Allegheny County pulls EPA request
Health officials concerned about being able to meet the newer, stricter federal air quality standards
For years, Allegheny County health officials worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to bring local air quality into compliance with federal standards.
By December 2021, they had achieved that goal — and started making a request of the EPA the following year officially to be designated as having met “attainment” of air quality standards. Even though the EPA determined that air quality had improved, county officials still needed to request to enter “attainment.”
On Monday, county health officials announced that, for the time being, they were withdrawing that request.
Geoff Rabinowitz, who leads the county Health Department’s Bureau of Environmental Health, said during a scheduled meeting of the county’s air pollution control advisory committee that county health officials shared concerns with EPA officials about newer standards. They said that because the standards county officials were originally working under date back to 2012, the new standards would put the county “out of attainment,” he said.
The 2012 air quality rules — with which the county is in compliance — state that the limit for fine particles (known as PM2.5) is 12.0 micrograms per cubic meter. But earlier this year, the EPA lowered that limit to 9.0 micrograms per cubic meter. That rule goes into effect on May 6, according to the Federal Register.
In correspondence between the Health Department and EPA officials last year, Allegheny County officials noted that one of the reasons the EPA was reluctant to acknowledge that the county had met the standard was that EPA officials had “concerns that redesignation would create confusion for the public.”
A simple way of putting it: The EPA made its standards more strict.
New standards are likely to put the county back out of compliance, so the EPA didn’t want to grant the “attainment” designation — and the Health Department has now withdrawn the request.
The higher the amount of particles in the air, the more dangerous it can be to breathe. Anything above an air quality index score of 100 is unhealthy for sensitive groups, such as those with heart or lung disease, or asthma. Levels above 200 are “very unhealthy” to the general public, according to the EPA. Fine particles, or PM2.5, factor into that score — along with ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.
At Monday’s meeting, less than half of the committee’s 13 members attended, meaning there wasn’t a quorum. John Palmiere, County Council’s representative on the committee, said toward its conclusion the lack of a quorum was preventing the body from taking votes and getting things done.
Mr. Palmiere said he hears many complaints from Clairton residents — part of his district, District 6 — about air quality issues, including near U.S. Steel’s coke plant in Clairton. He said he would resign from the committee if things didn’t improve.
“What am I supposed to be able to tell my constituents out there? ‘Oh, well, we have this, and we’re waiting for EPA to do this,’ ” Mr. Palmiere said. “That’s not flying anymore. I’m getting awfully frustrated because I can’t really give them any answers.”
After the meeting, he told the Post-Gazette air quality is one of the top issues for residents within his district. He said he has been on the committee for about a decade.
“Take a ride over there sometime … when you get on [ Route] 885 and are headed toward Clairton, tell me how soon it is that you can start smelling Clairton,” Mr. Palmiere said.