Pallone Lauds EPA Rule to Improve Clean Air Standards

Press Release

Today at a hearing on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed rule to revise air quality standards for ozone, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, applauded the proposal because of the positive impact it would have on public health. The hearing took place in the Committee's Subcommittee on Energy and Power.

"EPA's proposed rule to tighten clean air standards will save lives," said Congressman Pallone. "It is a clear win for human health, and New Jersey and the entire country will benefit from this long-overdue rule. Implementation of the rule cannot come soon enough, as scientific evidence shows that the current allowable level of ozone does not adequately protect public health."

"A majority of New Jersey's counties fail public health standards for smog on hot summer days. EPA's action to reduce ozone pollution is desperately needed for the more than a half million New Jersey residents struggling with asthma," said Doug O'Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey. "All of us deserve clean air. EPA's ozone rule puts science and our lungs first, and we can't let polluter attacks derail these needed protections."

Since 1970, the Clean Air Act has required EPA to set air quality standards based on science and medical evidence alone through the National Ambient Air Quality Standard. Essentially, the standard sets the level of pollution that is "safe" to breathe. This structure has proven effective in cleaning the air and protecting public health. However, since 2008 the ozone standard has been weaker than needed to ensure safe air. As such, the independent Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee made clear that in order to adequately protect public health, EPA must strengthen the ozone standard to ensure an adequate margin of safety for all individuals. The recommendations were ignored by the Bush Administration. Now, to correct the Bush Administration's disregard for the facts, EPA has proposed, based on yet another exhaustive review of the scientific evidence, to tighten the standard, as recommended by the Scientific Advisory Committee.

The proposal would reduce ozone pollution, providing significant benefits to public health. The public health benefits would particularly impact children, the elderly and people with respiratory diseases. For example, EPA estimates that it will help avoid thousands of premature deaths, cases of acute bronchitis in children, asthma related emergency room visits, and nearly one million asthma attacks in children. EPA analysis also shows that health benefits would significantly outweigh the compliance costs by billions of dollars per year.

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