The six criteria air pollutants were the first set of pollutants recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as needing standards on a national level.5 The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to set US National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for the six CAPs.6 The NAAQS are health based and the EPA sets two types of standards: primary and secondary. The primary standards are designed to protect the health of 'sensitive' populations such as asthmatics, children, and the elderly. The secondary standards are concerned with protecting the environment. They are designed to address visibility, damage to crops, vegetation, buildings, and animals.7
The EPA established the NAAQS according to Sections 108 and 109 of the U.S. Clean Air Act, which was last amended in 1990.8 These sections require the EPA "(1) to list widespread air pollutants that reasonably may be expected to endanger public health or welfare; (2) to issue air quality criteria for them that assess the latest available scientific information on nature and effects of ambient exposure to them; (3) to set primary NAAQS to protect human health with adequate margin of safety and to set secondary NAAQS to protect against welfare effects (e.g., effects on vegetation, ecosystems, visibility, climate, manmade materials, etc); and (5) to periodically review and revise, as appropriate, the criteria and NAAQS for a given listed pollutant or class of pollutants."9
The standards are listed in 40 CFR 50. Primary standards are designed to protect human health,27 with an adequate margin of safety, including sensitive populations such as children, the elderly, and individuals suffering from respiratory diseases. Secondary standards are designed to protect public welfare, damage to property, transportation hazards, economic values, and personal comfort and well-being from any known or anticipated adverse effects of a pollutant. A district meeting a given standard is known as an "attainment area" for that standard, and otherwise a "non-attainment area".28
Standards are required to "accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge," and are reviewed every five years by a Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), consisting of "seven members appointed by the EPA administrator."29
EPA has set NAAQS for six major pollutants listed as below. These six are also the criteria air pollutants.30
The EPA National Exposure Research Laboratory can designate a measurement device using an established technological basis as a Federal Reference Method (FRM) to certify that the device has undergone a testing and analysis protocol, and can be used to monitor NAAQS compliance. Devices based on new technologies can be designated as a Federal Equivalent Method (FEM). FEMs are based on different sampling and/or analyzing technologies than FRMs, but are required to provide the same decision making quality when making NAAQS attainment determinations. Approved new methods are formally announced through publication in the Federal Register.32 A complete list of FRMs and FEMs is available.33
An air quality control region is an area, designated by the federal government, where communities share a common air pollution problem.34
"Definition of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)". ohioepa.custhelp.com. Retrieved March 29, 2018. http://ohioepa.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/907/~/definition-of-national-ambient-air-quality-standards-(naaqs) ↩
"Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Renewal Environmental Impact Statement article". Archived from the original on October 20, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20171020191429/http://tapseis.anl.gov/glossacro/dsp_wordpopup.cfm?word_id=444 ↩
EPA, OAR, US (April 9, 2014). "Criteria Air Pollutants | US EPA". US EPA. Retrieved January 18, 2018. https://www.epa.gov/criteria-air-pollutants ↩
Factsheet des.nh.gov Archived 2020-02-29 at the Wayback Machine http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/ard/documents/ard-41.pdf ↩
Michigan Department Of Environmental Quality, January 2004. What is an Air Contaminant Pollutant? Fact Sheet ↩
"National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) | Air and Radiation | US EPA". Archived from the original on February 2, 2011. Retrieved February 11, 2011. US EPA https://web.archive.org/web/20110202082735/http://www.epa.gov/air/criteria.html ↩
"National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) | Air and Radiation | US EPA". Archived from the original on December 10, 2010. Retrieved December 8, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101210101749/http://www.epa.gov/air/criteria.html ↩
"EPA - TTN NAAQS". Archived from the original on April 28, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090428102936/http://www.epa.gov/ttnnaaqs ↩
"Air Quality Criteria for Lead (Final Report, 2006)". http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=158823 ↩
"Air Quality Planning and Standards". http://www.epa.gov/airquality/carbonmonoxide/. ↩
http://www.epa.gov/ncea/pdfs/coaqcd.pdf Archived 2011-02-12 at the Wayback Machine http://www.epa.gov/ncea/pdfs/coaqcd.pdf ↩
"Air Quality Planning and Standards". http://www.epa.gov/airquality/carbonmonoxide/pdfs/COFactSheet.pdf. ↩
"National Air Quality: Status and Trends of Key Air Pollutants". July 8, 2014. http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/carbon.html ↩
"Sulfur Dioxide | Air & Radiation | US EPA". http://www3.epa.gov/airquality/sulfurdioxide/. ↩
Factsheet epa.gov Archived 2016-04-15 at the Wayback Machine http://www3.epa.gov/airquality/sulfurdioxide/pdfs/20120320factsheet.pdf ↩
"National Air Quality: Status and Trends of Key Air Pollutants". July 8, 2014. http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/sulfur.html ↩
"Air Quality Planning and Standards". http://www.epa.gov/airquality/sulfurdioxide/basic.html. ↩
"Air Quality Planning and Standards". http://www.epa.gov/airquality/nitrogenoxides/. ↩
Fact Sheet – Air Quality Designations for the 2010 Primary Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) National Ambient Air Quality Standards http://www.epa.gov/airquality/nitrogenoxides/designations/pdfs/20120120FS.pdf. http://www.epa.gov/airquality/nitrogenoxides/designations/pdfs/20120120FS.pdf ↩
"National Air Quality: Status and Trends of Key Air Pollutants". July 8, 2014. http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/nitrogen.html ↩
"Air Quality Planning and Standards". http://www.epa.gov/airquality/nitrogenoxides/basic.html. ↩
US EPA, OA (March 15, 2023). "EPA Announces Final "Good Neighbor" Plan to Cut Harmful Smog, Protecting Health of Millions from Power Plant, Industrial Air Pollution". www.epa.gov. Retrieved July 29, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-final-good-neighbor-plan-cut-harmful-smog-protecting-health-millions ↩
"Early Implementation of the Clean Air Act of 1970 in California." EPA Alumni Association. Video, Transcript (see p4). July 12, 2016. http://www.epaalumni.org/history/video/interview.cfm?id=38 ↩
Goldstein, Bernard D (December 11, 2018). "The latest chapter in EPA vs environmental science saga". The Hill. Retrieved December 13, 2018. https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/420888-the-latest-chapter-in-epa-vs-environmental-science-saga ↩
Environmental Protection Agency (March 6, 2024). "Reconsideration of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter". /wiki/United_States_Environmental_Protection_Agency ↩
"EPA scientists develop Federal Reference & Equivalent Methods for measuring key air pollutants". U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. December 29, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2017. https://www.epa.gov/air-research/epa-scientists-develop-federal-reference-equivalent-methods-measuring-key-air ↩
Gilliam, Joseph H.; Hall, Eric S. (July 13, 2016). "Reference and Equivalent Methods Used to Measure National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) Criteria Air Pollutants - Volume I". U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved June 28, 2017. https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_report.cfm?dirEntryId=321491 ↩
"Document Display | NEPIS | US EPA". nepis.epa.gov. Retrieved July 29, 2023. https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/P10053PA.TXT?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=Prior+to+1976&Docs=&Query=AP102+or+f&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=pubnumber%5E%22AP102%22&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&UseQField=pubnumber&IntQFieldOp=1&ExtQFieldOp=1&XmlQuery=&File=D:%5Czyfiles%5CIndex+Data%5C70thru75%5CTxt%5C00000006%5CP10053PA.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=10&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=p%7Cf&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results+page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=1&SeekPage=x&ZyPURL ↩