Air pollution currently accounts for about 5,000 premature deaths in Canada and about 60,000 in United States annually. The United States will reduce NOx emissions by 35 percent by 2007, which implies a 70 percent reduction from power plants and major industrial sources. The aim is to reduce U.S annual emissions by 36 percent by 2010. These substances, when combined with nitrogen oxides in sunlight, create the deadly ground-level ozone. For its part, Canada also plans to tighten its vehicle emission standards and bring them into line with those in the U.S., said Velma McColl, a spokeswoman for Anderson.
Transportation is the single largest contributor to ground level ozone.
Official approval of the agreement, which also commits the two countries to ongoing pollution reduction, is expected to take place in Ottawa in early December.