Kevin Cromar Cautions

Director of Health, Environment, and Policy, Kevin Cromar, met with officials at OMB and EPA to discuss the pending National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter. He was joined by Laura Myers (Kaiser Permanente), Franziska Rosser (UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh) and Gary Ewart (American Thoracic Society). EPA has proposed a revised fine-particulate-matter annual standard of 9–10 μg/m3 and to retain the 24-hour standard at 35 μg/m3. The meeting addressed that new proposed fine-particulate-matter annual standards are less protective than recommendations by health professionals and will not redress disparities in exposures commonly observed within metropolitan areas. Participants also discussed how to improve the Air Quality Index, in light of the revised standards and the need for a separate review process.