LANSING – The entire state of Michigan is now officially in compliance with federal particulates standards, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a final rule issued late Thursday.
The rule designates much of the country, including all of Michigan, as meeting the PM-2.5 standard, which limits the concentration of particles 2.5 micrometers in diameter.
The designation, for which Michigan officials have been pushing for several months, shows the state’s efforts to control pollutants are working, Brad Wurfel, spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Quality, said.
“This is great news. It means that we will not need to do anything further to comply with this standard,” Wurfel said. “And it reinforces what we have said for some time – while there is always work to be done to address specific components of our air, the ambient air quality in Michigan is the best it has been in our lifetimes.”
The federal Clean Air Act requires regions not in compliance with various air quality standards continue developing new programs to meet those standards and can prohibit introduction of new pollution sources (new factories or new processes at existing factories) until the standards are met.
Wurfel said the entire state has unofficially met all of the federal air quality standards, but there are still two regions awaiting official re-designation under some standards.
This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com
