EPA Watch
Science behind controversial particulate studies vindicated The scientific underpinnings of two studies used to support EPA's continuing and controversial quest to regulate fine particles are vindicated in a report to be published this month. Funded by EPA and a coalition of businesses, the painstaking reanalysis of the data shows that the studies correctly correlated long-term exposure to high levels of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns in size (PM2 J with premature death, especially in sensitive subpopulations. Led by Daniel Krewski, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at Canada's University of Ottawa, the team of 31 scientists that was charged with reanalyzing the two studies linking exposure to PM 2 5 with premature death went beyond replicating the original findings. They used newer tools to test the validity of the studies' conclusions and even developed new methods of spatial analysis to elucidate previously unexplored factors related to how the studied population's he3.1th W3.s associated with the cities in which they lived said Rick Burnett senior scientist with the Environmental Health Directorate at Health Canada a govemmental organizatinn "Thpv threw everv thing hut the kitchen sink at the studies and they came out largely untouched " summarized John Rachmann FPA's associate director fnr sn'pnrp'nnlirv The impetus for the reanalysis, which was brokered by the Health Effects Institute, a nonprofit organization with members from EPA and the motor vehicle industry, was the outcry following EPA's tightening of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter in July 1997. Combustion from coaland oil-fired power plants, smelters, automobiles, and diesel trucks rep-
resents the largest source of fine particles, and questions about the science underlying the studies behind EPA's rule sparked a lawsuit by the American Trucking Association (ATA) and other affected organizations, which ultimately delayed the implementation of the new standards. Although subsequent federal court rulings upheld the validity of the studies, which were originally conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health and the American Cancer Society ATA's lawsuit is still
PM 2 5 exposure, other studies formed the basis for the 24-hour exposure standard for fine particulates. Preliminary results from the National Morbidity, Mortality, and Air Pollution Study (NMAPS) that was due in May also validate EPA's 1997 conclusions about the association between PM and health, Bachmann said. After the reanalysis and NMAPS reports come out, EPA should have a "very, very powerful" case for the link between fine particles and premature death, Bachmann concluded.
The researchers charged with reanalyzing the PM data "threw everything but the kitchen sink at the studies, and they came out largely untouched".
Widespread cheating triggers Clean Air Act enforcement initiative
—John Bachmann,
EPA
in litigation because of questions about EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act. It may come before the Supreme Court this year. Because the studies became a cause celebre for critics of the PM 2 . 5 standard, Bachmann of EPA said he was "pleased, but not surprised" by the outcome of the reanalysis. "This certainly should quiet a few folks who claimed that EPA was misusing data," he added. The ATA lawsuit was not about whether the science was improper, but that the agency had not really proved its point, said Fern Abrams, manager of ATA's environmental affairs. But the organization would not officially comment on the reanalysis until the report was available she said Although the Harvard School of Public Health and American Cancer Society studies were used to create the standard for maximum yearly
2 5 2 A • JUNE 1, 2000 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS
Responding to Clean Air Act (CAA) noncompliance rates as high as 80% in some industries, EPA has launched an enforcement initiative against scofflaws in seven industry sectors. The initiative, announced at an American Bar Association conference in March, partly targets nitrogen oxide (NOJ emissions from the petroleum and electric utility industries, according to EPA officials. When EPA looked closely at the sectors, it found high rates of noncompliance with the CAA among refining and electric utilities; confined animal feeding operations; and industrial organic compound, chemical preparation, iron and steel, and primary nonferrous metal facilities, said Eric Schaeffer, director of EPA's Office of Regulatory Enforcement. A good number of the infractions were violations of CAA's New Source Review (NSR) permit program. Companies must obtain NSR permits from EPA for new construction or any modifications at existing plants that boost facility output and more often than not increase emissions of pollutants, such as smogforming NO and particulate matter. © 2000 American Chemical Society
