WASHINGTON — The government on Thursday announced new limits that could force dozens more counties to reduce the number of tiny particles of soot people can breathe safely.
But it rejected tougher standards its own experts recommended that could save more lives.
While the Environmental Protection Agency strengthened the part of its 1997 standards that deals with people's daily exposure to soot pollution, it left unchanged another part that addresses annual exposure.
Both are for particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers, or one-thirtieth the diameter of a human hair, that lodge in the lungs and blood vessels.
EPA estimated that by 2015, 52 counties nationwide probably won't be able to meet its tougher soot pollution standards, which take effect in 60 days.
A final determination would not be made until after three years of air monitoring.
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Currently, 208 counties aren't meeting EPA's soot standards, mostly the annual measure.
Experts advising the agency had said the science supports tougher standards than EPA selected. Other air pollution experts and advocates complained of political tinkering.
The health-based limits on soot are considered an important part of the Clean Air Act, helping save 15,000 people a year from premature deaths from heart and lung diseases.
● Tucson ranked as the fifth-cleanest city in the United States for long-term particle pollution, according to the American Lung Association in 2006. Pima County was the 18th-cleanest county.
Arizona Daily Star
