EPA Eyes April 2020 For Final Decision On First-Time Joint NOx-SOx NAAQS

摘要

EPA is planning to release in April 2020 a final decision on whether to launch a first-time joint "secondary" national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) to reduce environmental harms from nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur oxides (SOx), a standard that some scientists have cautioned might be too difficult to implement. In a Nov. 9 Federal Register notice EPA announced its draft integrated review plan (IRP) for the NOx-SOx NAAQS review, which includes a timeline for the assessment. Under the agency's plan it would release in July next year a first draft of an integrated science assessment (ISA) - a comprehensive review of existing policy-relevant science on NOx and SOx emissions. The notice is available on InsideEPA.com. Seepage 2 for details. (Doc. ID: 186354) EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) would then review the ISA and those comments would help inform a risk and exposure assessment slated for release in November 2016, providing quantitative characterizations of exposures and associated risks to the environment from NOx and SOx emissions.