We tend to not always speak too highly of the Environmental Protection Agency on these pages, so I think it’s important we take a moment and note the good news that the EPA today ordered that the amount of lead in the air be reduced by ninety percent. MSNBC reports that this is the first update to the lead standard in 30 years, when leaded gasoline was phased out of use (hence why all our gas is still called unleaded, in case you hadn’t ever actually thought about that).

Some environmental groups are concerned about the ability of the EPA to actually monitor this change. Gina Soloman of the Natural Resources Defense Council says,

With less than 200 air lead monitors nationwide, scientists don’t even know how much lead is in the air in most communities…Now that the EPA has recognized the severity of lead exposure, it must rebuild the monitoring network.

The EPA issued the guidelines following a court ruling that ordered the agency to review its lead standards. But hey, whatever works, eh? Industries will have three years to get their act together on this, and

No later than October 2011, EPA will designate areas of the country that fail to meet the new standard, requiring state and local governments to find ways to reduce lead emissions.

You can takepart by visiting the Natural Resources Defense Council’s website to see what else they’re working on over there to protect both us and the environment.