FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept 17, 2024
Contact: Ashley Sullivan, ashley.sullivan@weact.org
WASHINGTON – Members of the national environmental justice cohort, ‘Clean Air for the Long Haul’ including WE ACT for Environmental Justice, as well as South Bronx Unite and West End Revitalization Association (WERA) alongside groups—Community Health Aligning Revitalization, Resistance & Sustainability (CHARRS), Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution (GASP), and the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC)— filed a “friend of the court” brief (called an “amicus” brief) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s national ambient air quality standard for fine particulate matter, or soot.
In February 2024, after months of organizing to provide expertise and comments by Clean Air for the Long Haul and collaborating groups, the EPA finally announced it was strengthening the annual particulate matter pollution standard from 12.0 micrograms per cubic meter to 9 micrograms per cubic meter. Numerous states and polluting industries are now challenging the standard in court, claiming EPA’s consideration of environmental justice in setting the standard was unlawful. The brief makes the argument that the Clean Air Act not only authorizes, but requires EPA to consider the heightened vulnerability of environmental justice communities to adverse health impacts from soot pollution when setting the standard.
“Our communities have endured decades of discrimination in the form of ever present soot choking our lungs. Although a more stringent annual standard for Particulate Matter (PM) of 8 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) would save many more lives, this new rule will save thousands of individuals, especially in the most polluted communities of color, including the South Bronx. The fact that the EPA’s new standard, which is still a compromise, is being challenged is outrageous and dangerous. No amount of soot pollution is acceptable or healthy, and we won’t go back to a weaker standard.” – Arif Ullah, South Bronx Unite
“In 1995, WERA was founded to address the denial of basic public health amenities due historic patterns of discrimination. Industry has no place in trying to override the necessary and civil rights legal obligation of federal agencies to protect the health and well-being of people across the country, especially for the most vulnerable and impacted communities. We will continue to push for the EPA to set an even stronger national standard in the future to better protect communities facing environmental injustices by making the air safer to breathe, thereby reducing health problems, and saving lives. – Omega Wilson, West End Revitalization Association (WERA)
“The science and the law is clear – EPA is justified in strengthening a standard that accounts for the disproportionate impacts of fine particulate matter pollution plaguing environmental justice communities nationwide. Federal air quality standards are needed to safeguard public health and literally save lives. The court must not give into polluting industry interests. Doing so will set a dangerous precedent. We will not stop fighting for stronger clean air standards and enforcement to ensure our communities thrive and not just survive” – Anastasia Gordon, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Soot pollution is deadly. These minuscule, invisible particles primarily emitted from vehicles, power plants, agriculture, and industrial processes lodge deep into human lungs and into the bloodstream causing serious health risks, including asthma and asthma aggravation, lung disease, heart attacks and coronary heart disease, preterm births, and premature death. Communities of color and low-wealth communities suffer from the highest exposure levels and as a result, are at a greater risk of serious health impacts and premature death than the general population.
In setting a more protective standard, EPA rightfully and lawfully considered the increased vulnerability of communities of color and low-wealth communities to harmful health impacts from soot pollution. We will continue to advocate for those who have been harmed by a legacy of prejudicial policy, and we will not stop until we ensure the right to clean air.
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WE ACT for Environmental Justice is a Northern Manhattan membership-based organization whose mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and/or low-income residents participate meaningfully in the creation of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices. WE ACT has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. Visit us at weact.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram.