[Adobe Acrobat required]
Wm. S. Hart Union High School District What's Good &
School Board Roundup
College of the Canyons
Breaking News Bottom Line
Newhall School District NSD Today
Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center
The Mighty Oak
Samuel Dixon Family Health Centers Inc. Health Matters
Santa Clarita Valley
Historical Society
Heritage Junction Dispatch
Organization: South Coast Air Quality Management District
Date: February 24, 2009
AQMD, States Win Victory Over Weak Soot Health Standard
PA Ordered to Reconsider PM2.5 Standard
The South Coast Air Quality Management District along with 17 states
and cities has won a major legal victory over lax Bush Administration
standards for fine soot pollution that failed to protect public health.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday decided that
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the George W. Bush
Administration did not adequately consider scientific studies of the health
effects of PM2.5, also known as fine particulate pollution or soot, when it
failed to strengthen the health standard for the pollutant.
The court ordered the EPA to reconsider its decision in light of studies,
including one conducted in Southern California, which showed that children
likely suffered lung problems when breathing air with PM2.5 levels below the
current standard. (The current federal standard for PM2.5 is 15 micrograms
per cubic meter on an annual average basis.)
"This is a victory for all 16 million residents of Southern California who
deserve to breathe clean air," said Barry Wallerstein, AQMD's executive
officer. "We will continue to urge EPA to consult the best available science
when it reconsiders the soot standard."
In its decision on the case American Farm Bureau et al. v. EPA (Case No.
06-1410), the appeals court rejected industry challenges to the PM2.5 health
standard.
PM2.5 pollution comes from diesel vehicles, power plants and other
sources, and the Los Angeles Basin suffers some of the highest levels in the
nation. PM2.5 can lodge deep in the lungs and has been linked to numerous
harmful health effects, including premature death, chronic respiratory illness,
decreased lung function, cardiovascular disease and asthma. The California
Air Resources Board estimates that PM2.5 pollution is responsible for 6,200
premature deaths each year in Southern California.
Based on these impacts, AQMD as well as EPA's own scientists and
scientific advisory committee recommended strict new standards for fine soot
in 2005. However, the Bush Administration rejected their advice and chose a
weaker, less protective standard. Today's decision clears the path for the
Obama Administration to issue new, stronger standards.
The states, cities and other state agencies also participating with AQMD
in the challenge that led to today's victory are: California, Connecticut,
Delaware, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,
Oregon, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Rhode
Island, Vermont and the District of Columbia. The States of Arizona,
Maryland and Massachusetts also joined as friends of the court.
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major
portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
