6 Wisconsin Republicans Urge EPA to Invoke 1991 U.S.-Canada Air Pact on Wildfire Smoke
Updated
Updated · WISN Milwaukee · Jul 17
6 Wisconsin Republicans Urge EPA to Invoke 1991 U.S.-Canada Air Pact on Wildfire Smoke
3 articles · Updated · WISN Milwaukee · Jul 17
Summary
Six Wisconsin Republican congressmen asked EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to use the U.S.-Canada Air Quality Agreement to respond to repeated wildfire smoke drifting from Canada.
Milwaukee hit an Air Quality Index of 644 on Thursday — the city’s worst on record — and lawmakers said some Wisconsin readings topped 500, with Milwaukee, Brown, Waukesha and Kenosha counties among the hardest hit.
The 1991 pact, expanded in 2000, lets the United States seek consultations with Canadian officials within 30 days over particulate emissions and escalate to formal negotiations or a third party if unresolved.
The lawmakers said five of the world’s 10 worst air-quality readings on July 16 were in southern Wisconsin and urged EPA to press Canada to curb future smoke impacts across the Great Lakes and Northeast.