2010 Progress Report - International Joint Commission

Progress Report 2010
Particulate Matter Standards and
Implementation
The EPA established the original NAAQS for PM 2.5
in 1997 to provide protection from the adverse
health effects of fi ne particles. The primary annual
PM 2.5
standard was set at a level of 15 micrograms per
cubic meter (μg/m 3 ) averaged over three years, and
the 24-hour standard was set at a level of 65 μg/m 3
(average of 98 th percentile value for three consecutive
years). The secondary standards for PM 2.5
, for protection
against urban visibility impairment, materials damage,
and other environmental effects, were set at levels
identical to those for the primary standards.
In April 2005, the EPA designated 39 areas as
nonattainment areas for the 1997 PM 2.5
standards.
Thirty-six of these areas are in the eastern United States
(including Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, located on
the Great Lakes); two are located in California; and
one area is located in the northwestern United States.
States were required to submit state implementation
plans to the EPA in 2008. Each plan is to include
strategies and regulations for reducing emissions of
PM 2.5
and its precursors, and demonstrate how the
area would attain the standards “as expeditiously
as practicable,” presumptively within fi ve years of
designation. The EPA can grant extended attainment
dates up to ten years from the date of designation for
areas with more severe air quality situations. The 2007
Clean Air Fine Particle Implementation Rule provided
guidance to the states in developing their plans and
can be found at www.epa.gov/pm/actions.html.
A number of federal and regional programs have
been established to reduce emissions of fi ne particles
and important precursor pollutants from key sources
such as on-road and non-road vehicle engines and
power plants. Examples include the 2000 heavyduty
highway diesel engine rule, the 2004 Clean Air
Nonroad Diesel Rule, the 2008 Locomotive and
Marine Diesel Engine Rule, and voluntary diesel
retrofi t programs in many states. Despite legal
challenges to the Clean Air Interstate Rule, by 2009
U.S. power plants reduced SO 2
emissions by 4.5 million
tons since 2005. Voluntary programs to change out
residential wood stoves and reduce wood smoke
40