Biden administration cracks down on soot, among the most harmful types of air pollution
A drone view of the Chevron Richmond Refinery in Richmond, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. In a significant move aimed at reducing some of the most harmful types of air pollution in the country, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday set tougher standards for fine particulate matter, or soot, saying the new rules would save thousands of lives nationwide.
On Wednesday, the EPA said that the new rules would prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths nationwide, along with 290,000 lost workdays, and yield up to $46 billion in net health benefits by 2032. For every $1 spent to comply with the rules nationwide, up to $77 in human health benefits would accrue by 2032,“This final air quality standard will save lives and make all people healthier, especially within America’s most vulnerable and overburdened communities,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
The rules were last updated in 2012 by the Obama administration. The tighter rules were embraced by the Biden administration after the Trump administration rejected them in 2018. The outcome of the November presidential election is very likely to decide whether they remain in place.“The EPA is putting public health first by requiring polluters to cut soot from the air we all breathe,” said Manish Bapna, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
California has gone farther than other states, requiring diesel trucks to undergo smog checks, regulating pollution from large ships and locomotives, and requiring the owners of old semi-trucks to replace their engines. The state also has offered industries financial help to upgrade engines and other polluting equipment, funded in part by a $2 fee on vehicle registrations.
The current annual health standard for such pollutants is 12 micrograms per cubic meter, averaged over three years. Under Wednesday’s new rules, it will fall to 9. The EPA’s scientific advisory panel recommended that EPA tighten the annual standard to between 8 to 10.
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