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Executive Summary
The 1970 Clean Air Act, one of the nation's preeminent public health laws, has substantially improved air quality in the United States. Despite this progress, many of our cities, suburbs, and even treasured national parks are shrouded in smog for much of the summer. The major sources of this pollution include power plants, cars, trucks, and heavy equipment, such as that used in construction and farming. Ground-level ozone, the primary component of smog, is a dangerous respiratory irritant that adversely affects the health of millions of Americans each year. Nearly half (49 percent) of all Americans live in places with unhealthy levels of ozone, which can cause chest pain and cough, aggravate asthma, reduce lung function, increase emergency room visits and hospital admissions for respiratory problems, and lead to irreversible lung damage. Recent studies have provided the first evidence linking ozone to the onset of asthma as well as to mortality from strokes, a leading cause of death in the U.S. Danger in the Air: Unhealthy Levels of Smog in 2002 is the fourth annual compilation of data from the nation's network of more than 1,000 ozone monitors. Key findings include the following: • 2002 was the worst smog season for which we have data (1998-present).
• Forty-one (41) states and the District of Columbia exceeded the national health standard for ozone 8,818 times during the 2002 ozone season.
• Twenty-nine (29) states and the District of Columbia exceeded the old, 1-hour peak ozone standard 811 times in 2002.
• California, Texas, and Tennessee led the nation with the most "smog days". days on which at least one ozone monitor in the state exceeded the national health standard. Close behind were Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia, South Carolina, Kentucky, and New York.
• Ozone monitors in California, Texas, and along the Eastern seaboard recorded 55 exceedances falling within the "very unhealthy" range in 2002.
• Every region of the country exceeded the national health standard for ozone more often in 2002 than 2001. The largest increases were in the Midwest, Southeast, and Central states, which exceeded the ozone standard 2.6, 2.8, and 5.6 times more frequently than the previous year, respectively.
The timing of this year's report allows us to include a limited amount of preliminary data for 2003, which has been a relatively mild and wet summer. With fewer hot and sunny days, ozone levels appear to have declined in many areas but still are unacceptably high and will rise again as soon as the heat returns, unless we successfully reduce emissions levels. Key findings based on preliminary data through July 2003 for 21 states and the District of Columbia include the following: • Twenty (20) of the 21 states and the District of Columbia exceeded the national health standard for ozone 1,148 times through the end of July 2003 compared with a total of 3,961 times in those states during the entire 2002 ozone season, making for a less smoggy season overall.
• However, Colorado is having its worst smog season in recent years, and Florida and Louisiana already have exceeded the national health standard for ozone more frequently than in all of 2002.
From 1998 to 2002, the nation's air quality monitors recorded unhealthy levels of ozone more than 33,000 times. Against this backdrop, the Bush administration is pursuing policies to weaken existing clean air protections on several fronts, such as a plan dubbed the "Clear Skies Initiative," which would allow power plants to emit more pollution over a longer period than simply enforcing current law. Rather than exacerbating the already pervasive public health threat posed by unhealthy levels of ozone, policymakers and regulators should work to clear the smog from our skies by reducing emissions from smokestacks and tailpipes, the largest sources of smog-forming pollutants. The U.S. EPA, state environmental agencies, and other policymakers should: • Reject the Bush administration's "Clear Skies" plan, which would allow more than one and a half times more smog-forming nitrogen oxides in our air from 2010 to 2018 compared with the timely enforcement of current law.
• Adopt a comprehensive new program to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, and mercury from power plants.
• Abandon regulatory efforts designed to weaken the application of New Source Review, a critical clean air enforcement program that requires industrial facilities to install modern pollution controls when they make other major modifications that increase emissions.
• Ensure timely designation of 8-hour ozone nonattainment areas.
• Oppose efforts to delay or weaken Clean Air Act requirements that apply to ozone nonattainment areas.
• Adopt fuel and emission standards for "non-road" diesel construction, farming, and industrial equipment, as well as trains and ships, to reduce emissions from these vehicles and engines by at least 90 percent.
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