Collins, Whitehouse, Carper Request GAO Review of Air Quality Monitoring Networks

Press Release

Today, a bipartisan trio of Senators from states that cope with cross-state air pollution requested a review of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) operation of the nation's air quality monitoring networks. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Tom Carper (D-DE) asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for a top-to-bottom review of the EPA's air quality monitoring work, including a look at whether the networks yield enough good-quality data to effectively protect vulnerable populations from the dangers of air pollution.

"These networks play a critical role in protecting public health, especially for children, seniors, and members of other vulnerable populations and disadvantaged communities with chronic and acute health problems such as asthma," the Senators write. "These air quality monitoring networks are increasingly important in implementing and tracking compliance with the Clean Air Act, protecting public health, sharing monitoring data with other agencies, state and local governments, and the public, and informing policy decisions."

Air pollutants, such as ground-level ozone and particulate matter, are serious threats to public health. Emissions carried on prevailing winds from smokestacks in the Midwest, for instance, often end up in downwind states like Maine, Rhode Island, and Delaware. Such pollution has led to higher observed rates of asthma and other serious ailments.

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