Get a list of Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) with their codes.
AI agents call aqs_list_cbsas to retrieve information from EPA Air Quality System (AQS) MCP Server without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool performs a simple data retrieval operation—fetching a list of CBSAs and their associated codes from the EPA Air Quality System API. It is read-only with no capability to modify, delete, execute arbitrary operations, or trigger external side effects. The blast radius of misuse is minimal, as it only exposes public reference metadata about geographic areas used for air quality monitoring.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'aqs_list_cbsas' and description 'Get a list of Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) with their codes' indicate a retrieval operation that returns reference data without modification or side effects.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Get a list of Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) with their codes. It is categorised as a Read tool in the EPA Air Quality System (AQS) MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the EPA Air Quality System (AQS) MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for aqs_list_cbsas: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches EPA Air Quality System (AQS) MCP Server. Nothing to install.
aqs_list_cbsas is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the aqs_list_cbsas rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for aqs_list_cbsas. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
aqs_list_cbsas is provided by the EPA Air Quality System (AQS) MCP Server MCP server (tyson-swetnam/aqs-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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