EPA to retain PM10 air quality standard
October 17, 2011The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has signaled that it will retain the current coarse particulate (PM10) national ambient air quality standard. This is of major importance to the aggregates industry because a reduced standard would have required many facilities to cut production, particularly in the arid West and Midwest. PM10 refers to particulate matter less than 10 micrometers in diameter. EPA says these particles pose a health concern because they can be inhaled into and accumulate in the respiratory system. In 2010, EPA’s draft policy assessment showed EPA was considering reducing the PM10 standard by half, from the present level of 150 micrograms of dust per cubic meter of air. The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association has been working for the past year to encourage EPA to retain the current standard, including the co-sponsorship of a research paper on the devastating effects of a new standard and meetings with members of Congress and EPA. EPA’s decision means that the current standard will be in place until at least 2016, when EPA is required by the Clean Air Act to review the standard again.
Please send any technical comments or questions to our webmaster.