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For Immediate Release:  
For Further Information:
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December 18, 2006  
Lee Moore
609-292-4791

Office of The Attorney General
- Stuart Rabner, Attorney General

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Rabner Announces Challenge to EPA Rule Setting Annual Air Quality Standard
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TRENTON – Attorney General Stuart Rabner today announced that New Jersey has joined with 12 other states in asking a federal appeals court to require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set a tougher annual air quality standard for microscopic pollutants known as particulate matter.

In a petition filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, New Jersey and the other states challenge a new rule adopted by the EPA in September that set both daily and annual standards for air borne particulate matter.

The rule toughened the daily National Ambient Air Quality standard for particulate matter, but left the annual standard for the same pollutants unchanged, contrary to the recommendations of the EPA’s own Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee.

According to Attorney General Rabner, New Jersey and the other participating states take issue with the fact that EPA ignored the advice of its own advisory committee, while also disregarding the concerns of scientific and public health experts who submitted comments during the rule making process.

Moreover, the states contend that EPA failed to meet its legal obligation under the federal Clean Air Act to set limits on air pollutant concentrations that are adequate to protect public health with a margin of safety. Particulate matter is the general term used for a mixture of solid particles such as dust, ash and smoke, as well as liquid droplets (other than water) in the air. Found in a variety of emissions including those from power plants, wood combustion, automobiles, and diesel engines, particulate matter has been linked to debilitating lung and cardiovascular illnesses when breathed in high concentrations, or when inhaled consistently over extended periods of time.

“Our position is that the EPA has, in essence, abdicated its legal responsibility under the Clean Air Act by disregarding the recommendations of its own advisory committee and embracing an annual standard for particulate matter that fails to ensure public safety,” said Attorney General Rabner.

“EPA is ignoring the advice of its own advisory committee,” said Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson. “The overwhelming scientific consensus is that fine particles cause respiratory disease and premature death. I am hopeful that this lawsuit will succeed in compelling EPA to establish standards that will protect the public from the serious threat posed by particulate pollution.”

In September, the EPA finalized a new, daily ambient air quality standard of 35 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter of air. That standard represented a toughening of the daily limit, but the old yearly limit of 15 micrograms per cubic foot of air remained the same.

The particulate matter regulated by the EPA rule is the smallest type – less than 2.5 microns in diameter – and is widely recognized as being especially threatening to human health because of its ability to lodge deep in the lungs.

The position of New Jersey and the other participating states is that even low concentrations of particulate matter breathed over the course of a year can lead to environmental harm and health problems for humans, and that the existing annual federal limits do not provide adequate protection.

In addition to New Jersey, the states of New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont joined in petitioning the Court of Appeals to require EPA to set more rigid annual standards for air borne particulate matter. Also joining the petition are the District of Columbia and the South Coast Air Quality Management District headquartered in Diamond Bar, CA.

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