Clean Air Research

Science to Protect the Air We Breathe

This site describes the research priorities activities and accomplishments of the Clean Air Research Program in EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD). The research program provides the critical science to develop and implement outdoor air regulations under the Clean Air Act.  The program puts new tools and information in the hands of air quality managers and regulators to protect the air we breathe.

The research is advancing air pollution science with an integrated and multidisciplinary approach that enables important new discoveries to be made. This approach involves the study of air science from the source of pollutants and their interactions in the atmosphere to how they impact health.  As a result, the research program offers one of the most comprehensive programs in air research in the federal government.

The program also coordinates with ORD’s Global Change Research Program which assesses the impacts of climate variability and change and provides timely and useful information and decision-support tools to policy makers and resource managers to help them adapt to a changing climate.