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Protecting the Nation From Air Pollution cont'd
So if you live in an area with terrible air quality, and are downwind from an old coal-fired power plant, the changes to NSR mean that plant can continue to pollute the air you and your family breathe for decades. With EPA's changes, they are allowed to keep polluting your air at the same rate for 10 years past the time they made their last upgrade, and they could increase their pollution -- all under the watchful eye of EPA.
In response to EPA's crippling changes to NSR, the American Lung Association and six environmental groups sued EPA on February 23, 2003 and October 27, 2003. In addition, the attorneys general of 14 states and the District of Columbia also sued to return the teeth to the NSR protections.
On December 24, 2003, the DC Circuit Court issued a stay to prevent EPA from taking the final steps, agreeing with the Lung Association and its allies that allowing EPA to move forward before a court review would likely irreparably harm public health. Critically, the Court also agreed that the Lung Association and its allies were likely to prevail on the merits of the case, which meant that strong evidence had been presented to show that EPA would lose the case.
 DELAYS THAT HARM
Delays in deciding how much cleaner the air needs to be.
EPA is required to examine current scientific studies and evaluate the health effects of air pollution every five years. Based on that review, they are requiredto set standards for concentrations of ozone and particles and four other pollutants to protect public health with an "adequate margin of safety."4 This frequent assessment is critical to help ensure that the standards set by EPA reflect the current understanding of the effects of these pollutants.
| HOW YOU CAN HELP CLEAN UP THE AIR
The American Lung Association urges Americans to contact members of Congress to oppose any bills that would weaken the Clean Air Act and to oppose the Administration's power plant bill, S. 485/HR 999. Log on to http://www.lungusa.org/ to tell your members of Congress to vote "no" on S. 485/HR 999. |
To force EPA to carry out this one duty, the American Lung Association has sued the agency three times in the last 11 years. The Lung Association's constant pressure resulted in the latest standards adopted on July 18, 1997. However, five years later, in 2002, EPA had not completed its review of the PM2.5 standard, nor even begun work reviewing the ozone science, despite the clear requirements to do so.
On December 24, 2002, the American Lung Association and eight environmental groups took legal action against EPA for its failure to review the science and the standards for ozone and particle pollution. On May 27, 2003, EPA committed to a schedule under a court order, promising to complete the particle standards review by December 2004 and have the ozone standard reviewed by December 2005. However, EPA has had continual difficulty meeting interim steps in that schedule.
Delays in deciding where to clean up.
If a county is not meeting the most current air quality standards or contributes to another county's pollution problems, the Clean Air Act requires EPA to designate it a "nonattainment area." Once this happens, several automatic controls are to be put into place, and the state or local air pollution office is to begin work on a plan to reduce the air pollution by a specified date.
When it announced the 1997 standards, EPA cited many benefits to public health that would result if all areas of the United States were to come into compliance (or become "in attainment") with the new measures. Quoted below are some of the benefits that EPA identified as likely in their press announcement of the standards:
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"About 15,000 lives each year will be saved, especially among the elderly and those with existing heart and lung diseases."
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"Reduced risk of hospital admissions by thousands each year, and fewer emergency room visits, especially in the elderly and those with existing heart and lung diseases."
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"Reduced risk of significant decreases (15% to over 20%) in children's lung functions (such as difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath), approximately 1 million fewer incidences each year, which can limit a healthy child's activities or result in increased medication use, or medical treatment, for children with asthma."
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"Reduced risk of hospital admissions and emergency room visits for respiratory causes, thousands fewer admissions and visits for individuals with asthma." 5
However, none of these benefits of the 1997 standards had begun nearly six years later because of delays in putting the next steps in place. In 2002, six years after EPA adopted the standards, not one area had been designated for failing to meet them. Air-quality monitoring data had fully documented where these areas were. But until the states knew officially which areas were designated as "nonattainment," they were not required to put together a plan to improve their air.
Protecting the Nation from Air Pollution continued... |
