore, we reject the suggestions made by the Administrator to weaken and undermine the Clean Air Act itself. Coming from the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, such suggestions are truly outrageous. (more…)

It’s coming down to the wire. What’s literally at stake is the quality of the air we breathe.

The U.S. EPA is on the verge of deciding if national health standards for smog should be made tougher. (more…)

A new analysis relying on data from 98 U.S. communities finds that African-Americans are at greater risk of premature death from short-term ozone exposures than the general population.  Higher risks were also reported for the unemployed and users of public transit.  Previous studies had provided strong evidence of an association between short-term ozone exposures and risk of mortality.  This follow-up study to the National Morbidity, Mortality, and Air Pollution Study (NMMAPS) was intended to explore community-specific factors that might explain the difference in risk observed across communities.  (more…)

On October 16, 2007, EPA issued a draft Integrated Review Plan for the next periodic review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter.  The draft plan is subject to review by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and by the public.  (more…)

In anticipation of the upcoming five-year review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM), the U.S. EPA has appointed several new members to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and a number of additional consulting members to serve on the PM review panel.  (more…)

A number of leading public health organizations including Physicians for Social Responsibiity, the American Heart Association, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the American Nurses Association, the American Lung Association, and others have filed comments with EPA in support of stringent new air quality standards for ozone smog.   

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A broad, bipartisan coalition of members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter October 2, 2007 to the Environmental Protection Agency calling for strong limits on smog pollution. (more…)