WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is setting tougher standards for deadly soot pollution, saying that reducing fine particle matter from tailpipes, smokestacks and other industrial sources could prevent thousands of premature deaths a year. Soot pollution has declined sharply in the past two decades, even as the U.S. gross domestic product has increased by more than 50%, Regan said. Bakersfield tied with Visalia in California's San Joaquin Valley as the most polluted city for year-round particle pollution. Wildfires in the western U.S. were a major contributing factor to increased levels of particle pollution, the report said. Six of the 10 cities with the most soot pollution were in California, and two more were in the West: Medford, Oregon and greater Phoenix.

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Persons: —, Biden, Michael Regan, Harris, “, Obama, Joe Biden, Regan, we’ve, Manish Bapna, Ben Jealous, Jeffrey Zients, Barack Obama, Donald Trump Organizations: WASHINGTON, Environmental, Environmental Protection Agency, Industry, Biden, Democratic, Administration, Natural Resources Defense Council, EPA, Sierra Club, Republican, Companies, and Paper Association, National Association of Manufacturers, White House, American Lung Association, Visalia Locations: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Bakersfield , California, Fresno , California, Bakersfield, California's San Joaquin, U.S, California, West, Medford , Oregon, Phoenix