Though 10 states have shirked their duties under national air quality
standards for lead, environmental regulators have not cracked down,
activists claim in federal court.
"There is no safe level of exposure to lead," according to the complaint filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Environmental Health.
Though the Environmental Protection agency originally set a level of 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter for the National Ambient Air Quality Standard in 1978, it allegedly reduced the level by 90 percent in 2008.
This change to 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter occurred because a staff paper showed that exposure to high levels of airborne lead increased the risk of "population Intelligence Quotient ('IQ') loss in children and other sensitive groups," according to the complaint.
States allegedly have three years to submit infrastructure state implementation plans whenever the EPA revises National Ambient Air Quality Standards for pollutants.
After the standard was changed in 2008, the states had to submit their revised plans by Nov. 12, 2011, according to the complaint. Regulators allegedly get six months thereafter to determine if the plan meets federal standards.
But environmentalists say that the EPA is still waiting on plans from Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington.
Read more: http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/09/26/50649.htm
"There is no safe level of exposure to lead," according to the complaint filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Environmental Health.
Though the Environmental Protection agency originally set a level of 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter for the National Ambient Air Quality Standard in 1978, it allegedly reduced the level by 90 percent in 2008.
This change to 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter occurred because a staff paper showed that exposure to high levels of airborne lead increased the risk of "population Intelligence Quotient ('IQ') loss in children and other sensitive groups," according to the complaint.
States allegedly have three years to submit infrastructure state implementation plans whenever the EPA revises National Ambient Air Quality Standards for pollutants.
After the standard was changed in 2008, the states had to submit their revised plans by Nov. 12, 2011, according to the complaint. Regulators allegedly get six months thereafter to determine if the plan meets federal standards.
But environmentalists say that the EPA is still waiting on plans from Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington.
Read more: http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/09/26/50649.htm
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