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In the News: WHRO March 22, 2024

Stricter federal air pollution standards likely won’t help Hampton Roads communities plagued by coal dust

Seth Johnson, Attorney, Washington, D.C., Office: “Strengthening a standard is really important. It’s really important to set that benchmark and tell people, ‘This is what counts as safe air.’ But if you don’t know what the air quality actually is, the impact of the standard is going to be not as great as it could…

Map of soot air pollution by county in 2022. (Air Quality System Data / U.S. EPA)
feature February 7, 2024

Mapping Soot and Smog Pollution in the United States

How is the air where you live?

Map of smog air pollution by county in 2022. (Air Quality System Data / U.S. EPA)
feature November 29, 2023

What’s the state of smog pollution where you live?

Search by county to see the level of smog pollution in the air. Smog can trigger asthma attacks and increase the risk of heart and lung diseases.

An aerial view of smog in Los Angeles, Calif.
(Robert S. Donovan / CC BY-NC 2.0)
Press Release August 21, 2023

EPA Pulls Plug on Smog Standards Reevaluation, Provoking Outcry

Despite clear evidence, EPA chooses to stop reconsidering indefensible, disappointing decision

Press Release June 13, 2023

EPA Science Advisors Urge Agency to Strength Nation’s Smog Standards

The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee finds science ‘unequivocally’ shows current standards fail to protect public health and the environment

A Circle Line ferry sails past the Williamsburg Bridge as the Manhattan skyline is shrouded in smoke from Canada wildfires on June 6, 2023 in New York City. New York City is bathed in a blanket of unhealthy air as smoke from Canadian wildfires seeps across much of the eastern U.S. and Great Lakes areas. (NDZ/STAR MAX/IPx via AP)
Article June 7, 2023

Here’s the Thing About That Color-Coded Air Quality Index

“Safe” levels of air pollution are unhealthy for many people new research shows. The EPA could change that.

Press Release January 11, 2023

EPA falla con la nueva regla de contaminación por hollín

A pesar de la creciente evidencia científica, la EPA propone protecciones de salud pública insuficientes

Press Release October 28, 2021

EPA to Reconsider “Do Nothing” Ozone Rule

Groups applaud step, urge stronger protections against dangerous smog pollution

Press Release June 10, 2021

EPA Takes Important Step Toward Science-based Policy, Environmental Justice

Earthjustice applauds EPA’s rethinking of particulate matter pollution rules

Smog covers the city of Los Angeles, CA.
(Metropolitan Transportation Library Archive)
case February 11, 2021

Obtaining Stronger Smog Standards to Save Lives

The air is easier to breathe today due to the protections provided by the Clean Air Act, but there are still over 130 million Americans living with areas that have dangerous levels of ozone pollution. Sometimes called smog, ozone is linked to premature deaths, damages plants and forests, and stunts tree and crop growth. Formed…

document February 11, 2021

American Academy of Pediatrics et al v US EPA

Fourteen health and environmental groups, half of them represented by Earthjustice, challenged ozone standards in a lawsuit in a federal appeals court. The move comes in response to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Trump administration’s last-minute refusal to strengthen the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, or NAAQS, for ozone, and less than a month after Earthjustice sued the EPA over a similar rule affecting particulate matter.

Press Release February 11, 2021

“Do Nothing” Toxic Ozone Rule Challenged by Health and Environmental Groups

Ground-level ozone harms public health and nature, yet inaction continues

document January 19, 2021

NAAQS petition for review

NAAQS petition for review

Press Release January 19, 2021

“Do Nothing” Air Pollution Rule Challenged by Health and Environmental Groups

Smog is choking our lungs and iconic wild places with dangerous brown haze

document May 7, 2019

2008 NAAQS Ozone Bump-ups Deadline Lawsuit

All areas of the country are legally entitled to healthy, clean air. Not all areas have it. Plaintiffs Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club bring this action for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief to compel Defendant Andrew R. Wheeler, in his official capacity as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to carry out his overdue legal obligation to officially determine whether certain moderate nonattainment areas of the country attained or did not attain the 2008 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone by the statutory deadline, an action necessary to strengthen clean air protections so as to bring communities with unhealthy levels of ozone pollution into compliance with clean air standards by a new legal deadline.

A través de la Ley De Aire Limpio, la EPA tiene una obligación de establecer Estándares Nacionales de Calidad Ambiental del Aire (NAAQS, por sus siglas en inglés)
(Louis Vest / CC BY-NC 2.0)
Press Release May 7, 2019

Defensores del Medio Ambiente Demandan a la EPA Por Dejar En Su Lugar Protecciones Laxas de Aire Puro en Ocho Estados

Áreas que todavía poseen aire contaminado serán sujetas a protecciones más fuertes

Under the Clean Air Act, EPA has an obligation to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for a number of common air pollutants including ground-level ozone.
(Louis Vest / CC BY-NC 2.0)
Press Release May 7, 2019

Advocates Challenge EPA for Leaving Weak Clean Air Protections in Place in Eight States

Areas that still have dirty air will be subject to stronger protections

document March 4, 2019

Notice of intent to sue EPA ozone nonattainment deadline

Notice of intent letter sent to EPA on March 4, 2019, on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club