The Clean Air Act at 35

A life-saver for millions of Americans - but millions more still breathe unhealthy air

Posted: 19-Dec-2005; Updated: 21-Dec-2005

Thanks to the Clean Air Act, enacted in December 1970, millions of Americans breathe cleaner, healthier air, and tens of thousands of illnesses and premature deaths have been prevented. Over the years, the costs of complying with the rules have amounted to a fraction of the trillions of dollars saved in health costs – making the Clean Air Act one of the most cost-effective regulatory programs in American history. 

A new report from Environmental Defense, The Clean Air Act at 35: Preventing Death and Disease from Particulate Pollution, examines this landmark national health standards program and the significant public health achievements delivered over the last 35 years. 

Some of the report’s conclusions:

• Today, our air is dramatically cleaner, and our economy has prospered as air quality has improved.  For five of the six pollutants regulated by national air quality standards – carbon monoxide (CO), lead, particulate pollution, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone(volatile organic compounds and oxides of nitrogen form ozone) – pollution levels have fallen since the Clean Air Act was passed. Yet during the same period, our economy has steadily expanded.  
  
  
  
   
• Despite the progress, half of all Americans still breathe unhealthy air, and many are still dying and suffering disease from particulate pollution (a mix of sooty particles and chemicals formed from sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other chemicals). In the last 10 years, more than 2000 peer-reviewed scientific studies have shown that particulate pollution causes a bevy of harmful health effects, from reduced lung function and strokes to lung cancer and premature death.  These problems occur at pollution levels far below the current national health standards. EPA staff recently estimated that in five cities – Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Detroit – 3,570 people would die prematurely each year due to fine particulate pollution even if the air in those cities met the current public health standards.

To protect Americans from the death and disease resulting from particulate pollution, the American Lung Association and over 100 prominent environmental health researchers and physicians (read the letter) have recommended that EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson strengthen the fine particulate pollution health standards as follows:

• 12 ug/m3 for the annual standard; and
• 25 ug/m3 for the 24-hour standard (3-year average of 99th percentile 24-hour concentrations)

Progress for the next 35 years

A stronger particulate pollution standard will save lives and prevent disease. This month, against the backdrop of the rich history of the Clean Air Act, EPA will propose revisions to the national ambient air quality standards for particulate pollution.  Administrator Stephen Johnson has the opportunity to uphold its core principles and determine whether millions of Americans are protected from harmful particulate pollution. 

The report calls for Johnson to heed the compelling body of scientific research and carry forward the legacy entrusted to him under the Clean Air Act by setting protective standards for particulate pollution that really do protect public health.

• Read our new report The Clean Air Act at 35: Preventing Death and Disease from Particulate Pollution and the executive summary.
  
• Find out more about particulate pollution at Clean Air for Life