WASHINGTON (CN) — The Biden administration on Wednesday finalized stronger air quality standards to reduce health effects from soot.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced the stricter regulations for fine particle pollution, commonly known as soot.
Exposure to soot can affect lungs and it can enter the bloodstream, leading to increased risks of asthma, heart attacks and strokes.
“This final air quality standard will save lives and make all people healthier, especially within America’s most vulnerable and overburdened communities,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a press release. “Cleaner air means that our children have brighter futures, and people can live more productive and active lives, improving our ability to grow and develop as a nation.”
The updated standards lower the allowed threshold to 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air, down from 12 micrograms.
By the time the regulations are fully in effect in 2032, the agency estimated it would prevent 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays.
Some of the major industrial sources of soot pollution are power and cement plants, refineries and vehicles.
The updated regulations received praise from environmental and health organizations.
Doris Browne, president of the National Medical Association, said the new standards “will save lives based on scientific evidence. Dominique Browning, director of Moms Clean Air Force, said the announcement is a win for children.
“Particle pollution is a killer,” she said. “Children’s bodies are uniquely vulnerable to the harms of soot pollution. … EPA’s finalized protection is an important step towards cleaner, healthier air for all children.”
The announcement was also applauded by members of Congress.
“The Biden admin's new soot standard is a big step forward for environmental justice, healthy communities, & science,” Representative Glenn Ivey, a Maryland Democrat, wrote online. “I applaud the [EPA] for enacting a stronger standard to clean up our air and prevent hazardous soot exposure for communities already overburdened by Big Polluters.”
While the EPA said Wednesday’s action would bolster the economy by leading transitions to cleaner technology, business leaders had the opposite view. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said 569 counties would be out of compliance.
Marty Durbin, the chamber’s senior vice president for policy, said most of the soot emissions come from nonindustrial sources like wildfires and road dust. While the EPA would provide exemptions for wildfires, he said, those requests have historically not been granted.
“EPA should have kept the prior standard in place and focused on strategies to address nonindustrial emissions instead of punishing counties and the private sector for situations largely out of their control,” he said in a statement.
Will Hupman, vice president of downstream policy for the American Petroleum Institute, said the regulations will create permitting challenges and backlogs and jeopardize economic activity.
“Protecting public health and the environment is a top priority for our industry, and America has seen significant air quality improvements and reduced emissions over the past decades under the existing EPA standards,” Hupman said in a statement. “Yet, today’s announcement is the latest in a growing list of short-sighted policy actions that have no scientific basis and prioritize foreign energy and manufacturing from unstable regions of the world over American jobs, manufacturing, and national security.”
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