(Washington, D.C.-1/26/06) EPA denied petitions from five state and local governments and one private business requesting the agency to reconsider its decision on findings of "nonattainment" for EPA's health-based national air quality standards for fine particle pollution. The nonattainment designation applied to counties or parts of counties when monitors detected air quality that violates the fine particle, or PM2.5 standards.

The petitions include:

1. State of West Virginia – pertaining to the inclusion of part of Mason county in the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH nonattainment area and to the inclusion of part of Pleasants county in the Parkersburg-Marietta, WV-OH area.

EPA enforcement actions in fiscal year 2005 resulted in legal commitments by companies, governments and other regulated entities to reduce a projected 1.1 billion pounds of pollution and require that they spend a record $10 billion to come into compliance with environmental laws. This is an increase of $5 billion over last year. EPA’s criminal enforcement program helped successfully prosecute some of the largest environmental crimes in history in FY 2005, with judges imposing significant sentences and large criminal fines. Most annual measures of the agency’s enforcement and compliance activity surpassed or kept pace with previous years, indicating continued progress in deterring violations of the nation’s environmental laws.

In December 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the Clean Air Act into law, setting forth federal guidelines for power plants and other industrial facilities in order to control air pollution. This December marks the 35th anniversary of the law -- and an opportunity to reflect on its successes and failures.

Without a doubt, the Clean Air Act has made America a cleaner, healthier place. Despite 35 years of rapid economic expansion, levels of carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead and other pollutants have decreased, showing growth and environmental protections aren't mutually exclusive.

Catawba Valley could be off EPA's sanction lists in 2008
LENOIR - The 10 Catawba Valley governments that banded together three years ago to improve air quality have adopted policies that lay out their methods to save energy and reduce emissions.
Caldwell County, which adopted its policy Dec. 19, was the last, said Ron Hancock, a Western Piedmont Council of Governments planner advising the governments on conservation and air-quality issues.
Many of the plan's measures -- installation of low-energy lighting systems and proper insulation in county buildings, for example -- are things the county and its fellow governments have been doing for the past five years, since the state and federal governments began warning them about poor air quality.

(Washington, D.C.-Dec. 21, 2005) The United States has reached a settlement with DaimlerChrysler Corporation (Chrysler) to repair defective emission controls on nearly 1.5 million Jeep and Dodge vehicles from model years 1996 through 2001, the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The agreement also settles allegations that the company violated the Clean Air Act (CAA) by failing to properly disclose defective catalytic converters installed on the affected vehicles. In settlement, Chrysler has agreed to:

Extend the warranty on the catalytic converters installed on approximately 700,000 of the vehicles involved, and for another 300,000 vehicle owners, send notification of the catalytic converter problem which will be covered under the original emissions system warranty under the CAA;

To accomplish goals as diverse as preventing the transmission of the avian flu virus to curing athlete's foot, Cupron, a small American company with a research base in Israel, has developed a valuable new technology out of a very old element - copper oxide.

Copper's anti-microbial properties have been known for more than 5,000 years. Ancient Egyptians used copper pipes to transport water safe of parasites; shipbuilders used copper to keep algae from encrusting ships, and French vintners use copper to fight fungus on grapevines.

Cupron decided to take the uses one step further and introduce copper into clothing and textiles, that, according to the company, will lead to healthier living.

EPA updated air quality monitoring data with particle pollution measurements from both Mississippi and New Orleans Oct. 15, 2005 through Nov. 7, 2005. Results show that measurements of fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM10) particles from all locations were below EPA's health-based screening level for the general population (65 micrograms per cubic meter for PM2.5, 250 micrograms per cubic meter for PM10). However, for two sites, Dedeaux Road in Gulfport, Miss., and Klondyke Road, Long Beach, Miss., spikes were recorded in fine particles above the screening level established for sensitive groups (40 micrograms per cubic meter). These two monitoring stations were established to evaluate the impact burning debris has on nearby air quality. Elevated levels at these sites were reported for a total of eight days, with concentrations ranging from 58 - 43 micrograms per cubic meter. After each spike, fine particle concentrations dropped below health-based screening levels for sensitive groups.

By Gary Feuerberg

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC) will be held from Nov 28 to Dec 9 in Montreal, Canada, and promises to be the largest intergovernmental climate conference since the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997. The expectation is that 8,000 to 10,000 participants will be attending from 189 countries and the European Union.

Why all the hullabaloo for the Montreal 2005 climate change conference?

This is not the first such conference but actually the 11th. To sort out all the history, previous conferences, and scientific background related to this issue is a daunting task. The science, politics, and business of climate change is a very complicated subject. It's difficult to follow the many conferences, treaties, protocols, and technological advances.

EPA is issuing an initial draft of the staff paper on ground-level ozone
as part of a process to gather public, technical and scientific input to
ensure that federal air quality standards reflect the latest air
pollution and health effects research. The draft staff paper, "Review
of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone," includes
scientific and technical information about ozone related health and
welfare effects, initial results from a human exposure analysis and
health risk assessment, and discussion of a planned vegetation-related
environmental assessment.

This initial draft staff paper does not provide staff recommendations as

Donaldson Membranes' drive to provide first-class products to the industrial filtration industry has been fuelled by some 'quality' work at the company's manufacturing plant in Hull.

In line with its policy of delivering quality products through continuous improvement, its Hull manufacturing plant has been awarded quality standard ISO/TS16949:2002.

Donaldson, a leading worldwide provider of filtration systems and replacement parts, is a technology-driven company committed to satisfying customer needs for solutions through innovative research and development. Donaldson serves customers in the diesel, engine and industrial markets, including in-plant air cleaning, compressed air and gas purification, power generation, disk drive filtration, off-road equipment and trucks.