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For Immediate Release
June 9, 2006
News Release
Local Economist Wins Top EPA Science Award
Contact: Ann Brown, 919-541-7818, or brown.ann@epa.gov
(Washington, D.C.-June 8, 2006) Durham area resident Bryan J. Hubbell, an economist with EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards in Research Triangle Park, N.C., has received a prestigious EPA award for calculating the health and economic benefits that can occur by meeting EPA standards for ozone pollution.
The Scientific and Technological Achievement Award (STAA) is a top honor recognizing outstanding achievement in research. Hubbell received one of three first place (Level I) STAA awards. His scientific paper documents how meeting the ozone standards could lead to 800 fewer premature deaths, 4,500 fewer emergency room and hospital admissions, and 900,000 fewer school absences, on average, over a three-year period.
"The bodies of work that we are recognizing with these awards are fine examples of how cutting-edge science and research not only advance our understanding of the environment, but also provide solutions for meeting the EPA's mission to protect human health and safeguard the natural environment," said George Gray, assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Research and Development which sponsors the STAA awards program.
In addition to documenting significant health and economic benefits related to meeting ozone standards, the paper is the first published application of the Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program (BenMAP), a sophisticated health impacts and benefits analysis software application developed by EPA. BenMAP is the now EPA's primary tool for estimating the benefits of reducing air pollution.
The STAA awards are presented to recognize outstanding scientific and technological achievements that have been peer-reviewed and published by EPA employees. The 2005 awards were presented May 18 at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. Hubbell served as the lead author for the paper, Health-Related Benefits of Attaining the 8-HR Ozone Standard, which appeared in the January, 2005, issue of the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
EPA's laboratories, research centers, and grantees are building the scientific foundation needed to support the Agency's mission to safeguard human health and the environment.
EPA 2005 STAA Awards recipients: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/staa
EPA's Office of Research and Development: www.eap.gov/ord