US, Canada to negotiate deal to cut particulate matter emissions

Washington (Platts)--13Apr2007

US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson and
Canadian Minister of the Environment Minister John Baird on Friday said the
two countries plan to negotiate an annex to the US-Canada Air Quality
Agreement aimed at reducing particulate matter emissions on both sides of the
border.

"Pollution, especially air pollution, knows no geographic or political
borders," Johnson said in a statement. "Our nations are committed to becoming
better environmental neighbors, and the negotiation of this annex will
strengthen the successful US-Canadian collaboration helping clean the air for
North American residents for generations."

The US-Canada Air Quality Agreement, negotiated in 1991, was designed to
cut air pollution in both countries. The particulate matter annex, the two
countries said, would complement an annex negotiated in 2000 addressing
ground-level ozone, as well as the original annexes on acid rain and
scientific cooperation.

Particulate matter consists of airborne particles in solid or liquid
form, EPA said, adding that the pollutant can be emitted directly at the
emissions source, for example, from a smokestack of an electrical power plant,
or as the result of reactions between chemicals as they are transported
through the atmosphere.

The agency said numerous studies have linked particulate matter,
especially fine particulate matter, to cardiac and respiratory diseases such
as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema and to various forms of heart disease.

EPA added that research conducted over the last three years has shown
that emissions of particulate matter and its precursors can significantly
affect air quality in both countries.