New rules for sulfur dioxide pollution.(Photo courtesy of the USDOE)
The Environmental Protection Agency has finalized new health standards for one kind of air pollution. Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
The Environmental Protection Agency has finalized new health standard for one kind of air pollution. Lester Graham reports:
In 1998 the American Lung Association sued the EPA to prod the agency to further reduce air pollutants that cause health problems. Among the pollutants was sulfur dioxide—known for causing acid rain. The primary sources of the pollutant are coal-burning power plants and other industrial plants. Sulfur dioxide emissions are capped at yearly limits, but this new rule also restricts short spikes in the emissions. Deborah Shprentz is a consultant to the American Lung Association. She says this new rule is a good first step to reduce the pollution.
“To protect the health of people, especially those with asthma and other respiratory conditions from breathing these short-term bursts of sulfur dioxide that can make them sick and send them to the hospital and even contribute to premature death.”
States will have a couple of years to comply with the new rule, but if it were put in place today, a projected 60 counties, mostly in the eastern half of the nation, would be out of compliance.
For the Environment Report, I’m Lester Graham.