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90_SR0053
SRS90SJ0005JJsa
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, Under the federal Clean Air Act, the United
3 States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is required to
4 review the national ambient air quality standards for air
5 pollutants, including ozone and particulate matter (PM),
6 every 5 years; and
7 WHEREAS, Ozone occurs in the atmosphere as a product of
8 gases such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic
9 compounds, and particulate matter consists of finely divided
10 solid and liquid material commonly originating from
11 ground-level industrial processes; and
12 WHEREAS, In response to a court order, the USEPA is
13 considering whether to revise the current standards for
14 ozone and fine particulate matter; and
15 WHEREAS, The USEPA has proposed to tighten the standard
16 for ground-level ozone from 0.12 parts per million (ppm),
17 measured at the highest hour of the day, to 0.08 ppm,
18 measured over an 8-hour period, and has recommended a new
19 standard for fine particulate matter (2.5 microns in diameter
20 or smaller) of 15 micrograms per cubic meter annually and 50
21 micrograms per cubic meter daily; and
22 WHEREAS, The USEPA will announce a final rule setting the
23 ozone and particulate matter national ambient air quality
24 standards in July, 1997; and
25 WHEREAS, The Nation's air quality has been improving for
26 all pollutants over the past 10 years under the current
27 standards and should continue to improve under those
28 standards; and
29 WHEREAS, Current studies do not adequately support
30 changing the standards for ozone and fine particulate
31 matter; in particular, studies of the risks of particulate
-2- SRS90SJ0005JJsa
1 matter do not properly take into account many behavioral,
2 occupational, environmental, and genetic factors that may
3 negate the purported increase in mortality due to
4 particulate matter; and
5 WHEREAS, The USEPA has failed to identify a sufficient
6 biological nexus between fine particulate matter and
7 increases in mortality; the Clean Air Scientific Advisory
8 Committee has stated that there are "many unanswered
9 questions and uncertainties associated with establishing
10 causality of the association between PM2.5 and mortality";
11 and
12 WHEREAS, An estimated 323 counties nationwide will be
13 placed in non-attainment with the implementation of the
14 proposed standards and businesses across this State, small
15 and large, will be required to make costly modifications to
16 comply with the proposed standards; and
17 WHEREAS, With the expansion of Clean Air Act regulation
18 under the proposed standards, the State of Illinois will be
19 required to revise its air quality programs and to conduct
20 extensive monitoring of ozone and particulate matter;
21 therefore, be it
22 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETIETH GENERAL
23 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the USEPA to
24 refrain from tightening the standards for ozone and fine
25 particulate matter without (i) conducting additional health
26 and scientific studies that support the proposed standards
27 and (ii) thoroughly measuring the economic consequences of
28 the proposed standards; and be it further
29 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
30 forwarded to each member of the Illinois delegation to the
31 United States Congress and to the Administrator of the
-3- SRS90SJ0005JJsa
1 United States Environmental Protection Agency.