News In Brief

Air is much cleaner in US since '70 law, official says

The nation's air is significantly cleaner now than 14 years ago, when Congress passed the Clean Air Act, says Joseph A. Cannon, the government's chief air-pollution official. He predicts that by 1990 virtually the whole country should meet air standards set by law.

An EPA report, released Tuesday, shows that between 1975 and 1982, there was a big decline in five major air pollutants: lead, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, dust and soot, and ozone. It also said that nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere had recently begun to decline.