For families reading about lead, an unchanged regulation can sound like reassurance about exposure. That is more than EPA's decision establishes. In this Sunday, October 23, 2016 retrospective, the relevant action came the previous week: EPA published its final review of national ambient-air lead standards on October 18, retaining them without revision. The rule takes effect November 17. [2016-23153][2014-30681]

The agency's explanation places children's neurological development near the center of the health assessment. EPA said newer evidence reaffirmed the broad health effects recognized in the previous review and was generally consistent with the evidence underlying the existing standard. It concluded that the primary standard provided the required public-health protection, including an adequate margin of safety for at-risk populations. [2016-23153][2014-30681]

The January 5, 2015 proposal supplies an important limit on that conclusion. Its discussion explained that setting an air standard involves scientific evidence, uncertainties and a public-health policy judgment; the law does not require a zero-risk standard. That earlier proposal and the final decision are stages of the same EPA process, not two independent scientific confirmations that exposure is harmless. [2016-23153][2014-30681]

The practical distinction is between a national air-quality benchmark and evidence about a particular child's circumstances. This action did not set a drinking-water standard or establish that a household had no lead hazard. Our public-interest reading is that responsible communication should preserve both parts of the record: EPA judged the existing air standard adequate, but that regulatory judgment cannot substitute for evidence about individual exposure. [2016-23153][2014-30681]

Source documents

  1. Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Leadhttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-10-18/html/2016-23153.htm
  2. National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Leadhttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-01-05/html/2014-30681.htm