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Air Quality Research: Standard Setting and Air Quality Management Decisions
NERL Human Health Research Areas
-Standard Setting and Air Quality Management Decisions-Linkages between Sources and Outcomes
The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six criteria pollutants (carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, ozone and sulfur oxides). These standards are the rules that set the maximum concentration of each pollutant allowed in the air. The states are required to maintain the level of air pollutants below the set standards. This is accomplished through management of emissions within the state through a well thought out State Implementation Plan (SIP). The other air pollutants, air toxics, are regulated through specific rules designed to control amounts of the pollutants emitted.
NERL research is designed to provide the scientific foundation from which the regulatory decisions of EPA's air regulatory programs can be made and to provide scientific decision making tools and information to assist regions, states and tribes who are tasked with this air quality management. Research is focused on identifying air pollutants and the sources that contribute to the most significant human health risks. A critical component of this research is to develop an understanding of how air pollutants from various sources impact ambient air and, in turn, how these concentrations relate to the air people actually breathe. This information provides a fundamental linkage for evaluating public health impacts and developing effective strategies to reduce air pollution and the resulting impacts on human exposures and health effects.
NERL research supports: the development of the NAAQS and other air quality regulations and the implementation of these air pollution regulations.