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Cap and Trade Program Lowers Smog Levels in Eastern United States/Market based program allows cost-effective reductions of harmful air pollution

Release Date: 10/14/2009
Contact Information: CONTACT: Cathy Milbourn/[email protected] 202-564-7849/202-564-4355

WASHINGTON – EPA released a report showing that more than 103 million Americans breathe cleaner air thanks to a cap and trade program that reduces smog-forming emission of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx). The 2008 NOx Budget Trading Program Annual Report, covering 20 eastern states and the District of Columbia, shows the summertime NOx emissions from power plants and large industrial sources were down by 62 percent compared to year 2000 levels and 75 percent lower than in 1990.

Highlights of the report show that:

The reduction of NOx has helped reduce smog levels by 10 to 14 percent in the NBP region – largely in the eastern parts of the country;

There is a strong association between areas with the greatest reductions in NOx emissions and downwind sites that show the greatest improvements in smog; and

The program contributed to improvements in air quality in 97 percent of nonattainment areas in the east, with 85 percent of these areas now below the smog standard.