SU0004094 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

[A]sthma is one of the most common and costly diseases in the United States... Today, more than 5 percent of the US population has asthma [and] [o]n average 15 people died every day from asthma in 1995... In 1998, the cost of asthma to the U.S. economy was estimated to be $11.3 billion, with hospitalizations accounting for the largest single portion of the costs. (66 Fed. Reg. at 5012.) The health and societal costs of asthma are wreaking havoc in California. There are currently 2.2 million Californians suffering from asthma. In 1997 alone, nearly 56,413 residents, including 16,705 children, required hospitalization because their asthma attacks were so severe. Shockingly, asthma is now the leading cause of hospital admissions of young children in California. Combined with very real human suffering is the huge financial drain of asthma hospitalizations on the stat(Ys _ health care system. The most recent data indicate that the statewide financial cost of 9-54 these hospitalizations was nearly$350,000,000, with nearly a third of the bill paid by cont. the State Medi-Cal program.36 — The Project will cause or contribute to exceedances of ozone ambient air quality standards in the San Joaquin Valley air basin. The Draft EIR reports that ozone standards are regularly exceeded at nearby stations. (Draft EIR, Table 4.6-3.) Ozone forms downwind from the Project site and is a regional pollutant. Other stations besides those disclosed in the Draft EIR exceeded the ozone standards much more frequently. Ozone is continuously measured at 175 sites in California. The most recent CARB analysis of these ozone monitoring data indicates that the problem in the San Joaquin Valley air basin, the air basin that would be affected by the Project, is much more severe than suggested in the Draft EER. The San Joaquin Valley air basin exceeded the 1-hour state standard on 123 days in 2001, 127 days in 2002, and 137 days in 2003 or over one third of the time. The San Joaquin Valley air basin also exceeds the higher (less protective) federal 1-hour standard on 32 days in 2001, 31 days in 2002, and 37 days in 2003. (CARB Review 10/05,57 Table 7-1 and Sec. 7.2.8.13). About 99.7% of the population 56 California Department of Health Services,California County Asthma Hospitalization Chart Book, - August 1,2000. 57 California Air Resources Board(CARB),Review of the California Ambient Air Quality Standard for Ozone, v.II of N,Chapters 3-8,Staff Report,Initial Statement of Reasons for Proposed Rulemaking, Modified October 27, 2005.Accessed June 12,2006: http://ftp.arb.ca.gov/carbis/research/aags/ozone-rs/rev-staff/vol2.pdf 42