Residents in Augusta and Columbus are at risk for breathing air that is too sooty, according to an Environmental Protection Agency statement on Monday.
The EPA notified elected officials in 211 counties in 25 states that their air quality violated newly tightened daily standards for fine particles of pollution from diesel-burning trucks, power plants, wood-burning stoves and other sources.
Particle pollution can cause heart attacks and strokes, and cause irregular heartbeats, lung cancer and premature births, according to a statement by the American Lung Association, in response to the EPA report.
The regions in question include about 100 million people.
Areas on the EPA's so-called non-attainment list have until 2012 to devise a plan for cleaning their air, and must implement it by 2014.
State and federal agencies collected data on particulate emissions over the past three summers in Muscogee, Harris, and Chattahoochee counties in Georgia, and Lee and Russell counties in Alabama.
Columbus city planning director Rick Jones has said that reaching non-attainment standards could limit federal funding for projects.
Old power plants and factories due for renovation or expansion in these areas must show the EPA that it would not cause further air pollution. It could mean also controls on vehicle emissions and regions having to take pollution into effect when they build new roads.
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