National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter - EPA Rule

The EPA Rule took effect in 2013, so I am posting this not because it's new, but because state legislators frequently get bright ideas about new legislation. Especially when a public health issue is evident across the entire state, simply by looking out the window.

Based on its review of the air quality criteria and the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM), the EPA is making revisions to the suite of standards for PM to provide requisite protection of public health and welfare and to make corresponding revisions to the data handling conventions for PM and to the ambient air monitoring, reporting, and network design requirements. The EPA also is making revisions to the prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permitting program with respect to the NAAQS revisions.

With regard to primary (health-based) standards for fine particles (generally referring to particles less than or equal to 2.5 micrometers (μm) in diameter, PM_2.5), the EPA is revising the annual PM_2.5 standard by lowering the level to 12.0 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m³) so as to provide increased protection against health effects associated with long- and short-term exposures (including premature mortality, increased hospital admissions and emergency department visits, and development of chronic respiratory disease), and to retain the 24-hour PM_2.5 standard at a level of 35 μg/m³. The EPA is revising the Air Quality Index (AQI) for PM_2.5 to be consistent with the revised primary PM_2.5 standards. With regard to the primary standard for particles generally less than or equal to 10 µm in diameter (PM₁₀), the EPA is retaining the current 24-hour PM₁₀ standard to continue to provide protection against effects associated with short-term exposure to thoracic coarse particles (i.e., PM_10-2.5). With regard to the secondary (welfare-based) PM standards, the EPA is generally retaining the current suite of secondary standards (i.e., 24-hour and annual PM_2.5 standards and a 24-hour PM₁₀ standard). Non-visibility welfare effects are addressed by this suite of secondary standards, and PM-related visibility impairment is addressed by the secondary 24-hour PM_2.5 standard.

So ... the feds have already done it. 

The rest of the rule: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/01/15/2012-30946/national-ambient-air-quality-standards-for-particulate-matter