http://www.pennenvironment.org/newsroom/clean-air-news/clean-air-news http://www.pennenvironment.org/newsroom/clean-air-news/clean-air-news/court-strikes-down-bush-mercury-rule http://www.pennenvironment.org/newsroom/clean-air-news/clean-air-news/court-strikes-down-bush-mercury-rule Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:28:28 -0600 http://www.pennenvironment.org/newsroom/clean-air-news/clean-air-news/pennenvironment-denounces-epa-smog-clean-air-act-announcements Philadelphia, PA—The Bush administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last evening announced a flawed new national air quality standard for ozone “smog” pollution, and called for sweeping changes to the Clean Air Act that threaten to fundamentally weaken one of the nation’s most important environmental laws, according to PennEnvironment. “Smog pollution can harm even the healthiest lungs, and yesterday’s decision will leave many Pennsylvanians at risk of asthma attacks and other health problems from breathing dirty air,” said Nathan Willcox, Energy & Clean Air Advocate for PennEnvironment. Last night, EPA announced a new air quality standard for ozone pollution of 0.075 parts per million (ppm). While the new standard is stronger than the current standard, it fell short of what EPA's own scientific advisers have said is necessary to protect public health. Specifically, the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), a group of expert outside scientists who advise the EPA Administrator on air quality standards, unanimously recommended that EPA issue an ozone standard no greater than 0.070 ppm. No previous administration has ever rejected the CASAC’s scientific advice. The Bush EPA also ignored the CASAC’s advice last year in setting a new standard for fine particle “soot” pollution. The decision was especially disappointing given the broad public support for an ozone standard that protects public health, as demonstrated through public hearings and a public comment period last fall. Philadelphia hosted one of five public hearings convened nationally by EPA last August. At the Philadelphia hearing, dozens of citizens, elected officials, doctors and public health advocates urged EPA to issue a new standard that reflected the recommendations of EPA's scientific advisers. The strong turnout at the Philadelphia hearing wasn't too surprising, given the smog pollution problems that plague the Philadelphia region and many areas throughout Pennsylvania. The American Lung Association gave all five counties in the Philadelphia region - Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia - grades of "F" for ozone pollution in the group's 2007 "State of the Air" report. Other Pennsylvania counties receiving a grade of "F" in the report included Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Lancaster, Lehigh, Mercer, Northampton, Washington and York. Ozone is a powerful pollutant that can burn our lungs and airways, causing health effects ranging from coughing and wheezing to asthma attacks and even premature death. Children, senior citizens, and people with lung disease are particularly vulnerable to the health effects of ozone. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA must set air quality standards at levels that protect public health, including sensitive populations, with an adequate margin of safety. In addition to the disappointing ozone standard announcement, under the guise of “modernizing” the Clean Air Act, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson called for fundamental changes to the law. These changes including requiring implementation costs to be considered in setting air quality standards and allowing states and local areas to ignore air pollution problems. The Clean Air Act requires air quality standards to be set based solely on a pollutant’s impacts on public health, a matter of science - not consideration of the potential costs of implementation of the standard. Many industries have been lobbying furiously in recent weeks for a weak ozone standard and have long sought major changes to the Clean Air Act. “The Bush EPA has been doing industry’s bidding for seven years, but this takes the cake. These changes would strike at the heart of the Clean Air Act and take us back decades in protecting Americans from air pollution,” said Willcox. http://www.pennenvironment.org/newsroom/clean-air-news/clean-air-news/pennenvironment-denounces-epa-smog-clean-air-act-announcements Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:10:23 -0500