New Report: Hampton Roads Ranked Among Cleanest Cities in the U.S. for Daily Particle Pollution for 9th Consecutive Year; Ozone Smog Earns B Grade, but Falls off Cleanest Cities List for the Measure

The Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC metro area (Hampton Roads) ranks among cleanest cities in the nation for daily particle pollution for its ninth consecutive year, according to the American Lung Association’s 2024 “State of the Air” report, which was released today. The metro area earns a B grade for ozone smog, posting a worse value than the last three years of reports and falling off the cleanest cities list for the measure.

The Lung Association’s 25th annual “State of the Air” report grades exposure to unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone air pollution, annual particle pollution and short-term spikes in particle pollution over a three-year period. This year’s report includes air quality data from 2020-2022 and is updated to reflect the new annual particle pollution standard that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized in February.

“In the 25 years that the American Lung Association has been doing our ‘State of the Air’ report, we have seen incredible improvement in the nation’s air quality. Unfortunately, more than 131 million people still live in places with unhealthy levels of air pollution, and Hampton Roads still has work to do,” said Aleks Casper, Director of Advocacy for the American Lung Association. “Climate change is making air pollution more likely to form and more difficult to clean up. There are actions we can and must take to improve air quality. The Commonwealth has made strong commitments to healthy air policies, and the Lung Association supports these policy efforts and opposes policies that would threaten forward progress. We are also calling on the EPA to set long-overdue stronger national limits on ozone pollution.” 

Ground-level Ozone Pollution in the Virginia Beach metro area:

The “State of the Air” report looked at levels of ozone “smog,” the air pollutant affecting the largest number of people in the United States. The metro area ranked 116th worst in the nation for ozone pollution. The ranking was based on the area’s worst location’s average number of unhealthy days—0.3 days per year, a B grade, in Suffolk City, VA. This was worse than the area's ranking in last year's report among the nation's cleanest cities, with 0 days per year, an A grade. 

Particle Pollution in the Virginia Beach metro area:

The report also tracked short-term spikes in particle pollution, which can be extremely dangerous and even deadly. The metro area ranked among the nation's cleanest cities for short-term particle pollution. The ranking was based on the area’s worst locations’ average number of unhealthy days—0 days per year, an A grade, in Hampton, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach Cities. This was comparable to the area's ranking in last year's report among the nation's cleanest cities, also with 0 days per year, an A grade. 

For the year-round average level of particle pollution, the area’s worst location, Virginia Beach City, received a passing grade for pollution levels below the federal standard that was recently updated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC metro area ranked 175th worst in the nation. This was better than the area's ranking in last year's report of 173rd worst in the nation.

In addition to the Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC metro area, other notable findings across the Commonwealth include:

• The Richmond, VA metro area continues to post best-ever results (B grade) for ozone smog for fourth consecutive year, though unchanged for three most recent reports; daily measure of particle pollution remains unchanged at a B grade, but worse than a past decade of reports that placed metro area among nation’s cleanest. 
• For the first time ever, with improvement to A grade for ozone smog, the Johnson-City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA metro area ranked among the cleanest cities in the nation for all three pollutant measures.  
• Roanoke, VA metro area continues to rank among nation’s cleanest cities for ozone smog for eighth consecutive year; daily measure of particle pollution remains unchanged at a “B” grade, but worse than several previous reports [eight altogether] that had placed metro area among nation’s cleanest; year-round measure again worsens, but earns passing grade.

The “State of the Air” report found that nationally, more than 131 million people live in an area that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution, and 43.9 million people live in areas with failing grades for all three measures. In the three years covered by this report, individuals in the U.S. experienced the highest number of days when particle pollution reached “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” levels in the history of reporting the “State of the Air.” Communities of color are disproportionately exposed to unhealthy air and are also more likely to be living with one or more chronic conditions that make them more vulnerable to air pollution, including asthma, diabetes and heart disease. The report found that a person of color in the U.S. is more than twice as likely as a white individual to live in a community with a failing grade on all three pollution measures.

Both ozone and particle pollution can cause premature death and other serious health effects such as asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, preterm births and impaired cognitive functioning later in life. Particle pollution can also cause lung cancer.

The Commonwealth has made strong commitments to healthy air policies such as Advanced Clean Cars II which would facilitate the transition to zero emission vehicles.  The American Lung Association supports these policy commitments and opposes any polices that would threaten forward progress.   

EPA recently finalized new air pollution rules that will help clean up particle pollution and address climate change. Now, the Lung Association is urging EPA to set long overdue stronger national limits on ozone pollution. Stronger limits would help people protect themselves and drive cleanup of polluting sources across the country. See the full report results and sign the petition at Lung.org/SOTA.