Summary: Given the public health and environmental threat posed by air pollution in Pennsylvania, the state should implement the strongest possible programs to reduce air pollution in the Commonwealth. Cars and trucks are a significant source of this air pollution, but thankfully there are both technologies that will drastically reduce pollution from automobiles, and an established set of vehicle emissions standards that will bring these cleaner vehicles to Pennsylvania faster than weaker federal standards. We urge members of the Senate to give Pennsylvanians a greater choice in purchasing these cleaner vehicles by supporting implementation of these standards in Pennsylvania, as encompassed in the Pennsylvania Clean Vehicles Program. We also urge members of the Senate to reject any legislative attempts to prevent or delay our state regulators’ efforts to implement these standards.
Background & Need for Air Pollution Reductions: While air quality has improved in Pennsylvania and across the country over the last three decades, Pennsylvania still suffers from air pollution levels that pose significant public health and environmental threats, and levels that represent some of the worst air pollution in the country. One air pollutant of primary concern is ground-level ozone or smog pollution. Nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) react with heat and sunlight to create the smog that prompts “Code Red” ozone alert days advising citizens to limit their outdoor activities. In 2003, Pennsylvania ranked 11th nationwide for the worst ozone smog pollution nationally, as measured by the number of exceedances of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 8-hour health-based ozone standard.1 Preliminary data from 2005 suggests that from May through August there were at least 20 days on which monitors in
Pennsylvania recorded smog levels exceeding EPA’s health-based standard.2 In addition, 37 Pennsylvania counties have been named by EPA as ‘non-attainment’ areas for exceeding the 8-hour health-based ozone standard.3 In addition to creating smog pollution, nitrogen oxides also react with other substances in the air to form acid rain, which damages forests, lakes, rivers and streams. In addition to ozone smog pollution, two other air pollutants of particular concern in Pennsylvania are air toxics such as benzene, and global warming pollutants such as carbon dioxide.
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testimony_12_13_05.pdf