The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its annual report on air quality, showing the significant progress the U.S. has made to improve air quality across the country. "Our Nation's Air: Status and Trends Through 2016" documents the steady and significant progress made in improving air quality across America, in more than 45 years under the Clean Air Act.
This air quality progress is often overlooked; the Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies has called it "The Greatest Story Seldom Told," explaining that "Through the Clean Air Act's framework of cooperative federalism, hard-working state and local air agencies have been responsible for tremendous progress in virtually every measure of air quality."
The combined emissions of six key pollutants dropped by 73 percent between 1970 and 2016, while the U.S. economy grew more than three times. A closer look at more recent progress shows between 1990 and 2016, n ational concentration averages of harmful air pollutants decreased considerably:
- Lead (3-month average) down 99 percent.
- Carbon monoxide (8-hour) down 77 percent.
- Sulfur dioxide (1-hour) down 85 percent.
- Nitrogen dioxide (annual) down 56 percent.
- Ground-level ozone (8-hour) down 22 percent.
- Coarse particulate matter (24-hour) down 39 percent and fine particulate matter (24-hour) down 44 percent.
"Despite this success, there is more work to be done," said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. "Nearly 40 percent of Americans are still living in areas classified as 'non-attainment' for failing to achieve national standards. EPA will continue to work with states, tribes and local air agencies to help more areas of the country come into compliance."
For more information, visit www.epa.gov or call (919) 541-5616.
