FEBRUARY 18, 2015
WASHINGTON, DC.
Secretary of State John Kerry and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy
signed a statement of intent today to launch a new air quality partnership
between the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). The effort will provide U.S. citizens and government
personnel with better information on air quality at select embassies and
consulates around the world to reduce health risks
from outdoor air pollution, and will offer greater opportunities for
the United States to create partnerships on air quality with other
nations.
• Air
pollution is a serious and growing health threat worldwide, yet in many areas,
real-time air quality data is not available. The Department of State has
a keen interest in providing sufficient air quality information to U.S.
citizens and government personnel overseas to enable informed health decisions.
• The
partnership will use EPA’s existing domestic AirNow system, which is an online
platform that helps Americans understand how clean or polluted their
outdoor air is. To build on this successful network, the Department of
State plans to place air quality monitors at select American
diplomatic posts where continuous fine particle pollution (PM
2.5) data is currently of limited
availability, and to publicly share this
data through EPA’s AirNow website.
• In
the United States, state and local officials have considerable experience in
developing and implementing programs to monitor, improve, and meet air quality
standards. A new fellowship program will enable technical experts here in
the United States to visit our participating diplomatic missions to
help transfer skills and build capacity for air quality monitoring data analysis
and maintenance. These visits will also include the opportunity for
training and exchanges with the host governments and other participants.