State Agency Says EPA's 2010 Baseline Penalizes State for Improved Air Quality

摘要

The baseline date of 2010 in the Environmental Protection Agency's particulate matter rule is unfair, as it fails to take into account recent improvements in North Carolina's air quality, according to the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources. In a Jan. 10 statement announcing it had filed a lawsuit over the issue, the agency said North Carolina should be rewarded rather than punished for "historic gains" made under a state air pollution control law enacted in 2002. The EPA should continue to use 1975, the baseline date used under previous particulate matter regulations, as the year used to compare air quality gains made by states, the North Carolina agency said.