{
  "id": "RL33807",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL33807",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
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      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 347197,
      "date": "2008-04-21",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T03:30:00.140699",
      "title": "Air Quality Standards and Sound Science: What Role for CASAC?",
      "summary": "As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completes its reviews of the ozone, particulate matter (PM), and lead air quality standards\u2014the PM review was completed in September 2006, the ozone review in March 2008, and the lead review is due for completion in September 2008\u2014the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), an independent committee of scientists that advises the agency\u2019s Administrator, has been sharply critical of several of EPA\u2019s decisions.\nCASAC was established by statute in 1977. Its members, largely from academia and from private research institutes, are appointed by the EPA Administrator. They review the agency\u2019s work in setting National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), relying on panels of the nation\u2019s leading experts on the health and environmental effects of the specific pollutants. CASAC panels have a nearly 30-year history of working quietly in the background, issuing what were called \u201cclosure letters\u201d on agency documents that summarize the science and the policy options behind the NAAQS. The science and policy documents, written by EPA staff, generally have gone through several iterations before the scientists were satisfied, but, with the issuance of a closure letter, CASAC has in past years removed itself from the process, leaving the final choice of standards to the Administrator.\nIn 2006, however, CASAC and its 22-member PM Review Panel forcefully objected to the Administrator\u2019s decisions regarding revision of the particulate NAAQS. The committee took the unprecedented steps of writing to the Administrator both after he proposed the standards in January, and after he promulgated them in September. In the latter communication, CASAC stated unanimously that the Administrator\u2019s action \u201cdoes not provide an \u2018adequate margin of safety ... requisite to protect the public health\u2019 (as required by the Clean Air Act) ....\u201d (Italics in original)\nWithin a month of CASAC\u2019s September 2006 letter, the committee\u2019s ozone review panel approved EPA\u2019s policy options Staff Paper, the next-to-last formal step before the Administrator proposed to revise the ozone NAAQS. In doing so, the panel drew a firm line (\u201cThere is no scientific justification for retaining the current primary 8-hr NAAQS\u201d), and recommended a range far more stringent than the previous standard. The Administrator promulgated a standard outside of CASAC\u2019s range in March 2008.\nAt the same time that CASAC panels were speaking out, EPA was conducting a review of CASAC\u2019s role and other aspects of the NAAQS-revision process. A December 7, 2006 EPA memorandum made a number of changes in that process that many argue will diminish the role of CASAC and agency scientists. As the changes have been implemented, CASAC has objected to some of the new procedures and a number of Senators have written the EPA Administrator to express their opposition to the changes. Congress is expected to continue taking an interest in the subject. This report discusses these issues, focusing on the statutory and historical role of CASAC and various proposals for change.",
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc847659/",
      "id": "RL33807_2007Sep18",
      "date": "2007-09-18",
      "retrieved": "2016-06-02T05:26:07",
      "title": "Air Quality Standards and Sound Science: What Role for CASAC?",
      "summary": "This report discusses the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which are standards that define what EPA considers to be clean air. Their importance stems from the long and complicated implementation process that is set in motion by their establishment.",
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        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Air pollution",
          "name": "Air pollution"
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          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Air quality",
          "name": "Air quality"
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      "id": "RL33807_2007Feb16",
      "date": "2007-02-16",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
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      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc805394/",
      "id": "RL33807_2007Jan19",
      "date": "2007-01-19",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "Air Quality Standards and Sound Science: What Role for CASAC?",
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