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PAG LIN
1 1 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO.
1 2 BY RANTS
1 3 A Concurrent Resolution requesting the United States
1 4 Environmental Protection Agency to retain existing
1 5 national ambient air quality standards for ozone and
1 6 particulate matter, conduct additional research on
1 7 ozone and particulate matter standards, and identify
1 8 unfunded mandates or other administrative or economic
1 9 burdens resulting from changes to ozone and
1 10 particulate matter standards.
1 11 WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection
1 12 Agency has responsibility under the federal Clean Air
1 13 Act to periodically review the national ambient air
1 14 quality standards for ozone and particulate matter;
1 15 and
1 16 WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection
1 17 Agency has proposed changes to the national ambient
1 18 air quality standards for ozone and particulate
1 19 matter, which include a more stringent ozone standard
1 20 and adding a separate standard for particulate matter
1 21 smaller than two and one-half microns in size (PM2.5)
1 22 in addition to the existing standard for particulate
1 23 matter smaller than ten microns in size (PM10); and
1 24 WHEREAS, states and localities, businesses,
1 25 consumers, and taxpayers have borne considerable cost
1 26 to comply with current national ambient air quality
1 27 standards; and
1 28 WHEREAS, the adoption of more stringent standards
1 29 could significantly expand the number of nonattainment
1 30 areas for both standards and result in additional
2 1 emissions controls for Iowa, thus imposing significant
2 2 economic, administrative, and regulatory burdens on
2 3 more citizens, businesses, and local governments; and
2 4 WHEREAS, no monitoring data for PM2.5 has been
2 5 compiled in Iowa but preliminary data analysis on the
2 6 new PM2.5 standard by the United States Environmental
2 7 Protection Agency places Woodbury, Cerro Gordo, Polk,
2 8 Black Hawk, Scott, and Clinton counties on the
2 9 projected nonattainment list; and
2 10 WHEREAS, current research indicates that many
2 11 unanswered questions and uncertainties remain
2 12 regarding the particulate matter issue and the need
2 13 for a more stringent standard, including divergent
2 14 opinions among scientists who have investigated this
2 15 issue, lack of supporting toxicological data, lack of
2 16 a plausible toxicological mechanism connecting PM2.5
2 17 to adverse health effects, and lack of established
2 18 correlation between recorded levels and public health
2 19 effects; and
2 20 WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection
2 21 Agency's own clean air scientific advisory committee
2 22 concluded that no significant health benefit would be
2 23 gained by adopting a more stringent ozone standard and
2 24 the United States Environmental Protection Agency's
2 25 own cost-benefit analysis demonstrates that a new
2 26 ozone standard is difficult to justify; and
2 27 WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection
2 28 Agency's proposed changes have been made with
2 29 virtually no evidence that the change in standards
2 30 will result in significant health benefits and with no
3 1 analysis of the enormous costs that will be charged to
3 2 Iowa business and consumers and to those communities
3 3 that must implement new complicated compliance
3 4 programs; and
3 5 WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection
3 6 Agency's own scientific advisor, the clean air science
3 7 advisory committee, has recommended that the United
3 8 States Environmental Protection Agency proceed
3 9 cautiously and improve the existing state of
3 10 scientific knowledge before taking costly steps to
3 11 further control ozone and fine particulate emissions;
3 12 and
3 13 WHEREAS, the period for public comment on proposed
3 14 national ambient air quality standards is only 60
3 15 days, and the documentation upon which the proposed
3 16 national ambient air quality standards are based is
3 17 exceptionally technical and complex, and is just
3 18 beginning to be made available by the United States
3 19 Environmental Protection Agency; NOW THEREFORE,
3 20 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THE
3 21 SENATE CONCURRING, That the General Assembly of the
3 22 State of Iowa advise and strongly urge the United
3 23 States Environmental Protection Agency to retain the
3 24 existing national ambient air quality standards for
3 25 ozone; and
3 26 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the United States
3 27 Environmental Protection Agency is advised and
3 28 strongly urged to reaffirm the existing PM10 standard
3 29 and conduct the additional PM2.5 monitoring and
3 30 scientific research needed to address the issue of
4 1 causality and other important unanswered questions
4 2 before a proposal for a new PM2.5 standard or a
4 3 revised PM10 standard is made; and
4 4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the United States
4 5 Environmental Protection Agency should abandon its
4 6 current consideration of a PM2.5 standard until more
4 7 information, including sound scientific and cost-
4 8 effectiveness data, is available; and
4 9 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the United States
4 10 Environmental Protection Agency is urged to identify
4 11 any unfunded mandates or other administrative and
4 12 economic burdens for state or local governments or
4 13 agencies that would derive from changes to the
4 14 national ambient air quality standards for ozone or
4 15 particulate matter; and
4 16 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this
4 17 resolution be sent to the President of the United
4 18 States, the President of the United States Senate, the
4 19 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives,
4 20 members of the Iowa congressional delegation, the
4 21 Administrator of the United States Environmental
4 22 Protection Agency, and the Director of the Iowa
4 23 Department of Natural Resources.
4 24 LSB 2103HH 77
4 25 tm/jj/8
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