NATIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARDS PROPOSED DECISIONS ON PARTICULATE MATTER AND OZONE

Office of Air and Radiation
Docket and Information Centre (6102)
Docket No A-95-54 (Particulate Matter)
Docket No. A-95-58 (Ozone)
United States Environmental Protection Agency
401 M St., SW, Washington, D.C., 20460

SUBMISSION FILED BY:
GOVERNMENT OF CANADA March 11, 1997

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Government of Canada is pleased to submit comments in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Federal Register notices of December 13, 1996.

Canada wishes to congratulate and encourage the EPA for moving forward with tougher clean air requirements. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed new national ambient air quality standards for two widespread pollutants, ground-level ozone and particulate matter.

Canada supports the efforts being made by the Environmental Protection Agency to tighten the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Ozone (O3) and Particulate Matter (PM). At the same time, Canada is convinced that the proposals being made, if implemented, will not provide adequate protection for human health.

The Canadian view is based on a domestic clean air program that includes:

• existing national objectives for ozone that are more stringent than the proposal made by the EPA;
• a parallel Canadian effort to tighten its own clean air requirements including setting National Air Quality Objectives for particulate matter in air and reviewing the current ozone objective; and
• science assessment results for ozone and particulates that indicate ozone and particulate concentrations at the levels being proposed by the EPA will continue to result in health damages and deaths.

Specifically, Canada recommends and urges the U.S. EPA to:

1. adopt a more stringent standard for PM10;
2. adopt more stringent standards for PM2.5 at the lower end of the ranges recommended by the EPA scientists; and
3. adopt an 8-hour standard for ozone at the 0.07 ppm level.