EPA’s second draft Staff Paper on the review of the ozone air quality standard recommends that the current standard be retained or slightly strengthened.
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EPA has published a provisional assessment of recent studies on the health effects of particulate matter exposure. The assessment finds that new studies of fine and coarse particles document adverse effects at lower concentrations than the studies reviewed in the 2004 Criteria Document.
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EPA published the final ozone Air Quality Criteria Document laying out the latest scientific evidence of the adverse health effects of ozone on March 21, 2006.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s science advisors have officially asked EPA Administrator Steve Johnson to reconsider the agency’s proposed national air quality standards for particle soot.
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U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is urging the Environmental Protection Agency to enact tougher regulations on maximum annual exposure levels for particulate matter.
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On January 12, 2006, Congressman John Dingell wrote to EPA Administrator Steve Johnson questioning EPA’s recently announced political review of the air quality standard-setting process.
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U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords, Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, joined by eight of his Senate colleagues, today sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson on Feburay 3, 2006, urging the Administrator to base his upcoming decision regarding the Particulate Matter (PM) air quality standards on the extensive scientific record available, rather than on political considerations.

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EPA’s science advisors, meeting in a teleconference on February 3, 2006, agreed to send a letter to EPA Administrator Steven Johnson urging that several aspects of the proposed air quality standards for particulate matter be be strengthened to conform with their prior recommendations.
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EPA will hold three public hearings on its proposal to revise air quality standards for fine and coarse particles in Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. The hearings will all take place on March 8, 2006 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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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.
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