EPA Calls for Overdue States to Cut Air Pollution in National Parks

As a result of legal action by three environmental groups, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today determined that more than three dozen states have failed to submit programs required by the Clean Air Act to cut air pollution drifting into national parks and wilderness areas. The determination means that EPA must work with the states to take corrective action or put in place a federal clean air plan.

"Today's action gets the country back on track in restoring clean air to our national parks," said Kevin Lynch, attorney for Environmental Defense Fund based in Colorado. "We look forward to working with EPA's new leadership and the states to clean up the industrial smokestacks that pollute our national parks."

"EPA's action is good news for anyone who enjoys visiting our nation's magnificent national parks," said Earthjustice attorney Jennifer Chavez. "We look forward to working with EPA and the states to achieve clean air and clear vistas in the parks.

"The Clean Air Act required states nationwide to submit plans by December 2007 to clean up the air pollution -- and to remedy existing and prevent future visibility impairment -- in 156 premier national parks and wilderness areas, (http://home.nps.gov/applications/parksearch/geosearch.cfm).

They include: Acadia (Maine), Grand Canyon (Arizona), Great Smoky Mountains (Tennessee and North Carolina), Mount Rainier (Washington state), Rocky Mountain (Colorado), Shenandoah (Virginia), Theodore Roosevelt (New York), Yellowstone (Idaho/Montana/Wyoming), Yosemite (California), and Zion (Utah).

If states fail to meet these obligations, EPA must identify the deficiencies and work with the states to take corrective action or put in place a federal clean air plan. After states missed this legal deadline and EPA failed to take the corrective action required by the Clean Air Act, Earthjustice, Environmental Defense Fund, and the National Parks Conservation Association recently went to court to compel EPA to take corrective action.

37 states have not submitted the clean air plans for national parks and wilderness areas required by the December 2007 legal deadline, although five of those -- Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, and Wyoming -- have submitted a portion of the required cleanup plans. About 13 states submitted clean air blueprints. The latter group includes: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia. EPA must review these plans for adequacy.

Much of the pollution problem in national parks comes from old power plants and factories with inadequate pollution controls. Emissions from these plants can travel hundreds of miles, contributing to regional haze that obscures scenic vistas over large areas. Each state's clean air plan must include rules to limit these emissions, limits that will achieve cleaner, healthier air for our people and our parks.

According to the National Park Service, human-caused air pollution reduces visibility in most national parks throughout the country. Average visual range -- the farthest a person can see on a given day -- in most of the western United States is about one-half to two-thirds of what it would be without man-made air pollution (about 60 to 100 miles). In most of the east, the average visual range is about one-fifth of what it would be under natural conditions (less than 30 miles).

EPA Soot List

100 million people living in 46 metropolitan areas are breathing air containing unsafe levels of soot and are in violation of EPA’s fine-particle pollution limits.

On December 22nd, the EPA notified 25 governors and 23 tribal leaders that 211 counties in 25 states did not meet federal pollution standards. 15 new cities and 54 additional counties have been added to the updated “Soot List”.

The EPA reviewed recommendations from states and tribes along with public comments before making its decision to designate counties and parts of counties as not meeting EPA’s PM 2.5 standards. These areas, known as nonattainment areas, include counties with monitors violating the standards and nearby areas that contribute to that violation. Affected states and tribes will be required to take steps to reduce the pollution that forms fine particles. The vast majority of U.S. counties and tribal lands currently meet standards, but will need to continue working to maintain clean air.

New cities include on this year’s list are:
Fairbanks and Juneau, Alaska
Nogales, Arizona
Pinehurst, Idaho
Davenport and Muscatine, Iowa
Klamath and Oakridge, Oregon
Provo and Salt Lake City, Utah
Seattle, Washington
Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Logan, Utah

Many states west of the Rockies have nonattainment regions that exceed federal air pollution levels. They include counties in Utah, Montana, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California and Alaska.

In California, all or part of 30 counties have been put on notice to clean up their air. The Bay Area has exceeded acceptable levels of particulate matter five times in the past 2 months and received 32 warning letters.

In Southwestern Pennsylvania, 10 areas are not compliant, including the city of Pittsburgh.

Chicago along with 6 Illinois counties are included on the Soot List.

In 2006, EPA strengthened the 24-hour fine particle standards from 65 micrograms per cubic meter to 35 micrograms per cubic meter of air to protect public health. Nationwide, monitored levels of fine particle pollution fell 11 percent from 2000 to 2007. Fine particles can either be emitted directly, or they can form in the atmosphere from reactions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Exposure to fine particle pollution can cause a number of serious health problems including aggravated asthma, increased hospital admissions and emergency room visits for respiratory and cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and premature death.

According to the EPA, nonattainment areas must develop a plan to clean the air by 2012 and have that plan in place by 2014.

See the Source:

EPA Soot List – Area Designations for 2006 24-Hour Fine Particle (PM2.5) Standards
State Designations by Region

Find out about:

Diesel Particulate Filters to reduce particulate matter from diesel engines

ARB Proposes to Approve Valley Particulate Matter Plan

Hearing set for May 22 in Fresno

SACRAMENTO - The Air Resources Board released a staff report today that recommends approval of a particulate matter pollution control plan for the San Joaquin Valley that would meet federal health standards on time.

The Board will vote on the staff recommendation -- posted today at http://www.blogger.com/www.arb.ca.gov/planning/sip/sjvpm2.5.htm -- at a hearing in Fresno on May 22. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District approved the fine particulate matter state implementation plan April 30.

Local measures such as a strengthened residential wood smoke rule and one of the state's toughest regulations on boilers and glass furnaces will combine with ARB's recently passed off-road construction rule and the upcoming proposed truck regulation to allow the Valley to meet federal fine particulate matter standards by 2014. Parts of the Valley already comply with the particulate matter standard, with southern regions suffering from the worst air quality.

"The combined efforts of ARB and the local air district are lowering soot levels in the Valley every year," said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "The question we need to ask Valley residents is, have we accounted for every pollution source? Now that this report is out on the street we will be looking for public input and suggestions leading up to the Board vote later this month."

The plan reduces fine particulate matter exposure by lowering oxides of nitrogen emissions by almost 50 percent and fine particulate matter emissions by over 25 percent from 2005 levels. The plan is based on the $27 million "California Regional Particulate Matter Study," which provides the strongest scientific foundation in the nation for a particulate matter plan.

ARB, the Air District and the United States Environmental Protection Agency will participate in a technology forum to be held at University California, Merced on July 9 to explore new advancements that will be needed to obtain future reductions to meet the U.S. EPA's new more stringent standard for which a revised plan will be due in 2012. In the meantime, ARB will continue to help fund pollution-cutting projects in the Valley through Proposition 1B funds.

Fine particulate matter emissions are associated with causing a variety of health effects including premature death and a number of heart and lung diseases.

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain health based air quality standards.

The energy challenge facing California is real. Every Californian needs to take immediate action to reduce energy consumption. For a list of simple ways you can reduce demand and cut your energy cost, see our web site at http://www.arb.ca.gov/

See the Source:

California Air Resources Board

Find out:

How to reduce particulate matter using diesel particulate filters from CleanAIR Systems

air pollution
particle pollution

Air Resources Board Awards $2.2 Million to Investigate Air Qality Isues

State will use information to reduce air pollution

The California Air Resources Board granted $2.2 million to eight university and research institutes that will investigate air pollution emissions, exposures, and health effects.

The $2.2 million is matched by $3.5 million in co-funding from the California Energy Commission, the National Aeronautical and Space Administration, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The projects will examine various aspects of air pollution including in-vehicle exposures, mechanisms for testing pollutant emissions and the economic effects of cleaning California's air.

"Research projects like these create a map of air pollution in California," said Mary Nichols, Chairman of the Air Resources Board. "They give us targets, tools and strategies for effective and economically sound regulations."

Funds awarded today will go to:
* University of California, Irvine, $500,000: measure and model in-vehicle concentrations of key air pollutants and apply the results to estimate in-transit exposures for a health study of pregnant women and infants;
* Southern Research Institute, $102,722: evaluate instruments that measure real-time particulate matter emissions from a variety of fuels;
* University of California, Riverside, $200,041: improve its environmental chamber used to examine the examine the ozone-forming potential of architectural coatings;
* University of California, Irvine, $400,000: measure greenhouse gas emissions and better understand air pollution formation over California using the NASA DC-8 research aircraft;
* University of Wisconsin-Madison, $409,962: identify the sources that contribute to PM2.5 in the South Coast Angeles Basin;
* West Virginia University, $349,996: building on a prior study of diesel engines, scrutinize the toxicity of particulate matter emissions from heavy-duty compressed natural gas engines with state-of-the-art after-treatment technology;
* Caleb Management Services, Limited, $349,758: for the State's global warming program, quantify the amount and types of greenhouse emissions embedded in foam insulation in California; and,
* Environmental Business International, Inc., $196,211:
define the climate change industry and characterize its current and future status relative to the California economy.

ARB's research program guides and supports clean air efforts by completing its own research and sponsoring research by others.

Information gleaned from research enables ARB to craft regulatory measures with the minimum cost and maximum health-benefits.

Further information on ARB research projects is available here:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/rd-ongoing.htm .

Find out:

How to reduce diesel particulate matter on from stationary engines using CARB verified after-treatment technology

air pollution
diesel particulate traps

Beijing Logs Last Blue Sky Day of 2007

On the last day of the year, Beijing registered 246 "Blue Sky Days," meeting China's goal to tackle air pollution before the Olympic Games. In order to log a "Blue Sky Day" 27 monitoring stations across the city must show levels of three air pollutants have been reduced in order to cut smog that perpetually lingers over the city. According to James Reynolds of the BBC, on a typical day when pollutants have not been reduced, it is difficult to see more than 50 metres into the distance.

Due to respiratory issues caused by choking smog that could impact athletes, Olympic officials have warned some games may be cancelled if air pollution is not cleaned up. Reportedly China's government is not as stringent with its air quality index as other countries. A good day in Beijing would be considered a polluted day in the U.S., with increased levels of sulfur dioxide, particulate matter and NOx.

See the Source:
APA
BBC News

Find out:
More about cutting air pollution using emissions control products

air pollution
particulate matter

Air Pollution Facts: Current Stats from the News

1. Iowa’s Clear the Air (a coalition of organizations fighting global warming) reports the following Iowa state statistics according to data collected by consultants for the EPA:
- 323 annual deaths attributed to fine particle pollution from power plants
- 40,988 lost work days
- 333 hospitalzations
- 7,322 asthma attacks

2. The Senate has recently passed a bill that will require car owners to buy:
- 36 billion gallons of ethanol by 2022

But Nobel Prize recipient, Paul Crutzen, warns that intensive cultivation of biofuels could actually increase the greenhouse effect up to 70% MORE than burning fossil fuels. According to Crutzen, a byproduct of fertilizer used in growing biofuels is nitrous oxide. This greenhouse gas has almost 300 times the heat-trapping properties of CO2 (one of the most common greenhouse gases produced by burning fossil fuels).

3. Levels of ozone and particulate matter in Europe have not improved since 1997, despite significant reductions in pollutants from emissions.

4. Global energy demands will rise by 50% by the year 2030, from 85 millions barrels of oil a day to 116 million barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency. Almost half of the increase in demand will be attributed to China and India.

5. Sea level is projected to rise 1 to 3 feet within the next 100 years due to global warming and climate change.

6. To date, the US Congress has not passed a single bill to cap and reduce global warming pollution in the United State’s.

7. In California alone, 28,000 tons of particulate matter are emitted annually from diesel-fueled vehicles and engines. This includes 1 million+ on- and off-road vehicles, 16,000 stationary engines, and approximately 50,000 portable engines.

8. Due to smog and particulate matter, India is now receiving less sunlight than it did 20 years ago.

9. Air pollution is costing China 3.8 percent of its gross domestic product, with particulate matter becoming a major health threat.

10. China’s combined health and non-health cost of outdoor air pollution and water pollution is about 100 billion U.S. dollars annually according to the World Bank.

Find out:

How to cut emissions of particulate matter from diesel on- and off-road vehicles, as well as stationary engines by using diesel particulate filters from CleanAIR Systems.

air pollution
diesel emissions

In Search of Smog Stories

In the battle to require more stringent regulations on vehicle emissions, The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) is fighting back with smog stories solicited from the public. The “Clean Air Voices in the Community” program is asking the public to submit personal stories, photographs and videos on how smog affects their lives. The stories will be posted on the SCAQMD website at www.aqmd.gov, as well as distributed in newsletters and PSAs.

The goal of the program is to raise awareness of the situation and bring a sense of urgency that the state and federal government, along with the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach need to take aggressive action against emissions from trucks, ships and cars. The main issue is particulate pollution, which is known to cause serious health problems and premature death.

To submit stories and other material, email yourstory@aqmd.gov.

See the Source:
DailyBreeze.com

Find out:
How to reduce particulate emissions by using diesel particulate filters