United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2006-07-19 monographic deposited born digital 13 p. GA 1.13:GAO-06-992T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-992T P0b002ee18038660b f:d06992t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-992T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-992T GAO-06-992T Air pollution Air pollution control Air quality Environmental law Environmental monitoring Environmental policies Environmental research Pollutants Public health Public health research Standards EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards Testimony A57120 Scientific evidence links exposure to particulate matter--a widespread form of air pollution--to serious health problems, including asthma and premature death. Under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) periodically reviews the appropriate air quality level at which to set national standards to protect the public against the health effects of six pollutants, including particulate matter. EPA proposed revisions to the particulate matter standards in January 2006 and issued a regulatory impact analysis of the revisions' expected costs and benefits. The estimated benefits of air pollution regulations have been controversial in the past, and a 2002 National Academies report to EPA made recommendations aimed at improving the estimates for particulate matter and other air pollution regulations. This testimony is based on GAO's July 2006 report Particulate Matter: EPA Has Started to Address the National Academies' Recommendations on Estimating Health Benefits, but More Progress Is Needed (GAO-06-780). GAO determined whether and how EPA applied the National Academies' recommendations in its estimates of the health benefits expected from the January 2006 proposed revisions to the particulate matter standards. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-992T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-992T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-992T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-992T.pdf GAO-06-992T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-992T Testimony GAO-06-992T; Particulate Matter: EPA Needs to Make More Progress in Addressing the National Academies' Recommendations on Estimating Health Benefits; Air pollution Air pollution control Air quality Environmental law Environmental monitoring Environmental policies Environmental research Pollutants Public health Public health research Standards EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards