EPA Begins Review Of Standard For Lead In Air

Last week, EPA began a formal process to review the 1978 federal air quality standard for lead. The agency says it will first decide whether to maintain an enforceable level for lead in air, given that concentrations of the metal in air have fallen in recent decades due to the phasing out of lead additives in gasoline. If the agency decides to retain a lead standard, it then will determine whether to keep, relax, or tighten the current limit of 1.5 μg/m³ of air. Agency staff and the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee members have recommended that EPA keep the standard but ratchet it down to a level no higher than 0.2 μg/m³. The agency announced on Dec. 5 that it is accepting public comment on the regulatory course of action it should take. EPA is under a federal court order to propose by May 1, 2008, whether to revise or retain the lead standard and to finalize its decision by Sept. 1, 2008.