Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter: Policy Assessment of Scientific and Technical Information. OAQPS Staff Paper, Second Draft, January 2005

摘要

This draft Staff Paper, prepared by staff in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS), evaluates the policy implications of the key studies and scientific information contained in the document, Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter, henceforth referred to as the Criteria Document (CD) and cited as CD, prepared by EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA). This document, which builds upon an earlier first draft Staff Paper, also presents and interprets results from updated and expanded staff analyses (e.g., air quality analyses, human health risk assessments, and visibility analyses) that staff believes should be considered in EPA's current review of the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM). This draft Staff Paper presents provisional staff conclusions and recommendations as to potential revisions of the primary (health-based) and secondary (welfare-based) PM NAAQS, based on consideration of the available scientific information and analyses and related limitations and uncertainties. The final version of this document will be informed by comments received through an independent scientific review and public comments on this draft document.