The Environmental Protection Agency says 95 percent of all Americans face an increased risk of developing cancer or other serious health problems from breathing air pollutants, but while the agency has made some progress in implementing its air toxics program under the clean air act, most of its regulatory actions were completed late and major aspects of the program have still not been addressed, the Government Accountability Office has said.
It said most of the agency’s progress relates to issuing emissions standards for large stationary sources, but even there it completed the standards four years behind schedule.
The agency faces continuing implementation challenges stemming from the program’s low priority relative to other programs and related funding constraints, according to GAO-06-669.
It said the EPA lacks a comprehensive strategy for completing the unmet requirements and that the agency has not addressed health risks from air toxics to the extent or in the time frames envisioned in the clean air act.
Further, EPA does not have reliable data on the degree of risk reduction achieved through its regulations, and the data that are available suggest the agency has a greater opportunity to reduce emissions from mobile and small stationary sources, GAO said.
It said practices that state and local programs use could help EPA’s toxics program, such as systematic approaches for identifying and prioritizing new pollutants.
