Sign on to the following letter this week and try to send someone to the press
conference in Austin announcing Texas citizen support of EPA's proposed rules
to set more
protective health based air quality standards for ozone and small particles.
The problem: Business and their representatives who are used to current less
protective air
quality standards are arguing loudly, forcibly, and in large numbers that
these standards will be
too expensive, overly burdensome to small business owners, and cause too much
inconvenience to
the general public. Once again, they want to wait until there even more
scientific evidence harm
from ozone and particulates before the government takes action. EPA responded
by allowing
more time for more comments from industry and the public.
The solution: Citizen groups, businesses, health care professionals and
individuals in states
all across the nation come together to tell the EPA that the standards they
have proposed are
important and reasonable, and that it is their responsibility under the Clean
Air Act to adopt them.
Creative air pollution reduction strategies will undoubtedly follow the
adoption of better air
quality standards such as these and the cost of compliance is highly likely to
be far less than
polluters and their representatives now fear.
Example of success in similar regulatory effort: The electric utility industry
claimed it would cost
up to $1,800 per ton to meet the 1990 Acid Rain requirements when they were
proposed.
However, the average cost of the cleanup turned out to be less than $100 a
ton, increasing most
electric bills by only thousandths of a cent while lifting more than 25% of
the total U. S. acid rain
burden.
The letter: The letter now being circulated for additional signatures was
drafted by Dr. Neil
Carman, Ph.D., Clean Air Director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club
and was originally
signed by twelve local groups as well as the American Lung Association of
Texas, the
Environmental Defense Fund, Public Citizen of Texas, and the SEED Coalition.
The Press Conference: To be arranged for sometime between March 10 and 12 by
Peter Altman of SEED Coalition. Call him for details and to make suggestions
and volunteer to
speak. (512-444-5288) <pete@greenbuilder.com>
Deadlines:
March 11, 1997 to sign on to letter: Call, fax or email Sue Pitman with
permission to add your
name to the letter (512-338-1108, fax 338-1190, <hesolutions@earthlink.net>
March 12, 1997 to get your individual comments to EPA. (Dockets A-95-54,
A-95-58, A-96-51,
& A-95-38) email address for comments <general.comments@epamail.epa.gov>
For more information: Call, fax or email Sue Pitman (512-338-1108, fax
338-1190,
<hesolutions@earthlink.net> or look on "the web" at
<http://home.earthlink.net/~hesolutions/epa.htm> &
<http://www.nrdc.org/field/aiepaact.html>
January 31, 1997
Honorable Carol Browner
Administrator
U. S. EPA
410 M Street, S. W.
Washington, D.C. 20460
Dear Administrator Browner:
We are writing to you about one of the most important EPA decisions regarding
public
health and environmental protection in the last three decades. More than 12.4
million
Texans will be affected by your decision.
Currently, EPA is accepting public comments on the proposals to revise the
health-
based National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone and Particulate Matter.
Setting a fully protective level and method of measurement for each of the
standards is
a critical public health responsibility for your agency to carry out. We urge
you to adopt
standards that protect all Americans, especially the most vulnerable. This
group
includes children, especially children with asthma, but also includes the
elderly and
adults with respiratory diseases.
We support your proposed ozone and particulate standards and applaud the
Agency's
recognition that fine particulate matter (PM2.5) as a pollutant that must be
regulated.
We encourage EPA to provide maximum protection for public health through the
standard setting process. and provide flexibility to develop cost effective
and creative
control programs through the implementation process.
As you know, numerous credible scientific studies have linked air pollution
with the
hospitalization of tens of thousands of Americans for pulmonary and
cardiovascular
problems, and an estimated 60,000 people die prematurely because of exposure
to air
pollution each year. This year you have the opportunity to adopt new air
pollution
standards that are more protective of public health than current standards.
The Clean Air Act requires that EPA set a health standard with an "adequate
margin of
safety" needed to protect public health. EPA must take into account that even
at levels
of air pollution below the range currently under consideration, children, the
elderly,
people who work and exercise outside, and people with heart and lung disease
still feel
the health effects of air pollution. The standard setting process should not
be clouded
over with implementation issues. Only after fully protective standards have
been set
should we have an effective, public discussion regarding how and when these
standards are achieved through the adoption of new air pollution reduction
strategies.
Some industries and Members of Congress are arguing that the ozone and
particulate
matter standards do not need revision. They call for more studies. This is
nothing
more than an attempt to delay protecting the public health. The medical
research
clearly indicates that the longer we wait to set and meet tighter health
standards for air
pollution, the more premature deaths and hospitalizations caused by air
pollution will
occur. The time for action is now.
When industry claims that new ozone standards will carry a high price tag,
please
remember similar threats prior to the 1990 Acid Rain law. At that time,
electric utilities
claimed it would cost up to $1800 per ton of pollution removal. Today, with
the law
more than half completed, and more than 25% of the total U.S. acid rain burden
lifted,
the average cost of the cleanup is less than $100 per ton, measured in
thousandths of
a cent on most electric bills, proving that pollution reductions can be
achieved at a
much lower cost and much more rapidly than typically estimated by polluters
and
government agencies.
For more than 25 years under the nation's Clean Air Act government, industry
and
individuals have been working in a cooperative spirit to clean up the air that
we breath.
Industry has met many challenges set for them. Now, again, clean air is at a
crossroad.
Under your leadership, we can accept the challenge as we have before, and meet
it. If
we meet the challenge, we will have a valuable legacy for our children and
those living
in the twenty-first century.
In conclusion, we support EPA's proposed standards and believe that EPA must
promulgate revised ozone and particulate matter standards strictly on the
basis of the
levels that protect public health with an adequate margin of safety, including
health of
those most vulnerable to effects of air pollution. Consideration of pollution
control costs
and feasibility are appropriate and allowable by statute only in the context
of
implementing air pollution control programs to attain these health-based
standards.
Nothing less than the health of Texans and all American people is at stake.
Sincerely,
Neil Carman, PhD, Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club
Wade Thomason, American Lung Association of Texas
Ron Parry, PhD, Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention
Peter Altman, SEED Coalition
Ramon Alvarez, PhD, Environmental Defense Fund
Tom Smith, Public Citizen of Texas
LaNell Anderson, Mothers for Clean Air
Linda Lott, Citizens Aware and United for a Safe Environment
Rev. Roy Malveaux, People Against Contaminated Environments
Kathryn Suchy, Neighbors United
Linda Young, West Odessa Citizens for Clean Air
Yana Bland, Buda & Kyle Residents for Responsible Industry
Phyllis Glazer, Mothers Organized to Stop Environmental Sins
Judy Starnes, North Channel Concerned Citizens Against Pollution
Jim Schermbeck, Downwinders At Risk
Bob Horton, Save Whitewright And Tri-counties
Olivia Cornyn, Toxic Exposure Network
cc: Governor George Bush
Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission
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