AUDIO: Tougher smog rules proposed by EPA

WASHINGTON, D.C.
March 12, 2008 3:28pm

The U.S. EPA today is imposing what it calls the most stringent 8-hour standard ever for ozone, revising the standards for the first time in more than a decade.

The agency says it bases the changes on the most recent scientific evidence about the effects of ozone, the primary component of smog.

The new primary 8-hour standard is 0.075 parts per million (ppm) compared to the current 0.08 ppm.

The new secondary standard is set at a form and level identical to the primary standard.

In announcing the new ozone standard, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson also says he will be sending Congress four principles to guide legislative changes to the Clean Air Act.

“The Clean Air Act is not a relic to be displayed in the Smithsonian, but a living document that must be modernized to continue realizing results,” he says.

The EPA says the four principles recommend that the Clean Air Act and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) “must protect the public health and improve the overall well-being of our citizens; should allow decision-makers to consider benefits, costs, risk tradeoffs, and feasibility in making decisions about how to clean the air; should provide greater accountability and effective enforcement to ensure not only paper requirements but also air quality requirements are met, especially in areas with the furthest to go in meeting our standards; should allow the schedule for addressing NAAQS standards to be driven by the available science and the prioritization of health and environmental concerns, taking into account the multi-pollutant nature of air pollution.”

The Central Valley may have a bit of trouble meeting the new requirements. It still hasn’t met the 0.08 level established first in 1997.

Industry is not happy with the tighter rules.

When counties are designated as “nonattainment,” they face serious repercussions such as immediate impacts on new transportation projects, restrictions on industry expansion within those counties, increased costs to industry generally, and new permitting requirements and delays the National Association of Manufacturers says.

Studies show that the cost of the new regulation will fall on poor families the hardest because they use more of their income to pay for the basics like energy and transportation, it says.

Also unhappy, but for opposite reasons, is the American Lung Association.

"We wish we could be happier about this decision, but we cannot. The standard announced today, although an improvement, falls far short of the requirements of the Clean Air Act," says Bernadette Toomey, president and chief executive officer of the American Lung Association.

"We are unable to celebrate half measures when the risks are so evident, when the science and the scientists are so united about what is needed and when the missed opportunity means that thousands will suffer more and die sooner than they should," she says.

Ozone can harm people’s lungs, and EPA is particularly concerned about individuals with asthma or other lung diseases, as well as those who spend a lot of time outside, such as children. Ozone exposure can aggravate asthma, resulting in increased medication use and emergency room visits, and it can increase susceptibility to respiratory infections.

Ground-level ozone is not emitted directly into the air, but forms when emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) “cook” in the sun. Power plants, motor vehicle exhaust, industrial facilities, gasoline vapors and chemical solvents are the major human-made sources of these emissions.

EPA estimates that the final standards will yield health benefits valued between $2 billion and $19 billion. Those benefits include preventing cases of bronchitis, aggravated asthma, hospital and emergency room visits, nonfatal heart attacks and premature death, among others. EPA’s Regulatory Impact analysis shows that benefits are likely greater than the cost of implementing the standards. Cost estimates range from $7.6 billion to $8.5 billion.

Comments on this story

Amy 3/12/08 4:12 PM
Thanks for providing the audio link!