OntheWilderSide

Lung Association Files Official Comments on EPA-Proposed Particle Pollution Standards

NEW YORK, April 17 /U.S. Newswire/ — Following is a statement by John L. Kirkwood, president and chief executive officer, American Lung Association, regarding EPA-proposed particle pollution standards:

Today the American Lung Association submitted formal comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the agency’s proposal for new national air quality standards for particle air pollution. Our message to EPA is straight-forward: the proposal falls far short of what is necessary to protect public health.

The American Lung Association joined with several environmental organizations, including Environmental Defense, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthjustice and the Appalachian Mountain Club in submitting comments on this critical step for protecting public health. We documented, at length, evidence proving that strong, truly protective regulations are needed to curb particle air pollution (also known as particulate matter or PM), which is the nation's most dangerous air pollutant. Not only does it cause asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes and lung cancer, particle pollution cuts short the lives of tens of thousands of Americans every year. Current standards, which were set back in 1997 — and those now proposed by the EPA — are not strong enough to protect millions of Americans who face these health risks.

National standards for air quality drive most of the work done to clean up the air in this country. If EPA adopts the weak standards as proposed, the agency will have failed the most fundamental requirement of the Clean Air Act — to protect public health. More than 2,000 studies show that particle pollution threatens the lives of tens of thousands of Americans each year. Importantly, EPA's own staff scientists and an independent panel of academic and industry researchers have recommended setting a much stronger standard. Regrettably, EPA has proposed standards that are weaker than those recommended by those experts and the American Lung Association.

EPA must follow the science and set standards that truly protect our health, including protections for those who are most vulnerable to particle pollution – people with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (emphysema and chronic bronchitis), heart disease and diabetes. There is no acceptable rationale for setting new standards at levels that still do not meet the basic legal requirement outlined in the Clean Air Act — to protect the lives and health of the people of this nation.

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