The Biden administration is tightening limits on deadly air pollution

The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday tightened limits for fine industrial particles, one of the most common and deadliest forms of air pollution, for the first time in a decade.

Business groups immediately objected, saying the new regulations could raise costs and hurt manufacturing jobs across the country. Public health groups said the pollution rules would save lives and strengthen the economy by reducing hospitalizations and lost workdays.

Fine particles, including soot, can come from factories, power plants and other industrial facilities. It can enter the lungs and bloodstream and has been linked to serious health effects such as asthma and heart and lung disease. Long-term exposure has been linked to premature deaths.

The new rule lowers the annual standard for particulate matter to nine micrograms per cubic meter of air, a decrease compared to the current standard of 12 micrograms. Over the next two years, the EPA will use air sampling to identify areas that do not meet the new standard. States would then have 18 months to develop compliance plans for those areas. By 2032, anyone who exceeds the new standard could be penalized.

“Soot pollution is one of the most dangerous forms of air pollution,” Michael S. Regan, the EPA administrator, said in a call with reporters on Tuesday. “This is truly a game changer for the health and well-being of communities across our country.”

Mr Regan estimated the rule would prevent 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost working days due to illness each year. The EPA claimed the rule would also deliver as much as $46 billion in net health benefits in the first year the standards were fully implemented.

The small particles are known as PM 2.5 because they are 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller. For comparison, an average human hair has a diameter of about 70 microns.

Harold Wimmer, president of the American Lung Association, called the rule “a step forward.” But he criticized the Biden administration for not going further, noting that science and health experts urged the EPA to lower the annual average standard to eight micrograms from nine.

The new pollution limits could cause election year complications for President Biden.

Business groups, which are expected to legally challenge the rule, argue that cutting pollution would crush manufacturing. That includes the roads and bridges funded by the 2021 infrastructure bill, legislation that Mr. Biden often promotes. The rule could also make it harder to produce batteries for electric vehicles, wind turbines and other products central to the president's climate agenda, they said. Mr. Biden has also made the revival of American manufacturing part of his campaign talk.

At least two Democratic governors, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Laura Kelly of Kansas, wrote to Mr. Biden expressing concern about the economic impact of the rule.

Mike Ireland, president of the Portland Cement Association, which represents U.S. cement makers, said the rule “would lead to fewer hours at plants, which would mean layoffs, as well as less U.S. cement and concrete at a time when the country is in need to more.”

Marty Durbin, the senior vice president for policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, predicted that production will stall and noted that wildfires and road dust, neither of which are included in the rule, make up the bulk of particulate matter emissions . “This administration is creating obstacles to achieving their infrastructure and climate goals,” he said.

The U.S. Chamber has estimated that under the stricter regulations, 569 counties would not be in compliance.

EPA officials said that, by their count, only 59 counties could exceed the new standard. And most were expected to fall within the acceptable range within a few years, they said — because other proposed regulations on car and power plant tailpipe emissions would also reduce particulate matter.

“There will undoubtedly be a loud cry and cry from the industry,” said Doris Browne, the former president of the National Medical Association, the largest U.S. organization representing black physicians.

The new restrictions would especially help poor and minority communities, which are disproportionately located near industrial facilities, she said. “The new standard of nine will save lives,” said Dr. Browne. “That is the starting point.”

The law requires the EPA to review the latest science and consider updating the PM 2.5 standard every five years, although it has not been strengthened since 2012 under the Obama administration.

The Trump administration has conducted a review. In a draft scientific review of 457 pages of the risks associated with maintaining or strengthening the particulate soot pollution rule, career scientists at the EPA said an estimated 45,000 deaths annually are linked to PM 2.5. The scientists wrote that if the rule were tightened to nine micrograms per cubic meter, annual deaths would fall by about 27 percent, or 12,150 people per year.

Following the release of that report, numerous industries, including oil and coal companies, automakers and chemical manufacturers, urged the Trump administration to ignore the findings, and it declined to make any changes.