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U.S. EPA PROPOSES TO OK CARBON MONOXIDE ANTI-POLLUTION ACTIONS

Release Date: 4/9/1996
Contact Information: Dave Schmidt, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1578

   (San Francisco)--  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) today announced that it is proposing to approve contingency measures developed by the state of Arizona and Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) to reduce carbon monoxide air pollution.  

     These measures are one result of an ongoing cooperative effort involving U.S. EPA, the state, and MAG to identify actions that work best locally to achieve federal health standards for clean air.
 
     The new measures, which include enhanced remote sensing of auto exhaust, will be triggered if EPA finds that the Phoenix area did not meet the federal health standard for carbon monoxide by the end of 1995.  U.S. EPA is currently reviewing last year's data and expects to propose its finding soon.  These measures will replace outdated rules proposed by U.S. EPA in 1993 which  would have delayed specified highway construction projects.
 
      Carbon monoxide, a toxic gas emitted in motor vehicle exhaust, reduces the ability of blood to carry oxygen.  It harms the nervous system, and is particularly hazardous to people with heart, circulatory, lung, or breathing problems.    

     There will be a 30-day public comment period on U.S. EPA's proposed approval of the new contingency measures, beginning on today.  The proposed approval was published in the Federal
Register today.  Comments can be sent to:

                            Wallace Woo, Chief
                     Plans Development Section, A-2-2
                   U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
                             75 Hawthorne St.
                          San Francisco, CA 94105

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