To clarify Larry's post, the PM 2.5 standard has both a daily standard and an annual average standard. The maximum daily amount allowed is currently 65 ug/m3, and EPA proposes to reduce this to 35. The maximum annual average standard is currently 15 ug/m3. The Clean Air Science Advisory Committee recommended lowering this to something in the range of 13-14, and some studies suggest it needs to be as low as 12.

By comparison, Morgantown's daily peaks have been around 40-50 ug/m3 each year, well below the current standard of 65, but would violate the proposed daily standard of 35. Morgantown's annual average was 14.9 ug/m3 last year, just under the standard of 15. So under the current daily and annual standards, Morgantown is in attainment. under EPA's proposed new standard, Morgantown would violate the daily limit. And if the annual limit is lowered, Morgantown would also violate that as well.

Interestingly, I have found out that EPA only requires a PM2.5 reading once every three days. So our monitor may well miss some very high daily readings, and we would never know it.

JBK

At 10:38 PM 1/25/2006 -0500, Duane330@aol.com wrote:

To: Participants and Friends of the MonValley Clean Air Coalition>>>

Last month the EPA proposed a cut in fine particulates of 50%, but health and atmospheric scientists say this is not enough to make a difference.

In a recent Science magazine article (Science, Vol. 311, p. 27), it is pointed out that in order for significant health improvements to be achieved greater cuts are needed.

An outside panel of scientists suggested greater reductions to the EPA, but they did not follow that advice. Here are some facts from that article:

(1.) PM 2.5 particles in air, which result from soot from combustion processes, harms health in several ways. It can trigger asthma attacks, and kill individuals suffering from heart and lung disease.

(2.) The American Lung Association sued the EPA to reduce these emission particles by the end of 2005. The new standards lower PM 2.5 from 65 to 325 micrograms/cubic meter. This is just under the range recommended by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee.

(3.) The EPA has studied 9 model cities and showed that a reduction to 15 micrograms/cubic meter would lower PM 2.5 caused deaths by 48%, while the recommended change would reduce the death rate by only 22%.

There are three public meetings planned and the Science article said that the EPA will accept public comments until April.

You can find information on the American Lung Association, on who to write to..... they have a letter formatted or you can do your own.

http://lungaction.org/campaign/Air_Health_Standardshttp://lungaction.org/campaign/Air_Health_Standards

Larry (Aka Participant 13)

Larry Harris 637 Grand Street Morgantown, WV 26501 304-296-4954 (H) 304-293-7749 (W) mailto:clharris@hsc.wvu.educlharris@hsc.wvu.edu

NOTE: The Standard Address for EPA Headquarters is:

Stephen L. Johnson, Administrator Environmental Protection Agency Ariel Rios Building 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20460 (202) 272-0167 _______________________________________________ MVCAC mailing list MVCAC@cheat.org http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac

***** Jim Kotcon 304-293-8822 304-293-2872 (fax) 304-594-3322 (home) West Virginia University Division of Plant and Soil Science 1090 Ag. Sci. Bldg., P. O. Box 6108 Morgantown, WV 26506