The Battle Over Air Quality Standards

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The Battle Over Air Quality Standards

Proposed by: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The American Lung Association (ALA)
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
The Sierra Club
Consumer and Other Environmental Organizations

Opposed by : The Air Quality Standards Coalition (It consists of approximately 600 industrial companies and interest groups)

Automobile manufacturers
The American Trucking Association,
The National Association of Manufacturers
The Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA)

According to the annual survey of air quality done by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1995, air pollution has decreased 30% nationwide over the past twenty five years yet "80 million people in the U.S. still breathe air that fails to meet these standards."2 General air quality of an area is determined by EPA by monitoring the concentrations of six criteria pollutants, which are carbon monoxide, lead, ozone, particulate matter (PM) and sulfur dioxide, in the air. Emissions of these six pollutants are regulated by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards program (NAAQS). Under the Clean Air Act, EPA is required to review NAAQS every five years to see if changes are necessary.

Out of these six pollutants, ozone and PM are more difficult to control than other four pollutants. Ozone is a chemical which is produced naturally in the stratosphere to provide a protective layer above the surface of the earth; but at ground level, it is produced by the photochemical reaction of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in sunlight to contribute to the formation of smog. PM, on the other hand, is soot or "a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air."7 Particles...

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USEPA Office of Air and Radiation. "EPA Announces Proposed Standards." Jan. 13, 1997. http://ttnwww.rtpnc.epa.gov/naaqspro/index.htm.

Ryan, Dave. "EPA Proposes Air Standards for Particulate Maater and Ozone." Nov. 27, 1996. http://134.67.104.12/naaqspro/press.htm.

USEPA Office of Air and Radiation and Office of Air Quality Planning & Standards. "Health and Environmental Effects of Ground-Level Ozone." Nov. 29, 1996. http://134.67.104.12/naaqspro/o3hlth.htm.

USEPA Office of Air and Radiation and Office of Air Quality Planning & Standards. "Health and Environmental Effects of Particulate Matter." Nov. 29, 1996. http://134.67.104.12/naaqspro/pmhlth.htm.

USEPA Office of Air and Radiation and Office of Air Quality Planning & Standards. "How the New Proposed Standards Will Affect My City or County." Nov. 26, 1996. http://134.67.104.12/naaqspro/mycity.htm.

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