The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), an independent, congressionally chartered organization, recently released a report highly critical of the Bush administration's approach to air pollution policy -- raising concerns that public health is not being adequately protected. The NAPA report, based on a two-year study commissioned by Congress, finds that although the Clean Air Act's New Source Review (NSR) program has succeeded in controlling pollution from newly built facilities, it has been ineffective in reducing pollution from the nation's oldest and dirtiest factories and power plants. "NSR is not having the positive effect on the health of individuals, or on the quality of the nation's air, that Congress intended," according to NAPA, and actions by the Bush administration are actually making the problem worse. Specifically, the NAPA report, A Breath of Fresh Air:

• Criticizes a number of the Bush administration's NSR rule changes, including its proposal to expand the "routine maintenance" exemption, which allows plants to perform upgrades without having to install new anti-pollution equipment;
• Urges Congress to close the "grandfather" loophole, which allows the oldest and dirtiest facilities to avoid Clean Air Act requirements, recommending that all major pollution sources be required to upgrade to the best available pollution controls within 10 years -- an approach that stands in opposition to the Bush administration, which has sought to relax requirements and enforcement efforts for such facilities; and
• Condemns the Bush administration's failure to address carbon dioxide emissions, the main cause of global warming.

"This is a verdict from a neutral body tasked by Congress to evaluate EPA actions representing core elements of the Bush administration air pollution plan," said John Walke, attorney and clean air director at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). "What they found is these policies are hurting public health. This report is a major rebuke to the Bush administration's campaign to turn the Clean Air Act into a loophole bonanza for industry." The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) also recently released a report detailing how the Bush administration's environmental rollbacks have intensified since the 2002 elections.