The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced new rules for controlling soot and dust that plague large areas of California, imposing one tougher safety standard but rejecting the recommendations of scientific advisors to strengthen others.
At a news conference, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson touted the rules as "the most protective air quality regulations in U.S. history" and said, "All Americans deserve to breathe clean air. That's exactly what we're doing today."
The EPA formulated the rules in response to a looming court deadline for updated standards in the settlement of a lawsuit by the environmental group Earthjustice.
Johnson's announcement of the rules drew harsh criticism from all sides of a long-running debate over how best to control some of the most harmful airborne contaminants. Those critics included industries faced with complying with the regulations, members of Congress and environmental groups.
After hearing some of the criticism, Johnson said that the Clean Air Act authorized him "to do what is requisite to protect public health ... neither more nor less stringent than necessary ... that's exactly what I did."
The EPA strengthened the standard that governed people's daily exposure to fine particles, or soot, but left unchanged one that deals with annual exposure. Also, the EPA scrapped another standard for coarse particles that are found in dust. A scientific panel established by Congress had strongly urged tightening annual soot standards to levels that members said could protect thousands more lives.
The new regulations pertain to fine and coarse particulate matter that is expelled from tailpipes, factory smokestacks, farm equipment and other sources and when inhaled can penetrate deep into the lungs. Exposure has been linked to severe asthma and premature deaths from heart and lung disease.
The Los Angeles Basin, especially the Riverside area, and the Owens Valley in the eastern Sierra Nevada have the worst particulate pollution in the nation. The problem in urban areas is largely attributable to exhaust from trucks and other diesel-powered vehicles. The Owens Valley is prone to major dust storms.
Rogene Henderson, head of the EPA's scientific panel that was in charge of reviewing the agency's proposals, said the panel's recommendations to better protect public health were ignored.
"We are, of course, very disappointed," she said.
