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.
|