Preserving North Carolina’s air-monitoring capacity

SELC is pushing back against a North Carolina plan to keep citizens and regulators in the dark about air pollution. In August, the Division of Air Quality proposed shutting down a total of 14 air monitors, the majority of which measure ozone and fine-particle pollution especially harmful to human health. Many of the stations sit near major population centers with historically poor air quality, and closing them is likely against federal regulations.

Earlier this year we helped defeat a bill that would have removed over half the air monitors in the state. With more-stringent regulations for fine particles already in place, and new standards for ozone on the way, North Carolina should be expanding, not reducing, its air-monitoring capabilities.