Criteria Pollutant

Criteria Pollutant in the United States

Criteria Pollutant in Environmental Law

An air contaminant for which a National Ambient Air Quality Standard has been set pursuant to the Clean Air Act. These pollutants include lead, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulate matter of 10 microns or less, and ozone. The criteria in the term refers to the limitation, but the pollutants were chosen because the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determined that a standard was necessary for them in order to protect the public health.

The selection of a criteria pollutant hinges on its persistence. A toxic air pollutant is more dangerous, but a criteria pollutant tends to be generated from a multitude of sources, both mobile (cars) and stationary (industrial plants). For that reason, criteria pollutants are both more common and more difficult to control.
Based on “Environment and the Law. A Dictionary”.


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