Traffic moves along along 99 south in Fresno, Calif., Dec. 28, 2017. Fresno displaced Fairbanks, Alaska as the metropolitan area with the worst short-term particle pollution, a 2022 report by the American Lung Association found, while Bakersfield, Calif., continued in the most-polluted slot for year-round particle pollution for the third year in a row. (John Walker/The Fresno Bee via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The president of the American Lung Association says a Biden administration proposal to lower the limits for a deadly air pollutant doesn’t go far enough. The Environmental Protection Agency says tougher standards for soot from tailpipes, smokestacks and wildfires could prevent thousands of premature deaths a year. A proposal released Friday by the EPA would set maximum levels of 9 to 10 micrograms of fine particle pollution per cubic meter of air, down from 12 micrograms set a decade ago. American Lung Association president Harold Wimmer says science shows “stronger limits are urgently needed.” The association reports Fresno, California, is the metropolitan area with the worst short-term particle pollution.