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Help clear our air of bad politics, and harmful pollution!
 Right now, the Environmental Protection Agency is working on updating Clean Air Act standards for allowable levels of particulate pollution in the air, which gives the agency an important opportunity to do the right thing for Americans and make much-needed improvements to these important standards.
However, EPA’s recent proposal would substantially weaken key health protections provided by current standards. Not only would it exempt mining and agribusiness industries from major parts of the standards, but it would leave rural areas completely unprotected from significant types of particle pollution.
The proposal conflicts with scientists’ recommendations and the basic requirements of the Clean Air Act. We need your help to tell EPA that we all deserve the strongest protections against harmful air pollutants, no matter where we live, or what industry emits them. Take action today!
Personalized messages carry much more weight -- please take a moment to tell EPA why strong protections against air pollution are important to you!
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| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Proposed revisions to NAAQS are insufficient
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
Please accept my comments regarding EPA Dockets HQ OAR 2001 0017 and 2004 0018.
Like most Americans, I know how important it is that we keep our nation's air clean and safe to breathe. I want to express my opposition to the recently proposed revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards that would substantially weaken important protections provided by current standards.
I believe that the proposal to set air quality standards for coarse particulate matter in urban areas, but not rural ones, is an arbitrary and unscientific policy that would leave millions of Americans without the air pollution protection they need. I urge the agency not to finalize standards that would benefit mining and agricultural operations at the expense of people who live in the areas around them. I also urge EPA to follow the recommendations of scientists and health experts who have called for strengthening the annual fine particle standard.
I hope that the final NAAQS for coarse particulate matter will be significantly strengthened, and that EPA will comply with its legal duty to ensure that everyone, no matter where they live, is protected from unhealthful air.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
April 03, 2006
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 The Clean Air Act requires the Environmental Protection Agency to review and update the National Ambient Air Quality Standards every five years in light of new scientific and medical information. This process is designed to ensure that the regulations governing the quality of the air we breathe are always based on the best science available.
Right now, EPA is working on updating the standards for allowable levels of particulate matter in the air, which gives the agency an important opportunity to do the right thing for Americans and make much-needed improvements to these important standards. However, EPA's recent proposal indicates that the agency is basing its decision on political science -- and not the advice of the agency's own science advisors.
Particulate matter, also known as particle pollution or PM, is a complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets, including metals, bacteria, acids, radioactive isotopes, and harmful silica dust particles. Scientific studies link concentrations of airborne particulate matter with hospitalizations and deaths due to heart and lung disease. The Clean Air Act requires EPA to adopt air standards at levels strong enough to protect public health, with an adequate margin of safety. Under EPA's proposal, however, the new "coarse PM" standard would apply only in urban areas with populations greater than 100,000, and would not apply at all to mining and agricultural emissions. EPA would further revoke existing coarse particle standards that protect rural areas, and wouldn’t even bother to monitor rural air quality.
 The proposed exemption for agribusiness and mining, and the proposal to eliminate air quality monitoring in rural areas is counter to the recommendations of EPA's own science advisory committee. The committee was so concerned about EPA's lack of scientific basis for these proposals, it submitted an unprecedented letter to the Administrator urging him to abandon the proposed approach.
EPA's proposal to set air quality standards for coarse particulate matter in urban areas, but not rural ones, is driven by politics -- not science. In proposing to exempt rural coarse particles, EPA ignored scientific studies conducted in rural communities showing significant health impacts from coarse particle pollution. Those benefiting the most from EPA's proposed coarse particle rule include mining and agricultural operations.
The very name of the air quality standard being proposed in EPA's proposed rule -- the National Ambient Air Quality Standard -- shows the illegality of EPA's attempt to set a local standard for coarse particulate matter, applicable only to urban areas and not to certain industries.
EPA's proposal also ignores the recommendations of scientists that EPA should tighten the annual fine particulate standard. EPA is proposing to leave alone the current standard, even though EPA’s own science advisors recommended that it be strengthened. EPA should stop playing politics and should listen to its own science advisors, who are arguing for a standard that would save thousands of American lives.
This proposal is now open for public comment until April 17, 2006. We need to show the agency how outraged the public is at this proposal, which leaves most of America without strong protections against harmful air pollution. Please take action today to tell the EPA not to weaken our current clean air standards, and to take advantage of this opportunity to improve significantly the standards that protect the air we breathe.
If you want to send your comments directly to the agency, please mail two copies to:
Docket No. EPA HQ OAR 2001 0017 & 2004 0018
Environmental Protection Agency 6102T
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
Washington, DC 20460
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