UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
                                WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
                                                                          THE ADMINISTRATOR

Dear Reader:

       Summertime is a wonderful time of year, during which Americans enjoy the great
outdoors. During the summer, many of us and our families will spend a great deal of time at the
beach, hiking, participating in sporting events, attending summer camp, and countless other
outdoor activities. To help you and your family get the most out of the season, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed the attached Summertime Safety fact
sheet. It provides information about ozone and describes the Ultraviolet (UV) Index and the Air
Quality Index, two very important tools you can use in planning summer activities.

       Ozone is a gas that can be either protective or harmful, depending on where it is in the
earth's atmosphere.  Ozone in the upper atmosphere can protect us from the sun's harmful UV
radiation, which is most intense in the summer and may lead to skin cancer and eye damage.
Meanwhile, ozone at ground level, especially during hot, sunny days, contributes to the formation
of smog and can trigger respiratory problems. At EPA, we have a saying that ozone is "good up
high, bad nearby".

       With that in mind, EPA developed the UV Index and the Air Quality Index to help you
understand what UV radiation and local air quality mean to your health.

       The UV Index provides a daily forecast of the  expected risk of o verexposure to the sun.
       The Index predicts UV intensity levels on a scale of 0 to 10+, where 0 indicates minimal
       risk of oyerexposure and 10 or higher means a very high risk.

       The Air Quality Index or AQI indicates local air quality using a color-coded numerical
       scale from 0 (green or "good" air quality) to 300 (purple or "very unhealthy" ah- quality).
       The colors in between, yellow, orange and red, correspond to  different levels of health
       concern.

Daily forecasts for both indices are reported on many  newspapers' weather pages across the
country, and are frequently reported by broadcast meteorologists.  I urge you to use this
information and the guidelines provided in our Summertime Safety fact sheet to keep you and
your family safe and healthy this summer.
                             Internet Address (URL) • http://www.epa.gov
           RecyclBd/Recyolable • Printed with Vegetable Oil Based Inks on Recycled Paper (Minimum 30% Postconsumer)

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       Summertime Safety also provides simple steps that we can take to stay as healthy as
possible while enjoying the summer. Please share this fact sheet with your friends, family, and
colleagues, or contact us at 1-800-490-9198 for additional free copies. More information about
the Air Quality Index and the UV Index is available at EPA's web site at www.epa.gov.

       I hope that you and your family will enjoy the summer ahead in the best of health.

                                        Sincerely,
                                        Christine Todd Whitman

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